Private Roy George Switzer
679188
Aged 20, Born 1895, Toronto Ontario
Lived on 447 Church St, Toronto ON
Killed in Action on August 24th in the Battle for Hill 70
His Ma would have been so proud of her boy. For so many things. At the tender age of 18 he had just graduated high school and was already working in the Canadian finance industry. His first job was selling insurance for Travellers Insurance. Interestingly, 106 years have passed since he resigned his position to sign up in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and his former employee is still one of the largest insurance companies in the world. Yet, at the time the dapper young man was quickly on his way to carving a promising future out for himself. His daily regimen would have included donning a smart, suit and tie. Shining his dress shoes to a sparkle and heading into the office. While Toronto, at the time was nowhere near they colossal crammed behemoth that it is today, his commute into work would still be quite the trek. From his house on Church Street in the heart of today’s Gay District, he would have required him to take either a long walk or hop on the trolly to transport him into the downtown Toronto Financial district.
Towering in at 6 ft 1 inches, he would have been a most impressive young lad ready to take on the world. And yet while he was only just at the starting line of life, the desire to serve, the pressure from friends, family, former classmates and society in general meant when the battalion brass band sounded, he immediately joined the queue to enlist. Was he going to give it al up? Of course he was and…really, he couldn’t not. On Feb 7th, 1916 at the age of 18 Roy George Switzer signed up to fight with the Toronto-based 169th Battalion.
Roy George Switzer was the eldest son of Mary Switzer and brother to 9 year old Anna. His father, George, had passed away from tuberculosis a few years earlier in 1912 and left Roy being the main breadwinner for the family. While his mother was British, his father and grandfather were born in Canada, his ancestry was German. Thus, growing up with the name Switzer, it might have been another reason why he wanted to prove his loyalty to Canada and attest with the CEF.
The 169th travelled to England in Oct of 1916. It was here where Roy continued his training to become ready to right as a soldier. On New Years Eve, Dec 31st 1916 he was transferred to the 116th. As a smart, young and energetic young private it would have been an easy decision to ask him to consider a leadership position with the battalion. However, to be truthful, an NCO who responded to a German name might have caused some consternation amongst the brass. Which leads us to review an anomaly found in his available history. We will visit the nature and timing of his passing shortly, yet Roy George Switzer has a claim to have two gravestones. He was buried in Aix-Noulette Communal Cemetery located in the town of Aix-Nouletter situated to the West of the city of Lens. His family also decided to create a memorial to ‘Corporal’ Roy Switzer. This rests today in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto. It was interesting that the family of Roy decided to give him a promotion in rank at the time of his memorialization. However, contemporary notices of his death on Sept 12th referred to his rank as a Lance Corporal. Whether he be a full corporal or a junior Lance Corporal, his service records only listed his rank as an ordinary Private.
A second discovery relates to how his mother was surprised upon receiving notice that her son has been killed in France. Her position was how could this be if he was just being treated in hospital for an ailment. Upon receiving notice of his death she remarked “I thought he was in hospital”. It was not clear if he told his mother in the most recent letter she received from him, however he was suffering from a bout of the highly contagious scabies and even missed the great raid at Fosse 4 in Avion while recovering in hospital from the nasty skin condition. What his mother did not know was that he did recover, returned to his battalion on August 1st, 1917 and the battalion soon was transferred to the front at Lens to assist in the attack on Hill 70.
Over 12 days from Aug 21st to Sept 2nd, the 116th lost 20 men while serving at the front at Hill 70. A closer examination of this battle will follow in the next few weeks, however it was the equivalent of the four companies of the 116th, along with numerous battalions from the 2nd Canadian division fighting an inner-city campaign in the middle of a entirely wrecked cityscape. Instead of trenches, the men fought from behind pile of ruined bricks, smashed buildings, from within partially destroyed cellars and always under the threat of being hit by exploding bricks hit by exploding shellfire. It was a lesser-known Canadian campaign that costs the CEF almost 1000 men killed and more than twice that wounded.
On the 24th of August, somewhere in the destroyed urban battlefield, Private (or Corporal or Lance Corporal) George Switzer was killed. The exact nature and circumstances of his death are not known…however thankfully his body was recovered and is interred at Aix Noulette Communical Cemetery in Aix Noulette France.
Remember him.