Regimental Number: 18826
Rank: Corporal
Branch: 2nd Battalion; Canadian Army Medical Corps
William was born in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland on December 22, 1878. In February of 1914, he filed on a homestead at SE 6-72-3-W6; he traveled to Valcartier to enlist in the Canadian Army in September of that year. In spring of 1917, William was given the option of returning to Canada, being medically unfit. Instead, he was transferred to the Canadian Army Medical Corps and worked first in a hospital and then as a clerk in London. In June of 1918, William was seriously ill with appendicitis. He had also suffered from rheumatism before the war, and it worsened under the conditions of service. His brother was killed in France. William married an Englishwoman named Violet Rose during the war. It is uncertain when Violet died. In 1930, William married Bessie Nerstad; they had six children. William died on May 26, 1964 and was buried in the Glen Leslie cemetery.
Sources: Smoky River to Grande Prairie p. 105, 448