BX June 5, 1916
Captain John Ernest Lattimer is Now Missing
Amongst the list of casualties among Canadian officers in the weekend battle at Ypres, as received by General Sir Sam Hughes this morning appears the name of Capt. John Ernest Lattimer of Toronto, reported missing. Although mentioned as a Toronto man it is thought locally that this is Lieut. J.E. Lattimer who left Brantford a lieutenant with a draft to the Second Contingent from the 25th Brant Dragoons. After leaving here its identity was lost through its being taken over by the C.M.R. Capt. Lattimer was at Port Arthur prior to his enlistment.
BX June 6, 1916
Captain John Ernest Lattimer Was of Burford
London, Ont., June 5 – Captain John E. Lattimer, who is reported missing since the fight on June 4, in today’s official casualty lists, is a native of Burford, in Brant County, and a former representative of the department of agriculture at Port Arthur, Ont. Captain Lattimer’s parents are now residing in London with their daughter, Mrs. Alfred Raymond of Cove Road. The captain returned from Port Arthur to enlist with a Brant unit, but was afterwards transferred to a Toronto corps. Thus his address was reported at Toronto in the official lists.
BX June 12, 1916
Recent Battles at Ypres Salient Took Toll of Local Soldiers – Four Casualties Reported Over Weekend – Captain John Ernest Lattimer is a Prisoner of War, and Lance-Corp. John Jeakins, Private Thomas Charles Wright and Pte. William Andrew Clawsey Were Wounded in Desperate Fighting in Ypres Sector
In recent engagements with the enemy at Ypres a heavy toll was paid by the Canadians. This is only now beginning to come home and one of the heaviest casualty lists of the war was received yesterday. Three Brantford men were mentioned in yesterday’s list, and one was made known this morning.
Captain John E. Lattimer of Burford, who was recently reported missing, has since been found to be a prisoner of war.
BX November 7, 1917
Captain John Ernest Lattimer is Now in Holland
Captain John Ernest Lattimer, a Burford Boy who went overseas with a C.M.R. unit and has been reported missing since last June, has been a prisoner of war, according to word received by The Expositor, and is now in Holland, having been exchanged. Word has been received by a Hamilton lady from her brother at the front to this effect. Capt. Lattimer was in Port Arthur before his enlistment with a draft from the 25th Brant Dragoons in the second contingent. His parents now reside in London.
BX July 6, 1918
Hun Prisoner, Was Exchanged, is Now Home – Captain John Ernest Lattimer of Burford was Taken in Zillebeke Drive – Was With C.M.R.
Captain John Ernest Lattimer, who went overseas in 1915 with the 4th C.M.R. from the Brant Dragoons, and who was taken prisoner during the severe fighting June 2 to June 13, 1916, around Zillebeke and Observatory Ridge when Lieutenant Harvey Watt Cockshutt and a number of other Brantford men went down, is back home after 18 months in German prisons. Capt. Lattimer was taken prisoner after he was wounded in the head by a rifle bullet. He was exchanged this spring and returned to Burford a week ago. The battle of Observatory Ridge was noted for the concentration of artillery which at that time was a record. The Germans on June 2 put on one of the heaviest “strafes” the salient had witnessed, and ten days later, General Birchall of the Canadian Artillery replied, going the Hun several better. It was in the original attack of the Germans that Captain John Lattimer was taken captive, the Huns getting down near Zillebeke in their advance, and taking important trenches, which had to be recaptured, as an essential part of the British program when Hill 60 and other crests were blown up. The German advance on June 2-3 threatened to interfere with plans of the British which really took over a year to develop. While the C.M.R. were badly cut up, battalions of the First Division fully atoned for the smash later when they took several hundred Wurtembergers prisoners June 13. The 58th Battalion, the 4th, and others in which many Brantford men served, were more or less in the Zillebeke show.
Captain John Ernest Lattimer was formerly a school teacher at Burford. On his return he received a right royal welcome from his many friends. He is at present visiting Mr. D.F. Lawrence, 166 Marlboro Street, and has many interesting experiences to tell of, in connection with his 18 months’ German imprisonment.
