Doctor Walter William Buttle
Image source: Courtesy of Robert Gardiner
Walter William Buttle was born in Bromley Township in 1887 and graduated from the medical program at the University of Toronto in 1915. He practiced in Kinburn for one year before enlisting in the medical corps and serving as Captain in the Army Medical Corps overseas during the First World War.
As a result of the war, Dr. Buttle suffered from survivor’s guilt after surviving the tragedy of the HMHS Llandovery Castle, a Canadian hospital ship. Dr. Buttle served on this ship, but in June 1918 was given a new posting and was removed from the ship. Just a few days later, the Llandovery Castle was torpedoed by a German U-boat, and suffered one of the war’s worst atrocities when lifeboats and survivors were targeted in the water. Only twenty-four people would survive the massacre. It’s said that Dr. Buttle never understood why he was ordered off the ship, and not another doctor.
Doctor Buttle established his practice in Pakenham upon his release from the Army Medical Corps in 1919 and served the community until his death in 1952.