Private William Alexander Neilson
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Name:
Neilson,
William Alexander
Date of birth: 1886-01-28
Place of birth: Fredericton New Brunswick Canada
Next of kin: William Alexander Neilson (Father), St. John, New Brunswick
Marital status: single
Occupation (attested): Farmer
Occupation (normalized): General Farmer
Address:
Calgary
Religion: Presbyterian
Date of death:
1917-03-29
Cause of death:
Killed in action
Buried:
Ecoivres Military Cemetery, IV. J. 20.
MILITARY INFORMATION
Regimental number: 696985
Highest Rank:
Private
(31st Battalion)
Rank detail
Private, 31st Battalion, Infantry (Army).
Degree of service: Europe
Survived war: no
Battle wounded/killed: “...Killed by shrapnel in front line trench, Rolincourt Sector. He was buried in Ecoivres Military Cemetery by the Chaplain of the 31st Battalion.” (From Circumstances of Death Report sent to Pte. Neilson’s father.)
RESEARCH INFORMATION
CVWM ID: No CVWM ID in our database, but try
this.
CWGC ID: 65860
LAC ID:
557980
Service file: B7259-S023
Uploader's Notes: Son of Alexander T. and Annie A. Neilson, of Fredericton, York Co., New Brunswick. From the 31st Battalion War Diary, March 29, 1917: "Morning broke fine and clear, clouding over as day wore on, with occasional light showers. Our artillery active all day, enemy's retaliation not so heavy as usual. The 27th Battalion on our immediate left, attempted a raid on the enemy's front line at 2.53 a.m. They found the trench empty. The enemy put up a strong bombardment on our front lines and rear works and inflicted 12 casualties to our Battalion; 6 killed and 6 wounded..."
Uploader's Research notes: Some information regarding Pte. Neilson's death was taken from original Canadian Government documents sent to his father now in the collection of Mr Chris Jordan, Charles Town, West Virginia, USA. [Private Army Canadian Infantry 31st Battalion ]
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Date added: 2004-09-04
Last modified: 2013-07-20