Edward Ernest Hilborn

Rank:

Private

Regimental number:

11362

Unit at enlistment:

4th Battalion

Force:

C.E.F.

Volunteered or conscripted:

Volunteered

Survived the war:

Yes

Wounded:

Yes

Birth country:

Canada

Birth county:

Bruce

Birth city:

Chippewa Hill, Ontario

Address at enlistment:

49 Emile Street, Brantford, Ontario

Next of kin address:

49 Emile Street, Brantford, Ontario

Trade or calling:

Machinist

Marital status:

Married

Age at enlistment:

Letters and documents

BX August 10, 1915

Reunion of Brantford Soldiers – Wounded Men From 4th Battalion and Men in Training With the 36th (Ashton’s Own) Battalion Were the Guests of the Brantford Boys of the 19th Battalion at Shorncliffe Camp – An Enjoyable Day was Spent.

While hard work is the order of the day with the Brantford boys in training in England, occasionally there are intervals of rare enjoyment. Such was the celebration held at Shorncliffe Camp on July 19, when wounded Brantford boys from the 4th Battalion, and the local men in training with the 36th Battalion were the guests of the Brantford boys of the 19th Battalion.

The following interesting account of the event has been forwarded to The Expositor by Pte. Edward Hilborn, 11362, B. Company, 4th Battalion, now in the Convalescent hospital, Monks Horton Park, Kent, near Hythe.

To the Editor of the Brantford Expositor,
Brantford, Ont.

Dear Sir,

The Brantford boys in England spent a very pleasant time together Sunday, July 18, when a few of the Brantford boys who have been wounded, and some of the Brantford boys of the 36th Battalion, were the guests of the Brantford boys of the 19th Battalion. It was sure good to see so many boys from the good old town together. The afternoon was spent in talks of old times till the bugle sounded “Come to the cookhouse door, boys,” and all sat down to an elegant spread – one seldom seen in a military camp. There was everything in the way of “eats” – even cigarettes and ginger (?) beer. After supper a good program was enjoyed by all. The following were the boys present:

4th Battalion

Adams, Albert Henry
Atkins, Robert Anson
Blacker, William
Fraser, Alymer Donald
Gage, Ross Bernard
Hilborn, Edward Ernest
Nuttycombe, Albert Edward
W. Blacker.

19th Battalion, C. Company

Brookson, E.W.
Cartwright, G.B.
Colmer, Harold
Derbyshire, Frederick William
Elliott, Samuel
Hughes, Henry
Hughes, Hubert Frank
Jeffery, E.
Jenkerson, James Valentine
Margerison, J.
Miller, William Edmundson
Mounfield, Kenneth Robertson
Ogg, C.N.
O'Neill, Percy Ray
O'Neill, Vernon Scott
Patte, George Jesse
Perry, M.E.
Ransom, Henry Robert
Riley, Arthur
Smith, George
Smith, William Roy
Taylor, Charles Arthur
Treleven, Ernest Alfred
Whyte, Henry

36th Battalion

Boughner, Claud Henry
Brooks, Thomas
Hawkins, A.E.
Hetherington, Frederick
Peirce, Harry William
Snodgrass, Joseph
Weatherston, James Bayne
Webster, P.
Young, Adam

BX May 13, 1915

Word was received by Mrs. H. Hilborn, 49 Emile Street this morning from Ottawa that her husband, Private Harry Hilborn had been wounded. No details were given. Private Harry Hilborn was a laborer residing at 49 Emile Street. He had not had any service prior to enlisting with the Dufferin Rifles. He went with the Duffs to Valcartier, and was a member of the 4th Battalion, C.E.F. He was a married man and well known in Eagle Place.

BX October 27, 1915

Landed At Quebec

Word has been received in the city that Pte. Edward Hilborn, a member of the “Mad Fourth” Battalion, has arrived at Quebec on his way to his home in this city. It is expected that Pte. Hilborn will be detained for a few days by the medical board at Quebec, and will not arrive in the city until the first of the week.

BX November 1, 1915

“I Want Someone To Take My Place” – Lance-Corp. Coppin – Two Brantford Heroes Return – Lance-Corp. H.D.E. Coppin and Pte. E.E. Hilborn Invalided Home – Both Wounded – Appreciate Attentions Shown to Them Since Wounding

Including among its precious cargo four Brantford wounded soldiers, the Allan liner “Corsican” arrived at Quebec last week. Lance-Corp. Harry D.E. Coppin arrived at his home on Mohawk Street on Saturday, Pte. E.E. Hilborn reached his destination at 49 Emilie Street on Sunday afternoon. The two other local soldiers are expected to arrive in the city today, they being Pte. John White, whose sister, Mrs. R. Jennings resides on Palace Street, and Pte. Phillips. Each of these soldiers enlisted with the first contingent of Dufferin Rifles and was wounded in the fight at Langemarck, when the Canadians saved the day, costly though the effort was. Pte. Hilborn stated yesterday that out of a battalion, only 168 men answered the roll call on the night of April 23. The first day of the big fight, and two days later an effort to form a battalion out of the remains of a whole brigade proved unsuccessful.

“Tell the boys of Brantford, that I want someone to go and take my place at the front,” said Lance-Corp. H.D.E. Coppin to an Expositor representative yesterday, adding that they could go feeling assured that the conditions in the training camps and at the front were much improved in comparison to those which existed at the first of the war. Lance-Corp. Coppin, who was wounded by an explosive bullet in the right arm at Ypres, has been granted his discharge and on Saturday returned to his home at 27 Mohawk Street.

True to the characteristics of the British soldier, Lance-Corp. Coppin was reluctant to talk for publication, yielding only to express his deep appreciation of the treatment which he had received on all sides since the disastrous struggle at Langemarck. The returned soldier, in fact, could not find words to fairly express his gratitude, stating that every possible kindness and attention had been shown by officials and civilians alike.

Lance-Corp. Coppin is a young Englishman who served with the 12th Lancers in the Old Country for twelve months previous to the war. By trade he is a painter. He joined the first contingent of Dufferin Rifles as a private, and through his military efficiency was quickly promoted, he being raised to his present rank on the arrival at Salisbury Plain. Corp. Coppin crossed the Channel with the first contingent in February, but was listed among the Canadian casualties at Ypres. A rifle bullet entered his right arm, below the elbow, exploding in his arm at the elbow, and tearing the flesh severely. His arm has fortunately not been rendered useless, but he is unable to straighten it. He is also suffering from rheumatism and nervousness.

Ernest Hilborn

Another Brantford hero, Private E.E. Hilborn, who has secured his discharge from the army, returned to his home at 49 Emilie Street, yesterday afternoon. Pte. Hilborn also enlisted with the first company of Dufferin Rifles, under M.A. Colquhoun, now lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Battalion. Surviving the thickest of the fray at Langemarck, Private Hilborn was struck in the nose by a piece of shattered shell, which pierced his nose and entered his lip. While returning to the dressing station behind the trenches in order to get the fragment of shell taken from his lip, he was struck in the back by a shrapnel bullet, which affected his spine, resulting in the paralysis of his legs. Pte. Hilborn is now greatly improved in health, and to all appearances is in the pink of condition.

Speaking of his experience at the front, Private Hilborn referred to the famous “Jack Johnson’s.” These shells, he said, stood as high as a man, and were 16.8 inches in diameter. When one exploded it dug a hole in the ground large enough for a wagon and a team of horses to stand in. One day he recalled, his battalion was advancing on the ground at extended intervals, exposed to the enemy’s fire. His own face was kept to the ground as he crawled on his stomach toward the German trenches. “Then a big Jack Johnson burst in the ground a few feet in front of me, and a lump of mud flew up and struck me on the back of the head, shoving my nose deep into the mire,” explained Pte. Hilborn as he laughingly recalled the experience.