838798 Pte Frederick Simon Yandt was born on 15th July, 1898, in the farming community of Neustadt, Ontario, a predominately German speaking community in Grey County. The eldest child of Jacob and Hannah, Fred lied on his attestation papers claiming to be a year older than he really was.
Fred joined the 147th (Grey) Battalion on 8th March, 1916. With the battalion still in its infancy and with no infrastructure to house so many soldiers, he was billeted and trained locally over the remainder of the winter.
In May he accompanied the battalion to Camp Niagara, and from there the battalion was sent to Camp Borden, a newly founded training area some thirty miles west of the City of Barrie. When the 147th Battalion arrived, there was very little in the way of infrastructure and the battalion was put to work clearing the bush to facilitate the camp's construction before their training began.
It was late September before the 147th Battalion received orders to proceed overseas. After a week's leave the battalion left Borden by train. En route to Halifax the unit was detained in Amherst, Nova Scotia, for over a month when a number of soldiers contracted diphtheria. The unit finally sailed for Great Britain, on November 14th, 1916, aboard the S.S. Olympic.
On 1st January, 1917, the 147th Battalion ceased to exist when it became the nucleus for the 8th Reserve Battalion. The task of this new reserve unit was to supply fully trained reinforcements to the 58th and 116th Battalions as well as the 4th C.M.R.
Fred was taken on strength of the 4th CMR on 6th March, 1917. He was serving with the unit during the Battle of Arras when the Canadians stormed Vimy Ridge. He also saw action during the battle of Hill 70 and was wounded during the closing days of Passchendaele, at the end of October 1917. Wounded in the hand by shrapnel, Fred was medically evacuated and wouldn't return until the New Year. Injuring himself during the Battle of Amiens, Fred was once again medically evacuated with synovitis of the knee and would not be returned to the unit.
While in England he met and married Mary Jane Davies in October 1918. Fred and his new family returned to Canada aboard the S.S. Minnedosa. Arriving in St. John, New Brunswick, Fred was discharged from the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 28th April, 1919. The couple eventually settled in Indian Head, Saskatchewan, where they raised their seven children, having named one of their daughters Amiens. The battle where the Canadian Corps achieved another stunning victory and where Fred had unintentionally received his &Blighty&.
838798, Private Frederick Simon Yandt passed away on 21st November, 1985, in Maple Ridge, British Columbia and his remains would be returned to Saskatchewan to be buried in Regina's Riverside Memorial Park Cemetery, alongside his wife Mary.
Credit and thanks go to George Auer for the above biography.