Name: John William Wilkinson Rank: Private Service Number: 469085 Service: 64th Battalion/ Princess Louise Fusiliers Canadian Machine Gun Corps Canadian Expeditionary Forces Date of Birth: July 5, 1895 Place of Birth: Scarborough, Yorkshire, England Date of Enlistment: August 19, 1915 Place of Enlistment: Sussex, New Brunswick Address at Enlistment: 229 Main St, Yarmouth, Yarmouth Co., Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 20 Height: 5 feet, 6 inches Complexion: Fair Eye Colour: Blue Hair Colour: Brown Occupation: Vulcanizer / Tire Repairer Marital Status: Married Religion: Church of England Next of Kin: Leta Wilkinson (Wife), Yarmouth, NS Date of Discharge: February 11, 1919, at Halifax, NS Age: 23 Date of Death: July 7, 1937 Age: 42 Cemetery: Hillside Cemetery, South Ohio, Yarmouth Co., Nova Scotia John William Wilkinson was the son of John William Wilkinson (1864-1916) and Anne Dalton Wilkinson (1865-1944). He was the husband of Leta Hope (Sollows) Wilkinson (1892-1922). Leta was born in Port Maitland, and they were married in 1915. Following the death of Leta, John married Myrtle Irene Clark (1899-1955). Myrtle was also born in Yarmouth, NS. John Wilkinson enlisted in Sussex, New Brunswick on August 19, 1915, with the 64 Battalion. He embarked Canada on March 31, 1916 and disembarked in Liverpool, England on April 9, 1916. On September 9, 1916, he was taken on strength with the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade for service in France and on March 1, 1918, transferred to the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. In September of 1916 he became ill. At the Somme he was “blown up by a shell” but suffered no concussion and at Hill 70 in August 1917, his dugout was blown in and he was exposed to gas during. In June his general health deteriorated with pain on exertion, and extreme nervousness. In August he acted as batman at the Corps Headquarters but not related to his health; however, on September 9, 1918, he was invalided to hospital and returned to Shorncliffe in England. He was admitted to the Brook Military Hospital on Shooters Hill Road in Woolwich in 1918 inflicted by DAH (Disordered Action of the Heart) otherwise known as 'Soldier's Heart' or 'Effort Syndrome' and was thought to result from a combination of over exertion, mental stress and fatigue. On December 24, 1918, he was struck off strength from the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. He returned to Canada on January 9, 1919, and was discharged from service on February 11, 1919, on demobilization. John William Wilkinson died on July 7, 1937, at the age of 42, of tuberculosis and DAH in South Ohio, Yarmouth Co., his death attributed to his WWI military service. He is buried in the Hillside Cemetery, South Ohio, Yarmouth Co., Nova Scotia.

Sources: findagrave Library and Archive Canada