Private Peter Bryant enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force for the First World War in Nakusp on October 25, 1915. His personnel record shows he was born on January 19, 1898; Bryant was only 17 when he enlisted.
Born in Oxford, England, Bryant listed his mother, Elizabeth Bryant, as next-of-kin. His father’s name, Francis, also appears in the record. Bryant, an unmarried rancher, was declared medically fit for service on November 6, 1915, at the Vernon Military Camp.
Assigned to the 54th Kootenay Battalion, Peter Bryant sailed from Halifax on the Saxonia on November 22, 1915. The troops arrived in Plymouth, England, on December 1st. The Battalion was sent to Bramshott for training.
The record shows that Bryant received a promotion to the rank of acting corporal on July 27, 1916. His tenure was short-lived: on August 8, the 18-year-old was “Reduced to ranks for breaking ranks while on march.” The 54th Battalion, including Bryant, left England for service overseas on August 13, 1916. They disembarked at Havre, France, the next day. Shortly after, the Battalion was sent to the Ypres Salient in Belgium. In mid-September, these troops began their march to the infamous mud of the Somme battlefield, in Northern France. They took part in the attack on Desire Trench on November 18th.
Bryant’s records show that he was moving through the various stages of the military’s field medical system from November 19 through the 23rd. Each successive stage took him further from the front line. By November 27, he was recorded as being ”dangerously ill”, due to a gunshot wound in his left thigh, compound fracture of the left femur, and trench feet. On December 5, he was admitted to #7 Canadian General Hospital in Étaples, south of the port of Calais on the northern French coast. Peter Bryant, age 18, “died of wounds received in action” that same day. He is buried in the Étaples Military Cemetery; in Plot 20, Row E, Grave 8.
An online search for Peter Bryant, using his birthplace, and birthdate, led to an account of an Edwin Frederick Bryant, born in Oxford to parents Francis and Elizabeth Bryant on January 19, 1898. In September 1913, at age 15, Edwin emigrated from England to Canada, by himself. He described his occupation as “farmer”. Edwin is said to have joined the Canadian Expeditionary force in 1915, and served with the 54th Battalion in France. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Private Edwin Frederick Bryant died on December 5, 1916, and is buried in the Étaples Military Cemetery in Plot 20, Row E, Grave 8. Unsurprisingly, the burial records show that both Edwin and Peter had the same regimental number, 443166. No personnel record under the name of Edwin Frederick was found.
How Edwin came to be known as “Peter”, how he got to Nakusp, and what he did while here are all unknown at this time. Incidentally, page 60 of the First World War Book of Remembrance lists both Bryant, Edwin, of the 54th Battalion, and Bryant, Peter, of the 54th Battalion. This Book of Remembrance is always on display at the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa: one new page each day is available for public viewing.
Peter Bryant’s name is memorialized on the Nakusp Cenotaph. Edwin is memorialized in England, at All Saints’ Church in Highfield, a suburb of Oxford.
(WWI Canadian Expeditionary Force personnel records are available online from Library & Archives Canada.)
