158201 Pte. John Wilson was born in Listowel, Ontario, on July 25th, 1897. He enlisted on September 9th, 1915, lying about his age so that he could join the Army.
Although John enlisted with the 81st Battalion, he was transferred into the 4th CMR (Central Ontario Regiment) on June 29th 1916, following the 4th CMR's devastating losses in the "Battle for Mount Sorrel" on June 2nd, 1916.
John Wilson died on September 16th, 1916, at the age of 18 years old. He died while the 4th CMR was advancing on The Somme and was involved in actions around Monquet Farm, north of Poziers, France.
Private John Wilson's name (pointed out by great nephew, Mattan Jones, above, left) can be found on the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France, and on the Listowel Cenotaph (right), Ontario, where it was added on Remembrance Day, 2014.
Please click on the images, above, right and below, to see larger versions of the pictures, and on this Listowel Cenotaph link to see an image of the Cenotaph.
The Toronto Telegram newspaper carried the following article, in October 1916:
The above biography credit and memorial images are courtesy of Mattan Jones.
The newspaper article is credited to an October 1916 edition of the Toronto Telegram.