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May 24, 1900
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Born in Stoney Stratford, England to Harold and
Kate Mist
At a very young age he was placed in the Stony
Stratford orphanage on the death of his parents. He also spent some time at
the Ramsgate orphanage.
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Feb 10, 1904
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Boarded out to Mrs. Mayo at 71 Anson Road,
Wolverton Bucks, England. Mrs. Mayo eventually became his foster mother. Mrs. Mayo later gave him up and he was
taken in by the Fegan’s Boys Home
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Apr 7, 1911
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Embarked the SS Empress of Britain in the care of
the Fegan’s Boys Home with 94 other boys
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Apr 14, 1911
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Disembarked in Saint John, New Brunswick and
proceeded to Toronto, Ontario
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This photo was
taken at the Fegan’s Home in Toronto of the boys in April 1911
but unfortunately there are no names associated with the photo. It
it is assumed that Alfred Mist is there with the group
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Apr 21, 1911
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One month before his 11th birthday, he
was put to work on a farm to pay for his passage from England and employed at
the Woodleigh Farm near Ida Ont. He
was boarded with the L.H. Winslow family in Ida, and stayed there until 1916
when he joined the army. It should be noted that he paid off his debt to the
Fegan’s Boys home before doing so.
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Feb 7, 1916
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Attested
into 136th Battalion at Millbrook ON
Ø Number 805311
Ø Next of Kin given as Mrs.
Mayo, (foster mother) 43 Aylesbury Road, Wolverton England
Ø occupation given as Farmer
Ø No previous military
experience given
Ø Religion given as Church of
England
Ø Posted to “D” Company
The battalion trained in the Kingston, Ontario
area
Alfred lied about his age as he was only 15 years
old
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Sep 15, 1916
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Forfeited
3 day’s pay for being absent
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Sep 25, 1916
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Embarked
SS Corsican at Halifax for England
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Oct 6, 1916
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Disembarked in Liverpool, England and proceeded
to the West Sandling Camp where the battalion was absorbed into the 39th
Reserve Battalion to continue training
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Dec 7, 1916
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Transferred to the 64th Battalion in
Shoreham
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Dec 29, 1916
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Transferred to the 34th Battalion in
West Sandling
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Apr 16, 1917
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Transferred to the CFC (Canadian Forestry Corps)
District No. 1 in Edinburgh, Scotland
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Apr 27, 1917
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Transferred to the 7th Company
Canadian Forestry Corps in Inverness, Scotland. This was later renamed the 107th
Company
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Nov 30, 1917
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Transferred to the 6th Reserve
Battalion in Seaford
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Feb 7, 1918
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Awarded the Good Conduct Badge
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Mar 28, 1918
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Transferred to the 21st Battalion
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Mar 29, 1918
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Arrived at the No. 2 CIBD (Canadian Infantry Base
Depot) in Etaples, France and Taken On Strength the 21st Battalion
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Apr 3, 1918
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After leaving the base depot, he joined the CC
Rein C (Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp) in Calonne Ricouart, France as
part of a draft of 98 reinforcements destined to join the 21st
Battalion
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Apr 17, 1918
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After leaving the reinforcement camp as part of a
draft of 6 reinforcements, Private Mist joined the 21st Battalion
resting in Wailly, France and was posted to “D” Company
Note that he was still a month away from his 18th
birthday
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Nov 11, 1918
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On the morning of November 11, when the Armistice
came into effect, the 21st Battalion had advanced to the town of
Noirchain, Belgium. This was
approximately 5 km from Mons, where the war for the allies had begun in 1914
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Dec 13, 1918
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The 21st Battalion crossed the Bonn
Bridge to enter Germany as part of the Occupying Force and proceeded to
Seigburg
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Jan 23, 1919
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Granted 14 days leave to England
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Feb 15, 1919
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Alfred Mist rejoined the battalion in Ham Sur
Sambre, Belgium from leave
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Apr 3, 1919
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Embarked the Western Australia in Havre, France
On arrival in England, he was posted to “P” Wing
in Witley pending return to Canada
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May 14, 1919
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Embarked the SS Caronia in Liverpool
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May 22, 1919
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Disembarked in Halifax, Nova Scotia and proceeded
to Kingston, Ontario by train
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May 24, 1919
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Discharged from the CEF in Kingston, Ontario
Ø Rank on discharge Private
Ø War Service Badge Class “A”
issued number 277356
Ø Proposed residence on
discharge c/o L Winslow, Ida, Ontario
Alfred Mist was entitled to the British War Medal
and the Victory Medal. However, those
medals were never issued to him.
Following his death in 1976, his family requested, and received his
medal entitlement from Veterans Affairs Canada. The family did however have his WW2 medals
as shown below.
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Jul 28, 1920
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Married
to Kathleen “Kitty” Hall in Toronto, Ontario.
His occupation at the time was listed as Driver and his residence was
18 Alexander Street, Toronto. His
bride, Kitty, was also a Home Child from England
During the interval between the 2 Great Wars, Misty
found employment at Weston’s Bakery in Toronto delivering bread door to door
with his trusty horse and buggy.
At
the outbreak of hostilities in Europe in 1939, he wanted to serve again. In June of 1940, he attested into the Non
Active Permanent Militia in Toronto and was posted to the 2nd
Battalion, Royal Regiment. He was
deemed too old to see combat, but because of his WW1 service, he was promoted
to the rank of Sergeant and employed as a Drill Instructor
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Dec 9, 1940
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Attested
into the Canadian Active Service Force #2 District Depot in Toronto. A short time later he embarked for England
and was posted to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment in Aldershot
to be employed as a small arms instructor.
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Aug 19, 1942
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Sergeant
Mist is reported to have embarked with the Royal Regiment thinking it was
another training exercise. However,
once out in the English Channel, it was revealed that they were on a mission
to conduct a raid on Dieppe, France.
An officer of the regiment instructed Sergeant Mist to remain on board
the ship and not go ashore under threat of arrest. He complied and did not go ashore. Most of the men of the Royal Regiment were
either killed, wounded or taken prisoner in the failed raid.
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Jun 7, 1943
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Transferred
to the No. 9 POWE (Prisoner Of War Escort) Unit
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Jun 18, 1943
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Embarked
for Canada in charge of German prisoners and escorted them to the POW Camp in
Winnipeg, Manitoba. He returned to
duty with the No. 2 District Depot in Toronto to be employed as a Drill
Instructor at the Exhibition Camp
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Nov 19, 1945
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Discharged
from active service in Toronto and settled with his family on Cedric Avenue,
Toronto
On
being discharged, Misty returned to work with Weston’s Bakery in Toronto,
first back in his old job of delivering bread with a horse and buggy, then
later promoted to the Ontario Order Desk
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Alfie, or as his family called
him Misty, was active with the 21st Battalion
Association and attended many of the reunions. A special one for him
was the 50th Anniversary of the formation of the battalion held in
Kingston in 1964. His promise to the
association was to bring a ceremonial
cake for the occasion. The photo below
was taken with that cake in the home of Alf Tugwood in Kingston. His wife Kathleen attended with him for the
occasion
and there is a photo of her in front of the Kingston Armouries. She is in the
background centre dressed in blue. I’m
sure Misty is close by, but not
identifiable in the photo
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Feb 1, 1976
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After
a lengthy stay in a nursing home, Alfred Roland Mist died in Toronto Ontario
and was buried in the Prospect Cemetery, Toronto
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