Private William Everette Brewster
264384
Born 1895 Attala, Alabama USA
Killed in Action Oct 27, 1917 at Passchendale
He would have been so happy to tell everyone the news. The 20 yr old boy just made the first real decision of is life. His father had died far too soon 6 years prior leaving his mother, Ida, to raise the 8 children with one of the way. The family lived in the deep south. Atalla, Alabama…sunny days, riverboat rides and cotton mills. It was as far from the chaos of the Western Front as one could get. In the summer of 1916, William Everette Brewster, grandson of a Civil War vet decided to take the long trek north and enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
The 1500 km long journey would have caused him to combine long walks, passenger buses, long train rides and maybe even come horse and carriage. His destination was Camp Bordon, just east of Barrie Ontario. The summer of 1916 saw a long string of Americans travel north to enlist in the CEF. The United States has not yet entered the conflict, but legions of adventurous and idealistic young lads wanted to ensure they did not miss the big show. For an American youngster, grandsons of those who fought in one of humanities bloodiest conflicts, the US Civil War, wanted to show their family that they were as strong and as brave as their forefathers. This war was one of idealism…still in 1916. Newspapers and a new array of books and periodicals told stories of the German Army brutalized the Belgian and French people. If they did not join up to push back the evil Hun then who would?
The end of Everette’s journey north would find him at Camp Bordon. It was here where he became Private Everette Brewster joining his mates from across the United States in the new 213rd "American Legion" Battalion. After training, the Battalion left for England in the late fall and arrived in Liverpool on Nov 20th, 1916. The men of the 213rd were absorbed into a number of battalions on the eve of departure for the front. While waiting for the order to depart to France, Everette was placed with the 116th arriving on the continent on March 17th. This was less that three weeks away from the scheduled start of Canada’s greatest and most storied battles to date, The Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Everette was able to survive Vimy before participating in the raid at Fosse 4 at Avion which saw the entire battalion go over the bags. The next was the attack on Hill 70 at Lens which costs the battalion over 25 of his new pals were killed. Scores more were wounded in the actions. The 116th was taking a beating. However, with the successes demonstrated by the CEF in the spring and summer, Currie was asked to lead his men on the attack at Passchendale.
It was on the eve of his attack when he heard the great news. On September 28th, his big brother, Rossiter Julias received his call to join the US Army regiment enroute to France. He was going to be a Doughboy! Thus, doing into their new operation the young private was elated to have one of his brothers join the fray. However, disaster would strike for the Brewster family. Based on the timing, it would be certain that as Rossiter stepped off the gangplanks onto French soil, he would get the notice that his brother, the one he came to join in glory on the western front, was killed in combat. Private William Everette Brewster, grandson of a Civil War Vet and Canadian Soldier, on Oct 27th was killed in the mud and morass of Passchendale. His remains were never found and his name remains carved in the marble on the Menin Gate, Ypres Belgium.
Lest we forget.