| Rank | Spr. |
| Service # | 124498 |
| Unit # | CE. 4th Cdn. Labour Battalion (Tunneling and Trench Construction) |
Regimental number: 124498. Born: 5/03/1892 at Freethorpe, Norfolk, England [attestation papers gives Acle, England]. The son of Robert Waters Youngs and Keziah (nee Bland). It would appear that his father had passed away and his mother also came to Canada, living in Ridgetown, ON. and married a Mr. Hawes. His mother is listed as Next of Kin on his attestation paper. Reference: RG150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 10670-39, Item: 327426 [military file not available 14/01/18].
Ernest ‘Ernie’ was living in Ridgetown with his mother Mrs. Keziah Hawes and worked in Sarnia, ON. as a labourer.
He enlisted in Sarnia with the 70th Battalion on 19/11/1915 at the age of 23 years and passed his ‘medical’ 20/11/15, height 5’10”.
After arriving overseas he was transferred to a Trench and Tunneling unit. He told his grandson Robert that he took part in the tunneling operations under Hill 10 and witnessed this mine being detonated. It was at the Battle of Cambrai (27 Sept. – 11 Oct., 1918) that Ernest lost his right eye. He would move through the medical casualty clearing facilities and in due time he found himself in the Military Convelescent Hospital at Epson in England. It was while recuperating that he met Olive Prince Bolton a Nursing Sister who would eventually be his wife. While he was recovering from his wound that he learned needlepoint, good therapy for someone who had lost an eye.
Curator Note: The information from stories told, are just that, the recollections of veterans in story’s told perhaps decades later and the dates and details may not be historically correct. The Battle of Cambria for the CEF was 8 to 10 October, 1918 and after a search I could find no reference material to a Hill 10 mine. JRH.
He was horourably discharged from the army as “Medically Unfit on 28 February, 1919. He would receive a Service Medal and a Wound Medal and a letter of thanks from King George.
Ernie came back to Chatham and worked at Libby McNeil & Libbys in the processing plant.
Ernest passed away 19 November, 1971 and is buried at Maple Leaf Cemetery, Chatham.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
| Sources | LAC, Ken Kay, Courtesy of D. Miller, Libby's Scrapbook |
| Height | 5' 10" |
| Age | 23 yrs |
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