Private John Holyomes
John Holyomes was born in London, England on May 17, 1896. He immigrated to Paris and was employed as a mill hand in Penmans Mill No.1. He was single and 19 years old when he enlisted with the 125th Battalion in Paris.
John was a member of the 10th Platoon that embarked aboard the S.S Scandinavia on February 12, 1916. The 9th and 10th Platoons were the first contingent of soldiers from Paris, nearly 100 men, to go overseas. He seems to have spent some time with the 4th Battalion. But after spending some time in hospital, on July 7, 1917, he was transferred to the 1st Canadian Entrenching Battalion. Entrenching battalions were formed to hold surplus manpower and provide a training and holding pool near the front lines. Soldiers in these units were frequently used to improve defensive fortifications, dig trenches, and support engineering operations.
One month later, he was to be trained as an artificer with the Canadian Corps Tramway System, though he remained attached to the Entrenching Battalion. The Canadian Corps Tramway System was a vital, specialized 60cm narrow-gauge railway network on the Western Front. Operated directly by the Canadian Corps starting in 1917, it bypassed heavily shelled roads to efficiently transport ammunition, supplies, and evacuate casualties through forward trench zones. On July 7, he was taken to the Canadian Field Ambulance suffering from influenza. He rejoined the Entrenching Battalion on September 1. On September 15, he rejoined the 4th Battalion, only to be transferred to the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Centre, whose primary purpose was to house, equip, and provide final tactical training to freshly drafted or recovering soldiers before they were sent to the front lines. On November 26, he was transferred yet again to the Light Railway Construction Company.
All of these changes seem to have occurred at the same time that John was having various medical difficulties, including scabies, dermatitis, laryngitis and the effects of a poison gas attack. Ultimately, On March 19, 1919, he found himself at the Depot in Toronto for his demobilization. Private John Holyomes lived until June 30, 1973.