Campbell River Genealogy Society
~ LOST FAMILIES FOUND ~
GEORGE EDWARD MUNRO
Service Personnel Information 1914–1918
| Attestation Paper | |
| Service/Regimental Number: | 541844 |
| Present Address: | Whaletown, British Columbia |
| Birthplace: | Manchester, Ontario, Canada |
| Date of Birth: | 21 Feb 1880 |
| Next of Kin: | Ina Vernon Munro (wife) |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Trade or Calling: | Driver. Civil Engineer’s Assistant |
| Previous Service in a Military Force: | 5 Months 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles |
| Date of Attestation: | 5 October 1915 |
| Date of Certification: | 12 November 1915 |
| City and Province of Enlistment: | North Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Digitized Personnel Record: | Library and Archives Record Link |
| Description on Enlistment | |
| Height: | 5 ft 5 1/2 ins |
| Chest: | 37 ins |
| Complexion: | Dark |
| Colour of Eyes: | Blue |
| Colour of Hair: | Black |
| Religion: | Methodist |
Military Service Record 1914–1918
| Force: | Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force |
| Division (battalion or company): | 5th Army Troops Company |
| Unit: | Canadian Engineers |
| Rank: | Sapper |
| Honours and Awards: | |
| Photograph: | Not currently available |
| Date of Death: | 08 March 1919 |
| Age (at death): | 39 |
| Country of Burial: | France |
| Cemetery: | Ste. Marie Cemetery |
| Grave Reference: | Div 64 VI J4 |
| Location: | Le Havre: The cemetery stands on the ridge overlooking Le Havre from the north and is north of the N.182. It is actually situated in the commune of Graville-St. Honorine. |
| Book of Remembrance: | GEORGE EDWARD MUNRO’s name can be found on page 540 of the 1919 First World War Book of Remembrance |
His Story
George Edward Munro was born on 21 February 1880 in Ontario – one of seven children of Robert Munro and Nancy Mitchell. In c1881 the family was living in the Reach district of Ontario; in c1891 Robert and Nancy and most of the children were still there. Robert was a farmer. In c1901 Robert and Nancy were living with one of their sons and two others of their children. There is no record of George in c1901. By 1908, George was in B.C. where he married Ina Vernon Barrett on 21 September 1908 in Sapperton (now New Westminster). From information on a family gravestone, a girl, Verna, was born to George and Ina in 1909. (She died at the age of 18 in 1928.) In C1911 the family was living in Vancouver. There was another daughter, Melva, born in 1911. George was a lather.
George attested on 12 November 1915 in North Vancouver. At that time, his family was living in Whaletown, Cortes Island. Perhaps Ina and the girls had gone there to stay with her family. He was attached to the 6th Field Company (Canadian Engineers). [Based in North Vancouver, the first enrollment was in 1912.] He was a sapper – part of a tunnelling company, whose job was to dig under the German trenches and plant mines. He died on 8 March 1919 and was buried in Ste. Marie Cemetery in Le Havre, France. The War Diaries show that sappers were doing a lot of repair work in 1919, and on 23 February 1919, 97 Ordinary Ranks and 5 officers left Etaples for Le Havre. At this point the diaries end so there is no mention of what happened to George Munro in March.
Family Bits: In 1926, Ina remarried; marrying Herbert F. Hawkins, the nephew of George – her first husband. The families all lived in Whaletown on Cortes Island. Their baby, Herbert Hawkins, died in Whaletown in 1928. Ina died in 1965, Herbert F. in 1968, both in Vancouver.