839103 Pte. Charles Isaac Buchanan was born on May 28th, 1891, in Artemesia Township near Flesherton, Ontario, where he was working as a farmer when hostilities broke out.
With the raising of the 147th (Grey) Battalion, Charles joined the cause, attesting to it in Owen Sound on May 16th, 1916, days before the battalion left for training at Camp Niagara. As the conditions in the Camp were wanting, the unit moved to the new training facility of Camp Borden in late June.
In September the unit received their orders to proceed overseas, but due to an outbreak of diphtheria they were detained in Amherst, Nova Scotia, for over a month. The unit finally sailed for Great Britain on November 14th, 1916, on the S.S. Olympic, a sister ship to the Titanic.
On January 1st, 1917, the 147th Battalion ceased to exist when it became the nucleus for the 8th Reserve Battalion, whose task it was to supply reinforcements to the 58th Battalion and the 4th C.M.R. Charles was taken on strength of the 4th C.M.R. on March 7th, 1917. Charles would have seen service during the Battle of Arras (April-May, 1917) that saw the Canadian Corps storm Vimy Ridge.
Charles served with the unit through the trials of Passchendaele, the German Spring offensive and into the Final Hundred days that saw the unit fighting in the Battles of Amiens, Arras and Cambrai. It was during the pursuit to Mons, while the 4th C.M.R. was fighting around the Canal de L'Escault that Charles was Killed-in-Action, on November 5th, 1918.
"He was with his Company during the attack west of Vicq, and whilst advancing towards the final objective, was instantly killed by an enemy shell which exploded nearby."
Private Charles Isaac Buchanan death came less than a week before the signing of the armistice. He lies at rest in Vicq Communal Cemetery (some 9 miles / 15 km west of Mons) and his sacrifice is remembered locally on the Flesherton Cenotaph, Ontario (right).
Biography details and Flesherton Cenotaph image credit: George Auer