Bermudians in the Canadian Expeditionary Force

Many British nationals from the United Kingdom or colonies who were resident in Canada during the First World War joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force, which was deployed to the Western Front. A sizeable percentage of Bermuda's volunteers who served in the war joined the CEF or the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), either because they were resident in Canada already, or because Canada was the easiest other part of the British Empire and Commonwealth to reach from Bermuda (1,239 kilometres (770 miles) from Nova Scotia). As several CEF battalions were posted to the Bermuda Garrison before proceeding to France, islanders were also able to enlist there. Although the Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA) and Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) both sent contingents to the Western Front, the first would not arrive there 'til June 1915. By then, many Bermudians had already been serving on the Western Front in the CEF for months. No further contingents were sent to France by the BVRC after 1916, however forty-seven BVRC NCOs and Riflemen (Privates) were permitted to re-enlist in Canada during the course of the war. Although some enlisted in British Army organs in Canada, including the Royal Flying Corps, most joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Bermudians in the CEF enlisted under the same terms as Canadians.

Bermudians contributed to the Canadian war effort in other ways, including by sending their Canadian and Newfoundland-born children into the ranks of the CEF. Although a civilian, Bermudian-born Sir Joseph Outerbridge was the Commanding Officer of the Church Lads' Brigade from 1890 to 1894, and during the First World War was the Vice President of the Patriotic Association of Newfoundland (which was not then a part of Canada), which raised and maintained the Newfoundland Regiment (organised as part of the British Army, rather than the Canadian Militia). His sons included United States-born Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Leonard Cecil Outerbridge, MBE, DSO, who had been commissioned into the 10th Regiment, Royal Grenadiers, in 1912, and joined the CEF in 1915. He served with the 35th and 75th Battalions, and on the staffs of the first Canadian Infantry Brigade and the Fourth Canadian Division. He was twice mentioned-in-despatches an awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He became the Honorary Colonel of the Newfoundland Regiment in 1949, and was the Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland from 1949 to 1957. Lieutenant Norman Outerbridge of the 1st Battalion, The Newfoundland Regiment, was killed at Monchy-le-Preux on the 14th of April, 1917. Another son, Captain Herbert Outerbridge, MBE, also served on the Western Front in the 1st Battalion, Newfoundland Regiment.

The following list, which is undoubtedly incomplete, only includes those who joined Canadian military units during the war, not those who served in the RCN, or those who joined British Army units, such as the Royal Flying Corps, in Canada without passing through nominally Canadian military units first.

NAME	RANK	UNIT	COMMENT
Adams, Karl Leslie		38th Battalion (Ottawa), CEF
Anderson, Charles Adolphus	Private	10th Reserve Battalion, CEF
Astwood, Harold Frith	Private	1st Field Ambulance, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps
Astwood, James Clifton	Private	CEF
Astwood, Merven Stuart	Private	1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment
Baker, Kenneth		CEF	Enlisted August, 1914.
Barritt, Frank Leslie	Corporal	The Fort Garry Horse, CEF	Wounded, taken Prisoner of War, 21 Jan, 1917
Basham, Frederick Charles Tucker		28th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers	Commissioned. Awarded Military Cross
Brown, Ewart Cudemore		McGill University Overseas Contingent	Enlisted together with Edward Tucker (below), August, 1914. Both had worked for Bank of Montreal at St. John's, N.B. Appointed Lance-Corporal by April, 1915.
Brown, Frank	Private	42nd Battalion
Burgess, Alfred Hamilton	Private	198th Battalion
Burrows, Stuart Alexander	Private	Composite Battalion, CEF.	Promoted to Sergeant in 112th Battalion.
Burrows, John Francis	Private	69th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery	As no further contingents were planned to be sent abroad by the BVRC or BMA, travelled to Canada to enlist with W.E. Cooper, E.W. Doe, B.A. ??, H.E. Kemp, and S.S. Toddings. Provided a letter of introduction by Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda, Major-General Sir George Mackworth Bullock, they enlisted into the 69th Battery at Toronto on the 31st of March, 1917. Killed 1918.
Butterfield, Charles Nathaniel Arthur		University of Toronto Overseas Contingent	Attached 1st Tank Battalion
Butterfield, Harry Durham	Corporal	Canadian Garrison Artillery (McGill Contingent)	Commissioned Sept., 1918, into 2nd Canadian Division Signals Company, Royal Canadian Engineers. Meritorious Service Medal. Officer Commanding the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers, 1931-1932. Knighted.
Conyers, Charles	Sergeant	Canadian Expeditionary Force
Cooper, Clarence John	Captain	Canadian Army Permanent Veterinary Corps	Promoted Capt., 23/09/18
Cooper, Wilfred Eugene	Gunner	69th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery	See comment for John Burrows (above). Service #340206. Served as an officer in the BVRC into the Second World War with the rank of Captain (acting Major).
Crisson, John Ethelbert	Gunner	69th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery	Previously served in the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps. Left Halifax on SS Megantic, 24 November, 1917. Arrived in Liverpool, 6 December, 1917.Motorcycle despatch rider in France. Returned to Canada, 16 March, 1919. Discharged on the 31 March, 1919. Founded Crissons jewelry firm in Bermuda in 1921 with his brother, Herbert S. Crisson.
Curtis, Harry Croyle	Officer Cadet	University of Toronto Officers Training Corps	Transferred to Royal Navy. Commissioned.
Denham, Frederick William Clarke	Gunner	69th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery	Transferred to Trench Mortar Battery.
Dickins, Eldon Charles	Gunner	69th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery
Dickinson, Percival Erle	Private	Canadian Army Medical Corps	Died in Halifax, NS, Oct., 1918, a few weeks after enlisting. Detailed to nurse 1918 influenza patients, he caught, and died of, the disease himself.
Doe, Evelyn Walton	Corporal	119th (Algoma) Battalion, CEF, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery	See comment for John Burrows. Previously served six months in the BVRC with the rank of Rifleman. Served as a Gunner in the 69th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery. Awarded Belgian Croix de Guerre.
Doe, Joseph Eldon	Private	Canadian Cycle Corps.
Doers, Ivan	Private	163rd Battalion (French-Canadian), CEF
Down, Albert Edward	Private	28th Battalion (Northwest), CEF, North-West Canadian Regiment	Awarded Military Medal, November, 1916. Promoted to Sergeant, 1 December 1917. Specially mentioned, 1 February 1918. Gazetted Second-Lieutenant, July, 1918.
Down, George	Private	67th Battalion
Dunscombe, Howard Stanley	Gunner	Canadian Garrison Artillery
Dunstan, Norman	Private	2nd Battalion, Cyclist Corps, CEF
Fraser, Lavinia Flora	Nursing Sister	Canadian Army Medical Corps
Fraser, Lewis Hoyes	Captain	Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps	Had a practice in Peru before joining the CEF. Received the Military Cross in 1918 for going back under fire to rescue the wounded Major Alexader McPherson, who commanded the unit to which he was attached.
Frith, Frederick Harvey	Private	31st Battalion
Galway, Mark Vossmer	Private	7th Battalion
Gray, Edmund Brownlow	Private	Canadian Expeditionary Force	Wounded, 4 October 1918.
Harvey, Eldon	Officer Cadet		Completed O.T.C., Toronto, Canada, and resigned on 8 July, 1918. Training for commission in Royal Garrison Artillery in UK,September, 1918.
Harvey, Raymond	Officer Cadet	OTC, Toronto	Details same as for brother, above.
Higinbothom, Henry C.	Private	1st Depot Battalion, 1st Central Ontario Regiment	Previously a Second-Lieutenant in the Bermuda Militia Artillery. Employed in Toronto by Bank of Montreal. Offered commission into CEF in 1915. Conscripted 1 January 1918. Wounded, September, 1918.
Heustis, Harold Waldo	Private	46th Battalion
Jackson, Cyril		Canadian Expeditionary Force	Enlisted August, 1914
Jackson, Lionel Arnot	Private	187th (Central Alberta) Battalion, CEF	Wounded and discharged as medically unfit.
Johnston, Harold Clifford	Private	163rd Battalion (French-Canadian), CEF
Kemp, H.E.	Private	69th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery	See comment for John Burrows (above)
Motyer, Arthur		Canadian Field Artillery	1905 Bermuda Rhodes Scholar. Enlisted August, 1914. Killed-in-action 15 September 1916.
Motyer, Ephraim		Canadian Field Artillery	Commissioned from the ranks.
Ratteray, William Alpheus	Private	10th Reserve Battalion, CEF
Robinson, Charles Bryan	Captain (Adjutant)	1st Canadian Contingent, Salvation Army Battalion	From Spanish Point, in Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. Appointed in April, 1915, as a Chaplain from the Salvation Army to 20th Battalion (Central Ontario), CEF. Resigned as Chaplain on 16 November, 1916. Enlisted into CEF. Musketry instructor in Canada. Commissioned. Proceeded to France with the 7th Battalion (1st British Columbia), CEF. Lieutenant, 17 February, 1918. Awarded Military Cross, for gallantry at Flanders. Killed in action, 2 September 1918.
Robinson, Wilfred Ryland	Private	Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps	#528485
Simpson, George Wilmot Rae	Lieutenant. Wounded 22 May 1915	Canadian Expeditionary Force	Enlisted August, 1914.
Smith, Charles Kennelly	Sergeant	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regiment)	Enlisted at Valcartier, Québec, on the September 23, 1914. The first Bermudian to be awarded the Military Medal for gallantry under fire. Killed in action in France on the 22 August, 1917.
Smith, Wilfred Seymour	Private	Queen's Own Rifles of Canada	Enlisted August, 1914. Went to France as a Machine Gunner in 3rd Canadian Battalion (Toronto Regiment), CEF. Discharged in UK and commissioned into British Army, December, 1914.
Toddings, Samuel Steward		69th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery	See comment for John Burrows (above). Training for commission in Sussex, England, September, 1918.
Tucker, Edmund	Sergeant	1st Heavy Battery, Canadian Field Artillery	Left Canada aboard SS Megantic on 30 September 1914. Arrived in Devonport in October. Proceeded to Salisbury Plain, then to France, 1914. Promoted to Sergeant before January, 1916.
Tucker, Edward		Canadian Expeditionary Force	Enlisted together with Ewart Ewart Cudemore Brown (above), August, 1914. Both had worked for Bank of Montreal at St. John's, N.B.
Tucker, Alexander Ewing	Private	2nd Universities Company, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.	McGill University. Enlisted 20 May 1915. Killed in action at Sanctuary Wood, serving in Eastern Ontario Regiment, 2 June 1916.
Vallis, Alfred Hoare	Private	116th Battalion, CEF	From Prospect, in Devonshire Parish, Bermuda. Worked for tailor George Smellie before the war. Killed in action, 27 August 1918.
Wainwright, James Morris	Corporal	11th Battalion, Canadian Garrison Regiment
Wainwright, John Darrell	Gunner	69th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery	Previously served for two-and-a-half years in the BVRC, appointed Lance-Corporal, then for eight months as a Private in the 57th Regiment, Peterborough Rangers (Canadian Militia).
Walker, Herman Walter		6th Regiment, Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles. 2 CEF	Commissioned Second-Lieutenant and transferred to Royal Welch Fusiliers, September, 1915. Promoted to Captain.
Wallace, Charles Ryan	Private	47th Battalion
Ward, Stephen Remson	Private	29th Battalion
Wilkinson, Edgar Campbell		69th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery
Williams, Reuben Campbell	Private	17th Canadian Reserve Battalion
Wingood, Allan Charles	Captain	8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles), CEF	Killed-in-action, 16 September 1916.
Winter, William Vyvyan Ross	Captain	Canadian Pemanent Army Service Corps	Seconded in 1917 to the Nova Scotia Battalion of the Canadian Forestry Corps for service on the Western Front with the CEF, 1914-1918. Royal Canadian Army Service Corps D.S. and T.O., Military District No. 7, St. John, New Brundswick, 1918-1924. Retired as a Captain, 23 June 1924.