Remembering World War I Yarmouth Connections

Name: Arthur William Hood Rank: Corporal Service Number: 67393 C Company, 25th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Forces Awards: 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal Date of Birth: April 5, 1890 Place of Birth: Yarmouth, Yarmouth Co., Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: November 18, 1914 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Halifax Co., Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 24 Address at Enlistment: Halifax, Halifax Co., Nova Scotia Previous Military Exp: Militia, Yarmouth Height: 5 feet, 3 inches Complexion: Light Eye Colour: Blue Hair Colour: Light Brown Occupation: Electrician Marital Status: Single (at enlistment) Religion: Episcopalian Next of Kin: Samuel C. Hood (Father), Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Date of Discharge: May 31, 1919 Age at Discharge: 29 Date of Death: January 16, 1927 Age: 36 Cemetery: Mountain Cemetery, Yarmouth, Yarmouth Co., Nova Scotia Grave: South Eastern Corner, Plot 1356 (Family), Grave 4781 Arthur was the son of Samuel Campbell Hood (1849-1936) of Weymouth and Annie Ella (Powell) Hood (1859-1932) of Freeport, NS, and the husband of Viola Seymour (1902-1920). Arthur’s siblings were Stanley John Hood (1875-1937), Aubrey Sinclair Hood (1876-1932), Annie Violet Hood (1877-1947), Ada Kinney Hood (1879-1941), Mabel Ruth Hood 1883-1957), Samuel Clifford Hood (1885-1938), and Robert Sydney McIntosh Hood (1886-1974). On May 20, 1915, Arthur sailed for the UK from Halifax, Nova Scotia aboard the SS Saxonia. After 4 months in the UK, Arthur embarked at Folkestone, in Kent, England and landed at Boulogne, France on September 15, 1915. Arthur served in France throughout 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918. On July 14, 1916, Arthur wrote a letter home to the parents of Private William Henry Neitz of Yarmouth who killed in action on July 5, 1916. He participated in the barrage before the attack on Vimy Ridge in France, which took place in April 1917. Arthur was promoted to Corporal on May 21, 1917. He make it through the war unscathed until 1918. During the last push by the Germans in the Ypres salient his battery alone with others came under intense shelling and the men at his gun were taken down by shrapnel. Arthur was wounded by artillery shrapnel to the head from enemy fire on the Arras front on June 25, 1918. He was transferred to the No. 10 General Hospital at Rouen in France and reported as being dangerously ill on June 27th. His medical status was upgraded to seriously ill on July 5th. Some of the shrapnel was removed at Rouen. By July 9th he was doing better, and admitted to the King George Hospital on Stamford Street in South East London. Transferred to the No. 16 Canadian Hospital in Orpington, Kent, England on August 13, 1918, he was subsequently moved to the No. 5 Canadian General Hospital in Kirkdale on February 27, 1919. He was invalided to Canada on March 11, 1919. He departed the UK aboard the SS Araguaya. It arrived in Portland, Maine on March 22, 1919. He was hospitalized at Camp Hill Military Hospital in Halifax after his arrival. He was discharged May 31, 1919, at Halifax, Nova Scotia with demobilisation, as medically unfit for general service. Arthur suffered from issues of equilibrium, dizzy spells, headaches, seizures, defective hearing in his left year, and vision issues from his head trauma. Living in Halifax in 1920 with his parents at 19 Granville Street, Arthur worked as the Secretary for the Great War Veterans Association (GWVA), and later worked as a jeweller. Corporal Arthur William Hood died January 16, 1927. The Canadian War Graves Register records that his death was attributable to military service, and Arthur was interred in the family plot at the Mountain Cemetery in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The Memorial Plaque and Scroll were sent to his father and the Memorial Cross was sent to his mother.

Sources: findagrave Library and Archives Canada William Henry Neitz