Source: Public Archives Canada. Records Management, for Head, Canadian Forces Records Centre, Ottawa, 26 February 1979. Particulars of Service: Canadian Expeditionary Force: Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel John Huggins. Photocopy obtained by application; extracts by Alison Kilpatrick, 2014-12-17.

Transcriber's note: The photocopy of the service record for Samuel John Huggins consists of sixty-four, legal size pages, half of which pertain to pay records. The following points have been extracted from the thirty-two pages containing information about Lieut.-Colonel Huggins' military service during the Great War.

Extracts:

Summary sheet:

1. Born at Winchester, Hants, England, March 23, 1864.
2. Enlisted for service with the 4th Battalion at Valcartier, Que., and appointed Captain, September 21, 1914. [See note a, below.]
3. Embarked for Britain, October 3, 1914.
4. Proceeded to France, February 9, 1915.
5. Wounded in action April 23, 1915 and invalided to Britain and then to Canada.
6. Posted to the 76th Battalion, July 15, 1915.
7. Transferred to the 120th Battalion, and appointed Major and 2nd in Command, November 29, 1915.
8. Embarked for Britain, August 14, 1916.
9. Posted to the 2nd Reserve Battalion, February 1, 1917, and the 2nd Central Ontario Regimental Depot, March 5, 1917.
10. Attached to the Canadian Musketry Camp, Mytchet [sic], England as Camp Commandant, March 6, 1917.
11. Appointed Lieutenant-Colonel from July 16, 1918 to December 24, 1918 while attached to Canadian Musketry Camp as Camp Commandant.
12. Ceased to be Attached to Canadian Musketry Camp, and posted to No. 8 Reserve Battalion, January 2, 1919.
13. Promoted Lieutenant-Colonel, January 16, 1919.
14. Sailed for Canada, January 18, 1919.
15. Honourably discharged at Toronto, Ont. February 29, 1920.
16. Service Awards: Officer of the Order of the British Empire, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.

Transcriber's note: Additional notes from the service record, subsumed under the points enumerated above:

September 21, 1914: Attestation Paper:

[2] Enlisted for service with the 4th Battalion at Valcartier, Que., and appointed Captain, September 21, 1914: [Transcriber's note: A summary information file card noted the date as 14th August 1914.]

[5] Wounded in action April 23, 1915 and invalided to Britain and then to Canada:

• A casualty file card noted the date as the 25th April 1915. Telegram dated 25th April 1915. In 7 Stat. Hos. [No. 7 Stationary Hospital, Boulogne].
• Transported to England on H.S. St. Patrick [H.S. is an acronym for Hospital Ship], 29th April 1915
• Gun shot wounds sustained to the buttocks. Invalided to King Edward VII Hospital for Officers, 9 Grosvenor Gardens, London M.S.W., 27th April 1915; discharged 28th May 1915.
• Leave of absence, 12th May 1915 to 11th July 1915; struck/taken off strength at Shorncliffe, to 10 Creffield Road, Ealing W [the home of his sister-in-law, Victoria Caroline Truefitt née Baker, formerly the wife of Samuel John's late brother, James Edward Huggins (1842-1888), and Victoria's husband, Charles Francis Truefitt].
• Extension of leave to 11th August 1915.

[6] Posted to the 76th Battalion, July 15, 1915:

• Retained in Canada for duty on expiration of sick leave.
• Retained in Canada for duty, 1st October 1915.

Medical History Sheet:

• Examined 5th January 1916
• Height: 5ft. 10-3/4in.; Weight: 185lbs.
• Slight defects not sufficient to cause rejection: Scar on lip; Tattoo marks: wristlet, photo on each arm.

Particulars of Family of an Officer or Man Enlisted in C.E.F.:

• Full name of Soldier: Samuel John Huggins
• Place of birth: Winchester, Hants, England
• Married: Yes
• Full name of wife: Helen Neolia Huggins
• Present postal address: 178 Cartier St., Ottawa, Ont.
• Widower: No
• Children: Yes
• Number of boys and girls: 3 boys, 1 Girl
• Also their names and ages: John Alfred [age illegible], Frank William 11, Arthur Edward 7, and Ruth Evelyn 8.
• Father alive: No
• Mother alive: No
• Insured: Yes
• What Company: Sun Life, C.M.B.A. & Can. O. Forresters
• Date: 25 July 1916.

[8] Embarked for Britain, August 14, 1916:

• Disembarked at Liverpool, August 24, 1916.

[10] Attached to the Canadian Musketry Camp, Mytchet [sic], England as Camp Commandant, March 6, 1917:

• Attached to Musketry Range at Mytchett, near Aldershot, 10th July 1917.

[11] Appointed Lieutenant-Colonel from July 16, 1918 to December 24, 1918 while attached to Canadian Musketry Camp as Camp Commandant:

• To 2nd Central Ontario Regimental Depot, 27 December 1918.

[14] Sailed for Canada, January 18, 1919:

• General demobilization.

Medical Examination upon leaving the Service of an Officer fit for general service or a Soldier fit for duty:

• Lt. Col. Samuel John Huggins
• Arteries——Any hardening? Slight
• [other details omitted; all Normal]
• Date: Jan. 12th, 1919

6th March 1919: To be Officer of the Miliary Order of Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [O.B.E.]

29th March 1919: Reported for Duty as Organizer and Inspector of Cadet Corps, Ottawa.

26th August 1920: Case History Sheet:

• D.O.H. Hospital, Toronto
• Lt. Col. Huggins, S.; Age, 56
• Date of admission: 26 August 1920; Date of discharge: 2 September 1920
• Diagnosis: Enteritis; Place of origin: Etaples [France], 23 April 1915
• Condition on admission and progress of case: Admitted after having been seen by Col. Cole. complains of acute abdominal pain & tightness in chest. 28/8/20. X-Ray of chest nothing found to go up for X-Ray of abdomen Monday. 30/8/20 patient better feels well X-Ray to-day. 31/8/20 X-Ray of abdomen. 1/9/20 - X-Ray of abdomen nothing found. Treatment: Hosp. & medication. Condition on discharge: Apparently cured. To duty.

12th June 1922: Died suddenly in Hamilton. Heart failure.

(end of extracts)

Source: Public Archives Canada. Records Management, for Head, Canadian Forces Records Centre, Ottawa, 26 February 1979. Particulars of Service: Canadian Expeditionary Force: Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel John Huggins. Extracts by Alison Kilpatrick, 2014-12-17.

Transcriber's note: The photocopy of the service record for Samuel John Huggins consists of sixty-four, legal size pages, half of which pertain to pay records. The following points have been extracted from the thirty-two pages containing information about Lieut.-Colonel Huggins' military service during the Great War.