33rd Battalion

Lt. Col. Wilson

/ Matthew K Barrett / Leave a comment

Lieutenant Colonel Alex Wilson
33rd (London) Battalion
Wilson

I know more about Colonel Wilson, as a military man, than his own brother does. To my mind, he is one of the finest fellows living, even though he is a Grit … I picked him out against the wishes of everyone in London, and I am afraid they have made the old man’s road somewhat hard. He is very hard of hearing which, to my mind, accounts for all the trouble on his part.

 (Sam Hughes to Robert Borden, 12 Nov 1915)

Born on 17 November 1855 in Seaforth, Canada West, Alexander Wilson was pharmacist with thirty-five years’ experience with 33rd Huron Regiment. A noted marksman, Wilson was a five-time member of Canada’s Bisley team and won several Dominion Rifle Association awards. By the time he was appointed to lead the 33rd Battalion in late 1914, he was, however, past his prime.

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The Flag Hugger

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Lieutenant Colonel A.E. Bywater
33rd Battalion
Bywater

Considerable pressure is being brought to bear on adopting a new flag for Canada, in many cases by certain factions who were not over-zealous fighting Wars I and II and whose loyalty is often doubted.

Were a new flag to be adopted would it not be the most deadly insult and ingratitude toward the thousands buried in foreign lands, draped with the Union Jack and the thousands maimed and broken and hundreds of thousands who fought to keep that flag flying, a flag that has been baptized in the blood and sacrifices of our boys and now, next to the cross is a sacred emblem?

(Bywater, Globe and Mail, 17 Oct 1945, 6)

Arthur Edwin Bywater was a gentleman farmer and militia officer born in Colbone, Ontario on 7 April 1869. He first enlisted in the 21st Battalion before being appointed senior major with Lieutenant Colonel J. A. V. Preston’s 39th Battalion in March 1915. After the 39th was broken up, Bywater assumed command of the 33rd Reserve Battalion in England.

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The Druggist

/ Matthew K Barrett / Leave a comment

Lieutenant Colonel Alex Wilson
33rd (London) Battalion

A sordid story of graft was told by witness after witness at the inquiry into the affairs of the 33rd Battalion at the Armories to-day. One after another admitted trafficking in the stores of the battalion, and on top of these confessions… there came revelations of what one of the court characterized as a “liquor supply depot.”

(Toronto Globe, 17 Nov 1915, 3)

Born on 17 November 1855 in Seaforth, Canada West, Alexander Wilson was a pharmacist with thirty-five years’ experience with 33rd Huron Regiment. A noted marksman, Wilson was a five-time member of Canada’s Bisley team and won several Dominion Rifle Association awards.

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