1066263 Pte. William Ivan James Fox was born on January 20th, 1898, in the hamlet of Oxenden, Keppel Township, Ontario. The second child to James and Sarah, William was the couples' eldest son and was working on the family farm when hostilities broke out.
When the 248th Battalion C.E.F. was authorized, nineteen year old William volunteered for the Canadian Expeditionary Force, attesting to the new battalion on March 24th, 1917.
Sailing with the unit in May of that year, the 248th Battalion was absorbed into the 8th Reserve Battalion upon its arrival in England.
William was taken on strength of the 4th C.M.R. in the field on November 9th, 1917. Surviving Passchendaele William was serving with the unit in and around the village of Lens when he was struck by shrapnel on December 30th, 1917. Penetrating his chest the shrapnel also broke some ribs. William was medically evacuated and spent three months on the critically ill list.
Private William Ivan James Fox was struck off strength of the 4th C.M.R. on April 12th, 1919. Passing away at the age of seventy-two, on June 14th, 1970, William was laid to rest in Owen Sound's Greenwood Cemetery, Ontario.
Credit and thanks for this biography go to George Auer.