Private Walter James Middleton
678877
Born Agincourt, ON (modern day Scarberia)
Killed in Action June 15, 1917 within the Vimy Sector
Buried at Noeux-les-Mines Cemetery, Noeux-les-Mins France
I can imagine the decision to enlist in Toronto in 1916 was a rather easy one. The first rush to the recruiting stations occurred in 1914. These typically included men who either had experience as a soldier or served in the militia. The next round would have ridden the wave of patriotism with huge swaths of recruits rushing to the local recruiting stations as the new regional battalions started to be raised. Each battalion would consist of about 1000 men. However, as the army was able to be picky, they started by taking the brightest and the best. Prominent educated men were accepted for the officer class with by the strong young men, unattached and between the ages of 19 and 30 for the army.
In late 1915 and heading into early 1916 the next wave of battalions began to be raised. These units consisted of men either not accepted in the prior waves or those who by a sense of duty, obligation or peer and community pressure decided to sign their names and enlist. Walter James Middleton was one of these young men.
Prior to enlisting, Walter worked at Carter & Leonard’s Fruit Store as a driver. This store was located on King Street, right in the center or then Toronto, Ontario. One can surmise that his job was to deliver fruits and vegetables to local merchants, stores and restaurants situated across the downtown core. He lived in a very elegant house that still exists today on McGill Street just a few blocks north of King St. Like many of his contemporaries, the expectation to enlist would have been great for the young upstart and in February 1916, less than a month shy of his 20th birthday he enlisted in the 169th Battalion.
After basic training, the battalion departed for England, arrived in November and joined the 116th on New Years Eve. With the Battalion’s arrival in France in February, Walter would beging to refine his new role as a soldier and a warrior. He would have been there with his mates both celebrating the great victory at Vimy while seeing the devastation and tragedy of war first-hand. As the 116th played the role as a Reserve unit on the big day, he would have only joined the field of battle as the battalion was deployed to reconstruct trenches and repair needed communication infrastructure. It would have been in these days when the 20 yr old boy would have seen death first hand. Thousands of Canadians lay on the fields of battle while he was deployed with shovel in hand to cement our well-earned position.
After Vimy, the battalion was responsible for helping reinforce and improve the defences in the Vimy sector. This lasted throughout the rest of April and May and continued into June. It was on early morning of June 15th when the dark side of chance won out over the youngster. 200 men were returning from another night spent, shovel in hand, reinforcing the Canadian position in the Vimy Ridge sector when an artillery barrage was released upon them. Only one man was hit. It was the boy who only months prior spent his days delivering baskets of fruit and vegetables. It was young Private Walter James Middleton.
Lest we forget.