Private Arthur Lepage

At enlistment he was married, Roman Catholic, a labourer, 5 ft 5 in tall with a 35-in expanded chest and 3-in expansion. Later medical records give weight 130 lb. A Medical Board at Shoreham in April 1917 recorded debility and bronchitis and recommended category C3. On 17 July 1917 near Le Havre he was kicked by a horse while watering his team, fracturing the left 8th and 9th ribs. Contemporary accident, casualty and hospital records repeatedly identify the injury as left-sided and state that it occurred on duty and that he was in no way to blame. A 1919 leaving-service examination instead describes old fractures of the right 8th and 9th ribs; that later side notation is retained as a documentary conflict, while the 1917 event is recorded as left-sided.

Arthur Lepage enlisted at Valleyfield on 20 April 1916 as Private 661028 with the 163rd Battalion. He embarked for England on 18 November 1916. After reserve/depot service he was taken on strength of the Canadian Forestry Corps Base Depot at Sunningdale and proceeded to France on 13 July 1917, where he served with 53rd Company. On 17 July, while watering horses near Le Havre, he was kicked by another horse and fractured the left 8th and 9th ribs. Contemporary records state that the injury occurred in the performance of duty and that he was not to blame. Following treatment at No. 2 General Hospital, Le Havre, Bath War Hospital, and the Canadian Convalescent Hospital at Bearwood, he returned to service. Later Canadian Forestry Corps records document service through the 51st District, 55th District and 128th Company administrative sequence. The surviving transfer entries do not support assigning more precise unit-boundary dates without risk of over-interpreting the record; 128th Company is explicitly confirmed on his discharge papers. He returned to Canada aboard HMT Saturnia in June 1919 and was discharged at Montreal on 29 June 1919 on demobilization.

Wife Rose Anna Guimont Lepage, Canal Street, Valleyfield, Quebec. Family form records seven children: Onesiford (16), Rose Delima (12), Eugene (10), Blanche (8), Armand (6), Medore (4), and Rene (1). Father Gilbert Lepage was living at 1280 St. Elizabeth, Montreal; mother deceased.

Final QA complete. Arthur Lepage, Private 661028, born Montreal 5 June 1879, was a married Roman Catholic labourer living on Canal Street, Valleyfield. His wife Rose Anna Guimont Lepage was next of kin; the family form records seven children and his father Gilbert Lepage living in Montreal. His attestation records previous service with the 65e Régiment. He attested at Valleyfield on 20 April 1916 with the 163rd Battalion and embarked for England on 18 November 1916. A Shoreham Medical Board in April 1917 recorded debility/bronchitis and recommended Category C3; this is a distinct episode predating his later accident. He was taken on strength of the Canadian Forestry Corps Base Depot at Sunningdale, proceeded to France 13 July 1917, and was posted to 53rd Company. On 17 July near Le Havre, while watering horses, he was kicked by another horse and sustained fractures of the left 8th and 9th ribs. Contemporary accident, casualty and hospital records consistently identify the fractures as left-sided, state that he was on duty, and find him in no way to blame. Hospital treatment included No. 2 General Hospital at Le Havre, Bath War Hospital, and Canadian Convalescent Hospital Bearwood. The May 1919 leaving-service examination instead describes old fractures of the right 8th and 9th ribs; this later contradictory notation is preserved as a source discrepancy and does not replace the repeated contemporary left-side evidence. The November 1917 Canadian Forestry Corps entries document an administrative sequence involving 51st District, 55th District and 128th Company. Final review does not support assigning exact TOS/SOS boundaries among those three from the surviving handwriting with sufficient confidence, so the workbook preserves the sequence without inventing precision; 128th Company is explicitly confirmed by discharge records. He embarked Glasgow aboard HMT Saturnia on 13 June 1919, disembarked Montreal 18 June, and was discharged there 29 June 1919 on demobilization. No POW episode or combat wound is supported.