11th IEE Member to Fall in World War 1 – Lance-Corporal C H Hill

Lance-Corporal Charles Haydock Hill of the 16th Battalion (The Canadian Scottish) Manitoba Regiment, Canadian Expeditionary Force, died 28 April 1915, the 11th member of the IEE to die in World War 1. He was an Inspector in the Light and Power Department of the British Columbia Electrical Railway Company Ltd of Victoria, B.C., Canada, when the war was declared in summer 1914 and he relinquished his position shortly thereafter to serve in the Army.

Charles enlisted 31 August 1914 in the 50th Battalion (Gordon Highlanders of Canada) British Columbia Regiment, then stationed in Victoria, BC, where his military training was begun. He was drafted on September 23 to the 16th Battalion (The Canadian Scottish) Manitoba Regiment, one of the units of the First Contingent raised for active service in Europe. He was appointed a Lance-Corporal on the day of his transfer and sent to Valcartier Camp, Quebec, where his training continued until the First Canadian Contingent sailed for England.

In late April 1915 following heavy fighting which had lasted for many days Charles’ Brigade was sent on 25 April to the reserve trenches on the banks of the Yser Canal, behind the front line. Shortly after his arrival as he was about to enter a dug-out a high-explosive shell fire by the German artillery burst near him; he was hit by its fragments, which shot off both his legs. He was at once conveyed to No.18 Casualty Clearing Station, where he lingered on until April 28, and then passed away, owing to the intense shock caused to his system by the severity of his wounds.

Lance-Corporal Hill’s obituary was published in the IEE World War I Honour Roll and these details have been reproduced below.