838008 Cpl. Walter Irwin Adair was born on December 22nd, 1897, to Charles William and Annie Adair, in Normanby Township, Grey County, Ontario, where his family farmed.
Walter attested to the 147th Battalion, in Owen Sound, Ontario, on March 24th, 1916 and trained with them later that spring at Camp Niagara, and then later at Camp Borden.
Sailing to Europe with the 147th Battalion as a Private, Walter was taken on strength with the 4 C.M.R. on April 22nd, 1917, in a reinforcement draft after the Battle of Arras.
Walter served with the 4th C.M.R. for the duration of the war, earning promotion to Lance Corporal on 29th August 1918, and then Corporal on 15th November 1918, before being struck off strength, having served without any notable woundings or other incidents, on March 20th, 1919.
Walter married Ethel Barnicoat, in Guelph, Wellington County, Ontario, on 21st October 1921.
The 147th Battalion Association indicated that Walter died in 1922, and this was subsequently confirmed in his service file as being on 2nd November, 1922, just six weeks before his 25th birthday. Although there is nothing in his file to indicate any wounding or injury whilst serving, the cause of his passing is attributed, according to the War Graves Circumstances of Casualty register, to his time in service. He lies at rest in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, London, Ontario.
Biography details credit: George Auer