One dear soldier remembered

This Remembrance Day, my family will be taking time out to honour our great-uncle, Augustus Quinton.

Augustus was our grandmother Irene Hobbs’ brother.

He was wounded in action in Belgium on Sept. 8, 1916.

He died from his wounds Nov. 19, 1916, aged 19 years, three months.

He was buried at Wandsworth Cemetery, London, U.K., Nov. 22, 1916.

Gus was born in November 1895 to William and Selina Quinton of Red Cliff, Bonavista Bay.

At the time of his enlistment on Feb. 29, 1916, he was a fisherman alongside his father. He was not a very big man, standing at five foot five and weighing in at 119 lbs., but he saw the need (for whatever reason, we will never know) to enlist and fight for his country.

On Feb. 29, 1916, he enlisted in the Newfoundland Regiment and was allotted Regimental No. 2195. He signed an attestation for 60 cents of his dollar-a-day pay to be sent home to his father. On March 23, 1916 he embarked for the U.K. aboard the SS Sicilian. His battalion was then stationed in France and fought in Belgium.

While fighting in Belgium on Sept. 8, 1916, he received a gunshot wound to the back and was sent to King George Hospital, London. Hospital records indicate an immediate paraplegia wound one inch to the right of the seventh dorsal vertebra. Incontinence of urine and feces. Further X-ray showed injury to the third, fourth, fifth and sixth dorsal vertebrae. He was operated on on Sept. 21, 1916, to remove bone and relieve pressure on his spinal cord.

He recovered from the operation but steadily grew weak and died on Nov. 19th, 1916.

His worldly possessions at the time of death were sent home to his father, William, along with 15 pounds of pay owing. He had one linen bag containing the following:

1. bar of chocolate

2. letters from home

3. writing pad and envelopes

4. photos

5. cigarettes and case

6. three books

7. pencils

8. badges (two shoulder, one cap)

9. purse containing 7 pounds, 10 pence

10. small tin

11. eight one-penny stamps

12. three cakes of soap 13. handkerchief William Quinton received the news of his son in a telegram from the Colonial Secretary on Sept. 15th, 1916, indicating he was seriously ill with a gunshot wound to his back. On Sept. 29, 1916, after the operation, another telegram to William indicated his son was progressing very favourably. Then on Nov. 20, 1916, William received the sad news his son had died of his wounds at the King George Hospital.

Augustus Quinton is buried at Wandsworth Cemetery, London, gravesite No. 766. All his possessions were sent home to his father, along with a British war medal and a Memorial Plaque (also known as the death penny).

I have in my possession photocopies of service and hospital records from which the above information was taken. A military historian named Roger Snook visited my mom, Ruby Matthews (née Hobbs), at her retirement home in Gander, back a few years ago, and provided her with the copies.

Ruby Augusta Matthews is the niece of Augustus Quinton.