100 years ago: Wilbert Smith enlisted
On this day in 1916, Wilbert Smith signed up in Deseronto. He was born in the town on February 10th, 1897, the son of Alfred Smith and Addie (née Patton).
Wilbert joined the 155th Battalion with the regimental number 636186. He was five feet five and three quarter inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he sailed from Halifax on the SS Northland on October 17th, 1916 and joined the 21st Battalion in France on December 8th, 1916. On April 10th, 1917 he was injured in the right side of his face and neck by a piece of shrapnel. He spent the next seven months in hospital in England and then served with reserve battalions in England until the end of the war. He was suffering from 'nervous debility' in July 1918 and classified as B2 in terms of fitness.
Smith left England on the SS Aquitania at the end of November 1918. He was discharged as physically unfit for further service on January 20th, 1919 in Toronto. He married Marie Aletha Baker on November 24th, 1919 in Napanee and he died in Whitby, Ontario on January 21st, 1956.