A 5-1 Stratford soldier’s life before and after WWI

By Daniel Brown

Nov. 9, 2018

Doug Kelly’s grandfather was too short to fight in the First World War, at first.

Soldiers had to be at least 5-2. Lorne was only 5-1.

In 1917, the Canadian military started the Bantam Battalion. It was made up of people previously denied entry into the war, Kelly said.

“Because of their lack of stature.”

Lorne was accepted and transferred to the 19th Battalion as a private. Many Islanders filled the holes in battalions that needed them, Kelly said.

The war ended on Nov. 11, 1918. Lorne was on leave in London, England, so he wrote a letter to his wife.

“Say there was a grand time here. Everyone was out on the street making all the racket,” Lorne said in the letter. “I’m certainly glad it’s over and finished up in a good time.”

It was several months before Lorne returned to Stratford. He got to meet his oldest son, Walter, for the first time.

Lorne started farming. The land he used to farm is where the town hall stands now, Kelly said.

Kelly was at the hall launching a book on Nov. 7, almost 100 years after the war ended. He’s past-chair of the Stratford Heritage Committee, which compiled and wrote it.

The book is called “We will remember them: Stratford Heroes of the First World War.” Kelly’s grandfather is just one of the 46 First World War veterans from his town, he said.