Sergeant Robert Leslie Graham

The WWII attestation states a birth date of 21 April 1891, but the 1940 Medical History of an Invalid gives 21 April 1876 and age 64; the 1969 obituary says he died in his 94th year, supporting 1876. The 1905 Permanent Force medical recorded apparent age 28, height 6 ft, chest 40 in with 4 in expansion, brown hair, brown eyes and Presbyterian religion. Pension computations identify earlier regimental no. 8141 and document Active Militia service from 15 June 1893 to 3 March 1898, Permanent Force service 9 April 1898–8 April 1904 and 8 March 1905–31 March 1922, and retirement on pension from 1 April 1922. Prior-service records also establish South African service in 1900, with a medal and four clasps. A 1 March 1922 Record of Service states that he served in the 51st Regiment militia, later the R.C.R., was posted to the Instructional Cadre on 6 November 1912, did not proceed overseas during the 1914–18 war, and remained in Canada for instructional duties. It also records Queen's South Africa Medal service and service with the Yukon Field Force in 1899. Treasury correspondence dated 6 September 1938 identifies Graham at 381 Lyon Street, Ottawa, and lists earlier regimental identifiers #7006 and #12837. A 15 June 1942 Judge Advocate-General memorandum states that his annual militia pension was $930.37 and that pension payments had been suspended during periods when he was employed at daily or hourly rates: 12 May–30 July 1941, 24 September 1941–31 January 1942, and from 1 February 1942 onward, when he was still serving as a night watchman. Canadian Efficiency Medal records show qualifying service with the 3rd Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, including reserve service from 6 July 1929, and confirm that the medal was awarded under General Order 46 of 1942. Wartime pension and employment records describe Graham's public-service work in more than one way. A 14 November 1944 memorandum calls him a messenger with the R.C.A.F. at the Hangar Building, Ottawa, paid $75 per month; a 6 October 1947 Treasury memorandum describes the same 1 March 1943–15 November 1944 period as Clerk Grade IA at $900 per year. Graham himself wrote in 1949 that he had worked as a messenger in the R.C.A.F. Legal Building for 20½ months. A separate DND certificate confirms employment from 9 September 1941 to 5 July 1942, ending by voluntary resignation. Because the records use different job descriptions, they are preserved rather than silently reconciled. The 1947 memorandum also states that during the First World War he was a Q.M.S.I. and, despite repeated efforts, was refused the opportunity to go overseas; this is consistent with the 1922 primary Record of Service stating that he remained in Canada on instructional duties. In a 14 February 1942 letter Graham stated that he had volunteered for both the First World War and the Siberian Force but had been retained in Canada for instructional duties. He also listed a Permanent Force long-service/good-conduct medal in 1922 and the Efficiency Medal in February 1942. In March 1942 he reported working as a 45-cent-per-hour Ordnance Corps day watchman while instructing the 3rd Field Company, R.C.E., two nights a week and a Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps Store Company three nights a week without pay. A signed pension waiver dated 22 September 1940 identifies his former Permanent Force number as 12837 and rank/unit as Q.M.S.I., R.C.R. A 10 October 1940 Militia Service memorandum directly explains the 1940 discharge: Permanent Force records showed his true birth date as 21 April 1876, while he enlisted in the C.A.S.F. using 21 April 1891. Although categorized C-2, authorities concluded his instructional duties were too strenuous at his true age and ordered discharge for a false answer on attestation. In June 1940 Graham had written seeking instructional employment, describing himself as an R.C.E. Reserve instructor in infantry and small-arms training with 18 years' instructional experience. Graham had two documented R.C.M.P. employment episodes. Treasury correspondence states that he served as an R.C.M.P. Constable from 9 July 1923 to 13 April 1927. A 21 January 1938 Department of Justice ruling separately records later R.C.M.P. employment as a drill instructor attached to Division A, paid $2.25 per day plus $1.70 allowances; the reproduced ruling gives the terminal date as 13 April 1937 but does not provide a reliably legible start year. The ruling held that this later employment did not bar payment of his militia pension. On 30 September 1939 he wrote to the Minister of National Defence asking to return as an instructor, stating that he had been drilling N.P.A.M. recruits until formation of the new force, when he was considered over age. Wartime administrative correspondence confirms that Graham did have Canadian Expeditionary Force status in Canada: a 16 October 1919 memorandum records his discharge from the C.E.F. and enlistment in the Royal Canadian Regiment (Reconstituted Permanent Force), while a 7 July 1920 pay-office letter states that he had not been assigned a C.E.F. regimental number as Q.M.S.I. In November 1917 he was on temporary instructional duty at Saint John, New Brunswick; a proposed transfer to Quebec was not effected because his district could not spare him. An annual Instructional Cadre report rated Graham at 85% as an instructor, recording that he could satisfactorily instruct Lieutenants' and Captains' qualifying courses, had clarity in instruction, and had good demeanour and habits. A 9 August 1920 promotion recommendation records that an earlier February 1918 W.O. I recommendation had not been approved because of 'irregular conduct whilst at Sackville, N.B.'; the 1920 letter added that no further adverse reports had been received. This is retained as a documented service-record fact without inferring the nature of the earlier conduct. A later handwritten service-number summary in the file associates 5116 with his Boer War/R.C.R. service, 12837 with the R.C.R. Permanent Force, and C-89068 with the WWII Veterans Guards; because it is a secondary file summary, these associations are retained as corroborating evidence rather than used to override primary records. In March 1950 Privy Council decision P.C. 59/1188 directed that the remaining $1,116.62 pension overpayment from his 1943–44 public-service employment not be recovered. Graham subsequently reported that his pension cheque was still $69.78 rather than $77.53 and asked that it be adjusted. A 24 May 1943 letter from 381 Lyon Street, Ottawa, records that he had applied for a War Service Gratuity about two months earlier and was then not working. The 1950 pension file documents Graham's successful request to have the remaining overpayment waived: on 23 January he asked that the $1,116.62 balance be cancelled, the Pensions and Claims Board supported consideration because of his financial circumstances, and the Governor-in-Council submission recommended that the original $1,589.37 overpayment not be recovered. These records also preserve Graham's own description of the 1943–44 R.C.A.F. employment as messenger work in the Legal Building at $75 per month for 20½ months. Graham continued contesting the pension deductions after the war. In September 1948, from 121 Anna Avenue, Ottawa, he asked about approximately $775 that had been taken from his pension; the Pensions and Claims Board replied that authorities were considering a proposal that might relieve him partly or wholly of repayment liability. The surrounding 1948 memoranda are general Militia Pension Act policy work rather than additional military-service evidence. A 6 March 1942 departmental memorandum identifies his Ordnance employment as civilian Night Watchman and Doorman from 12 May to 30 July 1941 and again from 24 September 1941, and gives his Permanent Force pension as $930.37 per year. An August 1942 departmental reply explicitly recognized that he had not been permitted to proceed overseas during WWI and was contributing to the current war effort as a drill instructor for Canadian Army Reserve units. Contemporary 1941–42 employment records locate Graham's Ordnance civilian work at the International Marine Signal Building, Ottawa. They distinguish his duties as night watchman from 12 May to 30 July 1941, watchman from 24 September to 13 November 1941, and doorman thereafter, and record pay of $17.31 per week. A 2 November 1940 pension letter also shows that his military pension resumed effective 26 October 1940, the day after his Veterans Guard discharge. A 30 September 1940 Veterans Guard commanding officer's report describes Graham as an effective instructor: after enlisting as a Private he made a favourable impression, was tried as an instructor and appointed Sergeant, and instructed the Veterans Guard, 3rd Field Company Canadian Engineers N.P.A.M., and officer instructional schools connected with the Ordnance Corps. The commanding officer asked that he be retained because of a shortage of good instructors; a subsequent medical note recorded no medical objection to retaining him for the present. A 28 November 1933 Militia Service reply states that his pay and allowances at Permanent Force retirement were $1,860.75 per year and that his pension was computed on that amount. The 21 June 1940 Certificate of Medical Examination records fair complexion, blue eyes, grey hair and fair development; a scar on the left hand from a scald; complete upper and partial lower dentures; and a right inguinal hernia controlled by a truss. The same form records height 6 ft, weight 170 lb, chest 38 in fully expanded with 2 in expansion, confirming the structured measurements.

[Previous notes - manual reconciliation required]

Decorations: Medal, four bars.
Reported for service July 6, 1940, Lansdown Park Ottawa. Service:
51st Battalion Hemmingford Rangers. 1893-1898;
R.C.R., 1898-1922; Yukon Field Force, 1898-1899; South African War 1899-1900,
Born at: Hemmingford. April 21, 1876.
Spouse Lydia Isabella Scott Ayles Father William Graham Mother Ellen G Cain (Keane) Children Wilfred Leslie Birth 21 Apr 1876 Huntingdon, Le Haut-Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada Death 8 Jul 1969 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Residence 1931 Ottawa, Ontario

WWII service was entirely in Canada. Graham attested at Ottawa on 5 July 1940 for the Veterans Guard of Canada, was appointed Acting Sergeant on 16 July, and accumulated 113 qualifying days of WWII service with no overseas service. The formal Proceedings on Discharge state that he was discharged at Ottawa on 25 October 1940 for “Having made a false answer on attestation”; a contemporaneous medical assessment also found him unable to meet physical requirements. His earlier service included Active Militia service from 15 June 1893 to 3 March 1898, Permanent Force/Royal Canadian Regiment service from 9 April 1898 to 8 April 1904 and again from 8 March 1905 to 31 March 1922, South African service in 1900, and promotion through Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant, Company Sergeant-Major Instructor and Quartermaster Sergeant Instructor. Pension records show retirement effective 1 April 1922 after 25 years 155 days of pensionable service.

Wife at WWII enlistment: Lydia Graham, 381 Lyon Street, Ottawa. Separation-allowance records identify her as Lydia Isabel Graham and record their marriage at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 20 January 1909. In 1920 their five unmarried children were Evelyn Anne Graham (9 years 10 months), Wilfrid Leslie Graham (8 years 5 months), Jean Ellen Graham (5 years 11 months), Kenneth Clifford Graham (4 years 9 months), and Ewart Robert Graham (3 years 7 months), all at R.R. No. 2, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. The 1969 obituary identifies the surviving children as Mrs. Joseph Casey (Jean), Wilfred Leslie Graham, Miss Evelyn Graham, Ewart Graham of Ottawa, and Kenneth C. Graham of Orlando, Florida; it also records eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. In 1942 Graham stated that all three of his sons were serving in the Army or Navy. He also described a 31-year-old daughter as dependent on him and his wife as seriously ill in hospital; the correspondence does not identify the daughter.

Version: 3 Last modified: 2026-09-17 02:05:05 by: marc