A son remembered

Private Thomas “Clifford” Wilson, only son of A. Burton Wilson and his wife, Bella Huff, was 23 years old when he fell at Passchendaele on Nov. 4, 1917.

A notice of his death in the local press stated that he was among the Prince Edward boys who had enlisted with the 254th Battalion. “The heavy casualty lists these days are bringing sad news to many homes throughout this Canada of ours. To all, the great tragedy is coming every day nearer and nearer home. Many fine lads have paid the supreme sacrifice in France, in these last great battles and to many homes have come great sadness and sorrow,” the notice concluded.

Wilson was born on February 17, 1894 at Irvine Gore, now Wilson Road, in Hallowell Township. Both his father and grandfather were farmers and respected members of the Anglican Church. Burt Wilson was also a member of the Masonic Lodge and in later life became Master of the Allisonville Orange Lodge. He was also president of the Hallowell Conservative Association.

Wilson was baptized in St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Wellington, on Dominion Day, 1894. Two years later his sister, Nellie Kathleen, was born. The children lived with their parents and grandparents on the family farm which was a considerable distance from SS No. 14 Hallowell, along the Gore Road. Despite the difficulties in reaching the schoolhouse during the winter months, both received a good education. Clifford Wilson later attended Picton Collegiate Institute and following graduation took a position with the Bank of Nova Scotia in Wellington. When The Great War broke out, he was continuing his banking career at the Metropolitan Bank (today the location of the law offices of Henderson and Williams) in Picton.

In July, 1916, the Allied attempt to break the stalemate along the Western Front at the Battle of the Somme failed. The Allied line moved forward at the cost of high casualties of which more than 4,000 were Canadian soldiers. With such a high attrition rate new recruits were urgently needed and on November 9, 1916, local newspapers announced the formation of a new battalion, the 254th (Quinte’s Own) under the command of Lt. Col. A.P. Allen of Belleville. The goal was to raise 1,000 men from Hastings and Prince Edward, train them and send them to England for final preparation, then use them as an effective fighting force on the Western Front.

Wilson spent Christmas at his family home, in 1916, and on December 28 enlisted with the 254th Battalion in Picton. His enlistment was noted in the local press and a short time later it was reported that local members of the Battalion were busily drilling under Sergeant Clifford Wilson who had just returned from a training course in Kingston.

Men of the 254th Battalion were drafted into both the 235th and 253rd Battalions before sailing for England on May 26, 1917. Wilson contracted mumps during the voyage and was admitted to hospital upon arrival in Liverpool. He would later revert to the permanent rank of Private, likely owing to his medical condition. He was drafted into the 21st Canadian Battalion which was assigned to the Passchendaele area to relieve the 72nd Battalion in the front line to the southwest. Many were killed in action, in a short time, Wilson among them. News of his death was slow in reaching his family. Ironically, on the night he died, his sister Nellie had sung the solo O Lord Grant Us Peace, O Lord at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Wellington.

In reporting his death, a Wellington news correspondent wrote, “This is yet another of Prince Edward’s noblest sons who is filling a hero’s grave.”

Nearly a century later Pvt. Wilson would be memorialized by Michael Korn, purchaser of the former Wilson farm. Korn erected a monument to the young soldier on this property, its inscription reading, “Killed at Passchendaele, Belgium while in the service of King, Country and Empire.” Last year, Korn sold the farm and has moved to Nova Scotia. He is currently making arrangements to have Wilson’s memorial moved to a new location on a neighbouring property.