Private Walter Long
Survivor of WW1
Service Biography
Walter Long of Montreal served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War as Private 3040253. He enlisted at Toronto in June 1918 and went overseas to England, where he later served with the Canadian Salvage Corps. In September 1919 he suffered a fractured skull and underwent hospital treatment. He returned to Canada late in 1919 and was discharged at Halifax on 12 December 1919 following demobilization.
General Information
Conflict:
WW1
Regimental No.:
3040253
Cause of Death (in war):
Survived
Branch:
Army
Regiment:
Canadian Salvage Corps
Battalion:
Headquarters Section
Company:
Date of Birth :
Place of Birth:
Huntingdon, Quebec
Date of Enlistment:
Age at Enlistment:
19 years 8 months
Date of Discharge:
Age at Discharge:
21 years 3 months
Date of Death:
Age at Death:
Country Born:
Canada
Trade or Calling:
Hospital Orderly
Next of Kin:
Mrs. Bella Martingale (aunt), 74 Inspector Street, Montreal, Quebec
Address at Enlistment:
74 Inspector Street, Montreal, Quebec
Religion:
Presbyterian
Place of Enlistment:
Toronto, Ontario
Was a Prisoner of War:
No
Height:
5 ft 4.5 in / 164 cm
Weight:
118 lbs / 54 kg
Chest:
35.0 in / 89 cm
Expansion:
3.0 in / 8 cm
Marital Status:
Single
Prior Military Experience:
No
Saw Service in:
Great Britain
Place of Discharge:
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Discharge Type:
Regular/End of Service
Discharge Notes:
Battle Died/Wounded:
Length of Service:
559 days in service
Buried at:
Links
Ranks
| Conflict |
Rank |
Regiment |
Branch |
Unit |
Company |
Date From |
Date To |
| WW1 |
Private |
Canadian Salvage Corps |
Army |
Headquarters Section |
|
|
|
| SOS to Canadian Discharge Depot recorded in October 1919. |
| WW1 |
Private |
Canadian Discharge Depot |
Army |
Buxton |
|
|
|
| TOS/SOS report and effective dates differ; interval normalized conservatively. |
| WW1 |
Private |
1st Central Ontario Regiment |
Army |
Reserve / depot organizations |
|
|
|
| Casualty forms contain abbreviated reserve/depot unit names; do not over-expand. |
| WW1 |
Private |
1st Central Ontario Regiment |
Army |
1st Depot Battalion |
|
|
|
Service Chronology
1898-09-07 — Born at Huntingdon, Quebec. [pp.1,7]
1918-06-01 — Enlisted/called up at Toronto, Ontario as Private 3040253, 1st Central Ontario Regiment; occupation Hospital Orderly. [pp.1,7,27,35]
1918-07-05 — Medical examination at Toronto; Category A2. [p.1]
1918-07-19 — Embarked from Montreal, Quebec for overseas service. [p.27]
1918-08-05 — Arrived in England. [p.27]
1918-08-20 — Taken on strength with a reserve/depot organization at Witley; casualty forms use abbreviated unit wording. [pp.27,29,33]
1919-01-29 — Temporary/administrative posting to headquarters in London recorded on the service-and-casualty form. [p.29]
1919-03-31 to 1919-04-04 — Struck off strength / taken on strength through depot organizations associated with the 1st Central Ontario Regiment; Witley/Ripon entries are abbreviated. [pp.27,29,33]
1919-08-30/31 — Taken on strength in London with Headquarters Section, Canadian Salvage Corps, from the 1st Central Ontario Regimental Depot. [pp.28-29]
1919-09-18 — While lifting a heavy sack of clothes, overbalanced and fell in London; sustained fracture of the base/vault of the skull, with left-ear hearing impairment. [pp.23,43-47,51-52]
1919-09-18 — Admitted to 1st London General Hospital, Camberwell, for fractured skull. [pp.12,16]
1919-09-24 — X-ray recorded a linear skull fracture. [p.47]
1919-10-25 — Discharged from 1st London General Hospital after 40 days. [p.16]
1919-10-28 / 1919-11-18 — Further admission to Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Millbank, recorded with conflicting dates in two hospital records. [pp.14,16]
1919-10 to 1919-11 — Medical-board review recorded continuing headaches, memory difficulties and impaired hearing in the left ear; further hospital treatment was not expected to provide material benefit. [pp.23,43-46,51-52]
1919-10-13 to 1919-10-20 — Struck off strength / taken on strength through the Canadian Discharge Depot, Buxton; the forms carry differing report/effective dates. [pp.28-29]
1919-11-29 — Struck off strength for return to Canada and embarked at Glasgow aboard Cassandra. [pp.28-29]
1919-12-08 — Disembarked at Halifax, Nova Scotia. [p.29]
1919-12-12 — Discharged at Halifax, Nova Scotia on demobilization. [pp.30,35,39]
Notes
Worked at miners hospital, cobolt, Ontario prior to enlistmernOn 18 September 1919 Long stated that while lifting a heavy sack of clothes he overbalanced and fell. Records diagnose fracture of the base/vault of the skull; the hospital sheet notes a fissure fracture passing upward from the left ear and slight left-ear deafness. Long later reported severe intermittent headaches, some memory loss and impaired hearing in the left ear. He was admitted to 1st London General Hospital, Camberwell on 18 September and discharged 25 October after 40 days. A later Queen Alexandra Military Hospital/Millbank entry conflicts internally: one record shows admission 28 October 1919 while another index card gives 18 November 1919. The abbreviated England posting sequence also requires one more pass.
Additional Service Notes
Walter Long was born at Huntingdon, Quebec on 7 September 1898. At enlistment he lived at 74 Inspector Street, Montreal, Quebec, was single and Protestant, worked as a Hospital Orderly, and named his aunt Mrs. Bella Martingale at the same address as next of kin. He had no previous military or naval service. The recruit form records height 5 ft 4½ in and chest 35 in with 3 in expansion. Later invalid medical records contain conflicting personal data, including a birth date of 7 December 1900, height 5 ft 6 in, weight 120 lb and former occupation printer; these later values are preserved as source conflicts rather than replacing the primary recruit data.
Version: 4 Last modified: 2026-09-18 17:36:00
by: marc
