Thomas Watson Mosher (1886 - 1963)

Born 29 Jun 1886 in Apple River, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada

Ancestors

Died 11 May 1963 at age 76 in Truro, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada

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Biography

Thomas Watson Mosher was born at Apple River, Nova Scotia in 1886. He was the son of Havelock Mosher and Ada Green. Five feet, nine inches tall, Tom had hazel eyes and black hair. Like his fifth great grandfather, Hugh Mosher, Tom was a blacksmith by trade.

On November 30, 1916, when Tom signed up at Springhill, Nova Scotia to serve in the First World War, he was ordered to the 239th Canadian Overseas Railway Construction Corps.

Tom's unit sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 15 on the SS Olympic and arrived in Liverpool, England on December 28. The draft of 100 men soon formed the 3rd Battalion CRT (Canadian Railway Troops) and embarked for Le Havre, France on March 14, 1917. The CRT was not part of the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) but served directly under British GHQ.

CRT officers and men received minimal military training but almost all were skilled railway men.

Canadian railway troops, often under shellfire, laid and maintained most of the light railway networks on the Western Front. The railways carried men, ammunition and supplies to the Front. On the return journey, they brought back the wounded and soldiers going for rest. In most cases the work of the railway troops had to be done at night so that they could not be seen from the enemy front lines. These men also fought as infantry, especially during the German offensives of 1918.^[1]

Tom served overseas with the CRT for more than two years. He returned to Halifax on the Empress of Britain on February 25, 1919. He was discharged from service due to demobilization on March 18, six months before his brother, Hugh Mosher.

Tom married Christina Langille in August 1921. They lived in Halifax and had no children. Tom died in 1963. Tom and Tena are buried at Robie Street Cemetery, Truro, Nova Scotia.

Sources

1. ↑ War Amps of Canada

• Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics: Delayed Registration of Birth - Mosher, Thomas W. https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1886-99000970&Event=birth&ID=120288
• Library and Archives Canada: MOSHER, THOMAS W (1039964). https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=178601
• Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics: Death Certificate https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1963-3822&Event=death&ID=444394