Brigadier Hugh Young
6th Infantry Brigade

I have only been on the ranges twice and have never had a musketry course. Previous to enlisting I was going to high school in Winnipeg. I have always lived in the city and had no experience whatever with firearms. This was my first trip in the line and I was very nervous, being anxious to conduct myself properly. Thus, in the hurry and excitement of an ordered stand to, I had the accident … I deeply regret the accident.

(FGCM of Pte. H.A. Young, 27 Feb 1918)

Born on 3 April 1898 in Winnipeg, Hugh Andrew Young enlisted in the 251st Battalion in November 1916 and joined the 44th Battalion on the front in January 1918. Within two months, he was court martialled for negligently wounding a comrade, Private Ralph Thorpe, who died weeks later. Although his platoon sergeant testified that the shooting was “purely accidental” when Young was cleaning his rifle, the nineteen-year-old was sentenced to forty-two days field punishment No. 1.

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