Military service
Burial/memorial information
Son of Anna M. Defoe of Toronto, Ontario.
Brother of Private Vincent Laurent Defoe, who died while serving with the Canadian Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regiment).
Digital gallery of Private William Augustus Defoe
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Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
Pvt. W.Augustus DeFoe's name on stain glass window (center bottom) in Sts. Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic Church in Mississauga, Ontario. The stain glass was originally in St. Basil's Church in Toronto.
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
Pvt. W.Augustus Defoe's name on stain glass window in Sts. Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic Church in Mississauga, Ontario. The stain glass was originally in St. Basil's Church in Toronto.
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
Menin Gate … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
From the Toronto Star. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
Memorial Plaque
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
This memorial notice for Pte. W. A. Defoe's brother mentions that Pte. Defoe was still considered missing in action at that time.
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
The memorial tablet for the City of Toronto employees is located through the doors of Old City Hall, Queen Street, Toronto, Ontario. Pte. William Augustus Defoe's name is included on this memorial. Pte. Defoe had worked as a draughtsman in the Civic Works Department for the City of Toronto.
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
Pte. William Augustus Defoe enlisted in the C.E.F. in Toronto on November 28th, 1914. He indicated on his military attestation that he had previously served for two years with the 9th Mississauga Horse. His brother Pte. Vincent Defoe, 475820, also died in the war on September 17th, 1916. Sgt. Frederick R. Defoe, 56090, survived the war. The three brothers were all born in Toronto. In honoured memory of the Defoe brothers.
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me.
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
Photo from the National Memorial Album of Canadian Heroes c.1919. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me.
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
Photo from the National Memorial Album of Canadian Heroes c.1919. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me.
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
Inscription on the Menin Gate … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
Source: Library and Archives Canada. CIRCUMSTANCES OF DEATH REGISTERS, FIRST WORLD WAR. Surnames: Davy to Detro. Microform Sequence 27; Volume Number 31829_B016736. Reference RG150, 1992-93/314, 171. Page 423 of 1036.
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
From the Toronto Telegram July 1916. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
From the Toronto Telegram October 1916. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
From the Toronto Telegram February 1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
From the Toronto Telegram March 1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
From the Toronto Telegram March 1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Private William Augustus Defoe
Remembering brothers lost … Brothers In Arms Memorial, Zonnebeke, BE … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens … May 2022
Image gallery
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Pvt. W.Augustus DeFoe's name on stain glass window (center bottom) in Sts. Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic Church in Mississauga, Ontario. The stain glass was originally in St. Basil's Church in Toronto.
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Pvt. W.Augustus Defoe's name on stain glass window in Sts. Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic Church in Mississauga, Ontario. The stain glass was originally in St. Basil's Church in Toronto.
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Menin Gate … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
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From the Toronto Star. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me
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Memorial Plaque
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This memorial notice for Pte. W. A. Defoe's brother mentions that Pte. Defoe was still considered missing in action at that time.
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The memorial tablet for the City of Toronto employees is located through the doors of Old City Hall, Queen Street, Toronto, Ontario. Pte. William Augustus Defoe's name is included on this memorial. Pte. Defoe had worked as a draughtsman in the Civic Works Department for the City of Toronto.
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Pte. William Augustus Defoe enlisted in the C.E.F. in Toronto on November 28th, 1914. He indicated on his military attestation that he had previously served for two years with the 9th Mississauga Horse. His brother Pte. Vincent Defoe, 475820, also died in the war on September 17th, 1916. Sgt. Frederick R. Defoe, 56090, survived the war. The three brothers were all born in Toronto. In honoured memory of the Defoe brothers.
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Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me.
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Photo from the National Memorial Album of Canadian Heroes c.1919. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me.
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Photo from the National Memorial Album of Canadian Heroes c.1919. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me.
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Inscription on the Menin Gate … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
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Source: Library and Archives Canada. CIRCUMSTANCES OF DEATH REGISTERS, FIRST WORLD WAR. Surnames: Davy to Detro. Microform Sequence 27; Volume Number 31829_B016736. Reference RG150, 1992-93/314, 171. Page 423 of 1036.
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From the Toronto Telegram July 1916. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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From the Toronto Telegram October 1916. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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From the Toronto Telegram February 1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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From the Toronto Telegram March 1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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From the Toronto Telegram March 1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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Remembering brothers lost … Brothers In Arms Memorial, Zonnebeke, BE … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens … May 2022
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 76 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.
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MENIN GATE (YPRES) MEMORIAL Belgium
The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, it consists of a Hall of Memory", 36.6 metres long by 20.1 metres wide. In the centre are broad staircases leading to the ramparts which overlook the moat, and to pillared loggias which run the whole length of the structure. On the inner walls of the Hall, on the side of the staircases and on the walls of the loggias, panels of Portland stone bear the names of the dead, inscribed by regiment and corps. Carved in stone above the central arch are the words:
TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.
Over the two staircases leading from the main Hall is the inscription:
HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.
The dead are remembered to this day in a simple ceremony that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. All traffic through the gateway in either direction is halted, and two buglers (on special occasions four) move to the centre of the Hall and sound the Last Post. Two silver trumpets for use in the ceremony are a gift to the Ypres Last Post Committee by an officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery, who served with the 10th Battery, of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Ypres in April 1915."
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The Poppy Design is a trademark of The Royal Canadian Legion (Dominion Command) and is used with permission. Click here to learn more about the poppy.
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