PRIVATE GUY BURNAH PEEL – No. 715045 – Active Service (World War I)
On November 11th, 1915, Guy Burnah Peel completed the Attestation Paper for the Canadian Active Service Force (CASF) at Truro, Nova Scotia.
He was 19 years 2 months old when, as unmarried man, he enlisted for the duration of the War. Guy was born in Springfield, Nova Scotia and gave his birth date as September 18, 1896. He listed his present address as Truro, Nova Scotia. Guy indicated that he had previous Military experience in the 76th Regiment Canadian Militia, but he had not served in an Active Formation or Unit of The Canadian Army.
Guy indicated he had previously worked as a clerk. He was described as standing 5 feet 5 inches with fair complexion and blue eyes and medium brown hair.
He was trained in Halifax with the 106th Battalion Nova Scotia Rifles, shipped overseas on July 15th, 1916, on the SS Empress of England.
He arrived in England at Liverpool on July 25th, 1916. In England he underwent training and was shipped to France with the 14th Battalion CHN on November 11, 1916. He never reached the front line and was returned to England after 4 weeks and determined by medical examination to be “underage and immature” on December 13th, 1916. The medical notes at that time state his suspected age was based on his size as 17. He was assigned base duty in England
He spent 6 weeks in hospital in England with influenza complicated with bronchitis commencing September 19, 1916. Private Peel was again medically assessed on December 20th, 1918, and the doctors felt he was now equivalent to an 18-year-old, but was underweight at 113 lbs. and in poor physical condition. He was taken on strength with the 2nd Quebec Pay regiment in London on 21 March 1917 and work as a pay clerk for the duration of the war.
Private Peel was given permission to marry on October 4thth, 1917, and taken on strength with the 23rd reserve Battalion in Bramshott on February 13th, 1918. He was diagnosed with “flat feet” and poor physique weighing only 113 lbs on July 20th, 1918. Private Peel was discharged from services due to demobilization on October 7th, 1919, and returned to Canada aboard the SS Tunisian.
He had served 3 years 10 months in England and 3 weeks in France. He was eligible for the British War Medal (England France). Guy Burnah Peel died on December 23rd 1944 in Toronto and is buried at Lakefield Cemetery, Lakefield Ontario.
PERSONAL HISTORY
PRIVATE GUY BURNAH PEEL
Guy Burnah Peel was born September 7, 1896 in Springhill, Nova Scotia to Weldon Starr Peel and Lahlia Mae Chapman. Weldon was born in West Hansford, Nova Scotia and Lahlia was born in Hastings, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. According to Guy Peel’s obituary, he was one of the first volunteers for active service overseas during the First World War where he spent four years as a clerk and motorcycle dispatch rider in England. Guy’s first marriage was to a Londoner, Marie Jose Adams, on December 23, 1917 in London, England. Their daughter, Joan Graham was born there on October 3, 1918. Sadly, Marie died on February 4, 1923 in the same city.
After the war, Guy became a salesman for the Great West Insurance Company and settled in Whittier, California, near his parents. Guy married his second wife, Laurita (Rita) Grace Cusack from Truro, Nova Scotia on February 9, 1925 in Boston, Massachusetts. Daughters, Helen and Evelyn, were born in Whittier. In 1929, the family moved to Ottawa and eleven-year-old Joan stayed in California to be raised by her paternal grandparents. Sons, Stuart and John, were born in Ottawa.
In 1941, Guy was made a District Organizer for the Canadian Order of Foresters and the family moved into a home at 11 Queen Street in Lakefield. Two years later, he accepted a position on the traveling staff of Elliott Stationery and Advertising Sales, Peterborough. An avid woodworker, Guy also ran a successful toy factory from his home that manufactured children’s wooden wheelbarrows. The company was known as Peel’s Peerless Products and by the mid- 1940s, Guy’s toy creations were shipped by rail all across Canada.
After surgery for an aneurysm at Toronto General Hospital, Guy Peel passed away from a stroke on December 23, 1944 at the age of 48 years. A member of Lakefield Baptist Church and the Canadian Order of Foresters, he was also Chairman of the Executive Committee of Branch No. 77, Lakefield Legion at the time of his death. Guy’s obituary described the Legion’s Guard of Honour presiding over ‘the Happy Warrior’s’ funeral service and all the Veterans present placing poppies in his casket. A bugler sounded the Last Post at his interment. Guy Burnah Peel is buried at Lakefield Cemetery.
Rita Peel married her second husband, Rev. Horace Kaye on August 14, 1950. A native of Yorkshire, England, he was a Presbyterian minister in Peterborough, Ontario. Laurita Peel Kaye died on November 9, 1961 and is buried at Lakefield Cemetery next to her first husband. Rev. Horace Kaye died on July 9, 1962 and is buried in Little Lake Cemetery in Peterborough.
FAMILY HISTORY OF GUY BURNAH PEEL
The parents of Guy Burnah Peel were Weldon Starr Peel and Lahlia Mae Chapman. Weldon was born on May 10, 1872 in West Hansford, Nova Scotia and Lahlia Mae Chapman was born on June 25, 1873 in Hastings, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. They were married on November 13, 1895 in Medford, Massachusetts and settled in Truro, Nova Scotia where Weldon and his brother Blake operated a successful barber business. Weldon and Lahlia raised their family of five children – Guy Burnah, Maxwell Chapman, Sybil Estella “Siss”, Ralph Weldon and Hugh Robert Peel. In 1922, Weldon and Lahlia moved to Whittier, California where he continued to practice his trade. Lahlia passed away on August 1, 1960 and Weldon died on March 5, 1965; both are buried in Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, Los Angeles County, California, USA.