Private Vernon Lewis Borden
264420
Born Greenville, NJ, USA
Lived in Detroit, Michigan
Killed in Action – April 10th, 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge
The Battle of Vimy Ridge has forever been celebrated as a distinctly Canadian affair. 100,000 men, enlistees to the Canadian Expeditionary Force were brought to a modest plain at the nape of a strategic height with the orders to dislodge the stubborn Germans holding it. They were comprised of men from dozens of battalions, batteries and companies. Each unit was raised in communities scattered across our great nation and each were proudly Canadian. However, is there a chance for other nations to claim even a little glory from that storied day? A closer look will show that while the patch on the arm signified the soldier was Canadian, a not so insignificant number were American.
And hence we come to the story of Vernon Lewis Bordon. Vernon was an American. He was born in Greenville, New Jersey in 1897. Greenville is a borough of Newark closely situated to Manhattan. Sometime in his youth, Vernon’s family moved to Detroit, Michigan. With the booming auto sector, Detroit was growing to one of the largest population centres in the USA. Soon after the end of the war it would boast that it was the 4th largest city in the country, all driven by the thirst for personal transportation. There was a side impact that came with Detroit’s proximity to Canada. After four years of war and the urgent call for more men to enlist, young energetic and adventurous men from America responded to the call, took the five minute trip across the border and enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
With the growing number of ‘Yankees’ arriving in Canada to sign up and join the war, in 1916 the Canadian military leadership actually created a battalion just for them. Based in Toronto, but accepting enlistees from border towns like Windsor, the 213th American Legion Battalion was formed. Of the 162 men enlisted in the battalion 117 of them were born and bred Americans. Vernon, now Private Vernon Borden was one of them.
Vernon was just an average enlistee for the CEF. He was 5 ft 6, of relatively slight build and worked as a Labourer prior to enlisting. Soon after he joined, he would train and travel to England and arrive as a predominantly American unit in Dec 1916. However, once the preparations for the planned operations for 1917 were put into play the men of the 213th were absorbed into the 173rd Canadian Highlanders. This was Hamilton-based unit perpetuated by the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada.
On March 16th 1917, less than a month before the planned attack of Vimy Ridge Private Vernon and some men from the 173rd were transferred to the 116th. It would be here where he and the 116th would get its’ first true taste of combat. That would turn out to be a most bitter one for the young man. He was one of the unfortunate soldiers who were deployed, armed with a shovel late in the evening of April 9th/10th to extend the Canadian trenches to the newly captured German ones. While feverously trying to consolidate the victory by creating safe havens for the men to traverse the battlefield, Private Bordon was hit in the armpit. Whether it be by a lucky shot in the dark or the absurd randomness of shellfire, he would be wounded and later succumb to those injuries. His death reminds us that the sad journey up the walk to notify distraught mothers and fathers of the loss of their sons happened both in our country and in those of our neighbours to the south in America.
Lest we forget.