436425 Private William J. Turner

William John Turner was a husband and a father of three. He enlisted into the Canadian Expeditionary Force in early 1915 and was transferred to the 49th Battalion (E.R.) that fall in England. Whilst in Flanders during the first winter of the war, Turner struggled with illness. He was hospitalized and later transferred to work as a batman at brigade and divisional headquarters. Not deemed fit enough to return to frontline service, he eventually found himself working in the rear areas of the Canadian Corps front in a labour battalion. In the spring of 1918, his wife wrote in vain to the war office to have him returned home on compassionate grounds. Tragically, Turner was accidentally killed that July whilst making trench art from a dud German shell.