C company wrap
Final look at what happened to the men of C Company
EDITOR’S NOTE: Th is brief summarization of what happened to the men of C Company, 105th Battalion, who trained in Summerside in 1916, concludes the series of articles created to stimulate interest in the members of the company whose final resting places are unknown. Anyone interested in the work of the MacNaught History Centre to profile the men of C Company can contact Fred Horne or Jean MacKay at 902- 432- 1332.
The men of C Company, 105th Battalion, who assembled and trained in Summerside in 1916 went to Valcartier, Que., for further training, be-
fore travelling to Halifax to board the S. S. Empress of Britain.
Of the 441 men who enlisted, 45 did not make the trip, having been discharged for being medically unfi t or underage.
Not long after the 105th Battalion reached England, it was disbanded and most of the C Company members became reinforcements for the 13th, 14th, 25th, and 26th Battalions.
Seventy- eight of the men lost their lives overseas – 44 killed in action, 21 died of wounds and 13 died of disease/ accident. Of those who returned home, 158 had been wounded. Two hundred and ninety- six
men married, the majority of them upon their return from the war.
Over time, approximately 21 per cent left P. E. I. to live in the United States, while 25 per cent moved to other provinces, the majority going to New Brunswick ( 18), Ontario ( 17), Nova Scotia ( 14) and British Columbia ( 14).
Th e number who died before 1930 came to 15. Th e number of deaths in other decades were: 1940s – 33, 1950s – 57, 1960s – 82, 1970s – 86, 1980s – 48, 1990s – 8. Th e last C Company member to die was Harold Staff ord Lidstone of Brae who passed away in November 1998.