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Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Remembering World War I
Yarmouth Connections
Name:
George Robert Whitman
Regimental Number:
282952
Rank:
Sergeant
Battalion:
85th Battalion
Date of Birth:
April 13, 1884
Place of Birth:
Arcadia, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia
Date of Enlistment:
March 9, 1916
Address at Enlistment:
Arcadia, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia
Place of Enlistment:
Barrington Passage, Shelburne Co., NS
Age at Enlistment:
31
Height:
5 Feet 7 Inches
Complexion:
Fair
Eyes:
Brown
Hair:
Black
Marital Status:
Married
Trade:
Farmer
Religion:
Baptist
Next of Kin:
Henrietta Whitman (Wife) Arcadia, Yarmouth Co., NS
Date of Death:
September 2, 1918
Age at Death:
34
Cemetery:
Dury Mill British Cemetery, France
Grave Reference:
I. A. 35
Commemorated on Page 522 of the First World War Book of Remembrance
Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on November 4
Listed on the Nominal Roll of the 219th Battalion
Listed on the Yarmouth War Memorial
George Whitman served some twenty years as a militiaman and regular. He took an interest in military
matters and when in his early teens joined as a trumpeter with the Yarmouth Battery of Artillery under
Major Thomas R. Jolly. In 1902, at eighteen, he was selected to represent the Battery at the coronation of
King Edward VII in London.
He rose to the rank of Brigade Sergeant Major, the highest non-commission rank of the 11th Brigade,
Canadian Field Artillery. After the outbreak of the war a portion of the 40th Nova Scotia Battalion was sent
to Yarmouth and he was appointed as a trainer of recruits in Yarmouth.
He volunteered for service in France, relinquishing his rank and joined the 17th Reserve Battalion. On
November 24th, he joined the 85th Battalion in France as a Private and a reinforcement. He was promoted
to Corporal on July 17, 1918 and Sergeant on August 10, 1918.
He was killed in action on September 2, 1918.
George Robert Whitman