838245 Pte. Edward Butterfield was born on July 5th, 1897, in London, England. Emigrating to Canada with his family, the Butterfield's eventually settled in Owen Sound, Ontario. Edward was working as a laborer in the city when hostilities broke out.
With the raising of the 147th (Grey) Battalion, Edward joined the cause, attesting to it in Owen Sound on January 5th, 1916 and was assigned to "B" Company.
Billeted locally over the winter, the 147th Battalion mobilized in Owen Sound in the spring of 1916 and 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.. Edward was taken on strength of the 4th C.M.R. on April 22nd, 1917, in a draft of reinforcements to replace the casualties taken at Vimy Ridge.
Edward served with the unit through the remainder of the war as it fought its way through the battles of Passchendaele, Amiens and Arras. It was while the unit was in divisional reserve that Edward was wounded, probably by the continual enemy artillery fire, on September 6th, 1917.
It would appear that his wound was serious enough to take Edward Butterfield out of the war, as he was struck off strength of the unit earlier than most on January 24th, 1919. Returning to Canada, Edward married and he and his wife Violet, eventually settled in Detroit Michigan, USA.
Private Edward Butterfield passed away on October 30th, 1962.
Biography details credit: George Auer