Regimental Number: M57435
Jack was born on April 5, 1896 at Armstrong Corner, New Brunswick and was raised on a farm. Jack enlisted in the Canadian Army in St. John, New Brunswick in January of 1916 where he served as a Gunner with the No. 9 Siege Battery, Canadian Field Artillery. Jack embarked from Halifax on January 25, 1917 and arrived at Liverpool on February 6. On July 17, 1917, Jack was transferred to France. Jack received gunshot wounds to his back, face, and legs on November 19, 1917 at Passchendaele. He was dangerously ill for about a month before he began to improve and still had limited movement in his legs when he was invalided to Canada in June of 1918. He was discharged on October 1, 1918 at Fredericton, New Brunswick. Gunner John Alexander Mitchell served in Canada, England and France and received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Once recuperated, Jack decided to move west to the Peace River District after reading about the agricultural potential of the area. He made the trip across Canada with George Tilley and the Harris brothers. In 1919, he filed homestead applications on NE 26-71-1-W6 and SE 35-71-1-W6 in the DeBolt area. In 1925, Jack married Hilda Moon from Bezanson following which they moved to Detroit, Michigan where they had two sons; Robert (1926) and Donald (1928). The family decided to move back to the Bezanson area in 1928. Jack soon found employment as a grain buyer for United Grain Growers located at Huallen. Two more children were born; Jack Jr. (1930) and Dorothy (1932). They left Huallen in 1937 and purchased Norman Moon’s farm at Bezanson where Joyce was born in 1942. All the children attended the one-room Bezanson School. Jack enlisted with the Army during WWII and served with the Veteran’s Guard in 1941 and was stationed at the Sarcee Base in Southern Alberta until 1943 when he was discharged. Jack sold the farm in 1952 and moved to St. Albert. Hilda passed away in 1960. In 1965, Jack moved back to New Brunswick where he met and later married Beatrice Clarke.
Contributed by Wanda Zenner
Sources:
Service file
Smoky River to Grande Prairie
South Peace Regional Archives – land database