838085 Pte. Samuel Albert Hanson was born in the London suburb of Dulwich, England, on October 30th, 1896.


Emmigrating to Canada in 1906 the family eventually settled in the town of Meaford, Ontario. Samuel was the eldest son of Joseph and Harriet Hanson's four children.


Samuel was working as a bookkeeper and stenographer when hostilities broke out and he joined the two independent infantry companies being raised by the 31st (Grey) Regiment, for overseas service. When the 147th (Grey) Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force was authorized all the men of these two companies were taken on strength of the new battalion on November 29th, 1915. Assigned the service number 838085, Samuel was initially employed as part of "A" Company under the command of Captain Corrie.


As the unit was being billeted locally over the winter, Samuel, being part of "A" Company would have been housed in Owen Sound until the unit left for centralized training in the spring of 1916. The 147th Battalion mobilized in Owen Sound in May to finalize the administration and organization of the unit, just prior to their departure for Camp Niagara later that month. As the conditions in this Camp were wanting the unit moved to the new training facility of Camp Borden in late June.


The unit received their orders to proceed overseas in September and whilst en route to Halifax, there was an outbreak of diphtheria and they were detained in Amherst, Nova Scotia, for over a month. The unit finally sailed for Great Britain, aboard the SS Olympic, sister ship to the infamous Titanic, on November 14th 1916.


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. Samuel was taken on strength of the 4th C.M.R. on April 21st, 1917, in a reinforcement draft after the First Battle of Arras.


838085 Private Samuel Albert Hanson served with the 4th CMR for the remainder of the war. Struck off strength of the Canadian Expeditionary Force on March 20th, 1919, Samuel had come through it all without any physical wounds.




Credit and many thanks go George Auer for the above biography.