Lieutenant Kenneth Ian Somerville

Kenneth Ian Somerville was born in London, ON, on 17 November 1895. He was the eldest son of Charles Ross Somerville, a prominent London manufacturer and Mayor of the city in 1918-19. At age 18, he served in the 7^th Fusiliers Regiment, and attended University College in Toronto for one year. In October 1915, he returned to London where he was commissioned as an officer in the 33^rd Canadian Infantry Battalion. He fought in many major battles including the Somme, Vimy Ridge, and Passchendaele. On 15 March 1918, he suffered a gunshot would during a raid of a German trench near Méricourt France. While being evacuated, he received a second wound from shrapnel. He died the next morning following surgery.

He is commemorated on page 504 of the First World War Book of Remembrance, (Memorial Chamber, Peace Tower, Parliament Hill).

Grave: Thélus Military Cemetery, France.

Commemorated on: family headstone at Woodland Cemetery, London, ON.

Somerville Family Headstone (Woodland Cemetery, London, ON)
Photograph by Paul Culliton, 2016.