The First to Fall
Lance Corporal Harry Thomas Newton
746216
Born in Saintfield, ON - 1897
Lived in Uxbridge, ON
Interred at Uxbridge Cemetery, Uxbridge ON.
As the SS Olympic pressed forward, driving its’ way across the Atlantic in the July of 1916 one could imagine what was going through the heads of the men it was transporting… the men of the 116th Ontario County Battalion. The entire battalion was on board and excitedly anticipated their chance to join their countrymen and knock back the Hun pushing them back from Northern France and Belgium. The men would have plenty of chances to contemplate their fates as they made their way to England. As they basked in the summer sun and chatted with their brethren, they would brag on who would be the first to bag a German. Who would be the first to go over the top? Who would be the first to have a medal pinned on their breast pocket? And yet…intermixed in their conversation they would wonder…who amongst them will be the first to fall? Lance Corporal Harry Thomas Newton…while no doubt engaging in this same enthusiastic banter would not know that would be the first to fall.
Young Harry Newton was only 18 year old when he signed up to join the 116th. He was a slight young man, of average height and weight (135 lbs) and hailed from the hamlet of Saintfield…a small community just east of Uxbridge. While the transport from Halifax to England would have been fairly uneventful, there is a good chance he knew something was up as he started to feel unwell. Arriving in port on July 31st, LC Newton was admitted to the Isolation Hospital at Aldershot on Aug 2nd. He was immediately provided treatment for spinal meningitis, an infection of the brain and spinal cord. Harry would not recover from this debilitating condition and passed away three weeks later on Aug 23, 1916.
Every young soldier dreams of experiencing the sights, sounds and excitement of war. They eagerly look forward to earning their chance at glory. Some accept and realize the high probability they may fall. Harry’s fate would not live up to these lofty goals of an excited youthful infantryman. Instead, he died even before he had any real chance to prove himself. His body was returned to Canada and interestingly, while his fallen mates from the 116th may lie far away in France and Belgium, today he shares the same final resting spot of his own Lt Colonel, Samuel Simpson Sharpe in the Uxbridge Cemetery in Uxbridge, ON.
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