109432 Pte. Francis William Kidd was born in Toronto on August 26th, 1883, to John Kidd and Matilda Sexton. Unfortunately, Matilda died when Francis was 3 years of age.
Before the War, Francis had followed his father into the tin-smithing trade in Toronto and married Dorcas Ida Dole on 25th March 1907. Records show that they had 5 children together: 2 sons and 3 daughters. After the family moved to Michigan in 1926, Francis was married twice more: in 1929 and 1935.
However, in the immediate pre-War period, Francis served 3 years in the 9th Mississauga Horse militia and consequently served periods of time with the Governor General's Body Guard.
With the military now in his blood, when the call came, Francis enlisted very early on, attesting into the 4th CMR as part of the original in-take in November, 1914.
During his service with the 4th CMR, it was believed that Francis was wounded seriously enough, perhaps losing one or more fingers, for him to eventually be discharged. His service file sadly doesn't contain the usual medical records to confirm this, though on 15th December 1917 he was discharged on compassionate grounds and returned to Canada.
After a full and active life Francis William Kidd subsequently passed away on 1st January 1954, aged 70.
The above biography is courtesy of Heather Baiano and Sandy Lyons.
The image and additional & service details are courtesy of 4cmr.com