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May 12, 1896
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Born in Camberwell, London,
England to Edward and Blanche Gertrude Knights
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Apr 25, 1916
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Attested into the 109th
Battalion CEF in Lindsay, Ontario
Ø Number 724265
Ø Next of kin given
as Edward Knights, father, 11 Cobalt Rd, Walthamstow, Essex, England
Ø Previous occupation
given as Engineering
Ø No previous
military experience given
Ø Religion given as
Church of England
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Jul 20, 1916
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Sentenced to 56 days in
detention for disobedience and breaking out of camp.
Transferred to the #3 Special
Service Company, Special Service Battalion while in prison
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Oct 8, 1916
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Transferred to the 155th
Battalion in Kingston, Ontario
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Oct 17, 1916
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Embarked the SS Northland in
Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Oct 28, 1916
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Disembarked in Liverpool,
England and the battalion proceeded to Bramshott to continue training
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Dec 5, 1916
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Transferred to the 21st
Battalion
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Nov 17, 1916
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Sentenced to 3 days Field
Punishment #2 for an unspecified offence
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Dec 6, 1916
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Arrived at the CBD (Canadian
Base Depot) in the Rouelles Camp, Havre, France as part of a draft of 147
reinforcements from England and TOS (Taken On Strength) the 21st
Battalion
The CBD war diary notes on
this date that there was no fuel in camp and packing crates were being burned
to cook meals
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Dec 29, 1916
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After leaving the base depot,
he joined the 2nd Canadian Entrenching Battalion in Hersin
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Feb 26, 1917
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After leaving the entrenching
battalion, Private Knights joined the 21st Battalion in the front
line trench west of Vimy Ridge
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Aug 15, 1917
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The 21st Battalion
attacked Hill 70 near Lens, France along with the rest of the Canadian
Corps. Fighting was fierce, and often
the men were engaged in hand to hand combat.
Private Knights was killed in this action. His body was never recovered from the
battle field and is honoured on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, Vimy
Ridge, France for those killed in France during the war with no known grave.
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Following the war, the British
War Medal, Victory Medal and Memorial Cross were sent to his mother, Mrs.
Gertrude Knights, 81 Queen’s Rd., Markhouse Road, Leighton, Essex, England
The Plaque (Dead Man’s Penny)
and Scroll were sent to his father, Edward Knights, 34 Soho Square, Oxford
St. W., London, England
The Memorial Cross and medals
were returned as “no such number”. A
note was entered into the file that the Memorial Cross was erased and renamed
for another soldier
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