Name: Douglas Coy Pierce Regimental Number: 223235 Rank: Private Battalion: 85th Battalion Date of Birth: February 8, 1894 Place of Birth: Cedar Lake, Digby County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: November 4, 1915 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Cedar Lake, Digby County, Nova Scotia Age at enlistment: 21 Height: 6 feet Complexion: Fair Eyes: Blue Hair: Dark Trade: Electrician Marital Status: Single Religion: Baptist Next of Kin: Alice Pierce (Mother) Cedar Lake, Digby County, Nova Scotia Date of Death: June 13, 1917 Age at Death: 23 Buried at: Aire Communal Cemetery, France (Plot: I. F. 2.) Commemorated on Page 309 of the First World War Book of Remembrance This page is displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on July 6 Listed on the Nominal Roll of the 85th Battalion. Douglas Pierce was the son of George W. and Alice E. Pierce, of Hebron, Yarmouth Co., Nova Scotia. He enlisted in 1915 with the 85th Battalion. Douglas Pierce and Emerson Ladd Curry both with the 85th Battalion participated in the recruiting rally of February, 1916 in the Beaver River area, Nova Scotia urging more volunteers for the battalion. While serving in France, Douglas became ill and was admitted to hospital on June 11, 1917. He died two days later of nephritis (acute kidney failure). His friend, Emerson would later write: “My first few months in England were very pleasant and much enjoyed. I had one chief chum, Douglas Pierce. He was as a brother to me and I had such joy knowing him that day by day he was being brought closer to the Master…” Douglas Coy Pierce is also commemorated on the family monument in the Cedar Lake Cemetery Cpl. Douglas Coy Pierce 85th Battalion Died for King & Country in France June 13, 1917 Aged 23 yrs Sources: Veterans Affairs Canada Additional Information: “A Monument Speaks” A Thurston; 1989 (pp 270-271)

Douglas Coy Pierce

photo: findagrave

photo: by Wartime Heritage Oct 2020