Manitoba's WWI Fallen: George James Lake of Winnipeg

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, I am working on a series of blog posts and radio shows that will look at some of the Manitobans who died in action. For more about this project and links to other posts, follow this link.

George James Lake was born in Thornham, Norfolk, England in 1892 and came to Canada in 1915. He married Mary Colvin Hart on June 19, 1915 in Winnipeg. (According to census records she was born in Scotland and came to Canada in 1910, so it doesn't appear to be a case of them marrying and coming over together.)

Lake got a job as a grocery clerk and the two soon settled at 6 - 351 Victor Street.

Lake, a Methodist, enlisted on March 21, 1916 and joined what would become the 203rd Overseas Battalion. Just a month earlier, Major J. E. Hansford was elevated to the rank of Colonel and was authorized by the Methodist church to begin recruiting men from the congregations of its churches. The 203rd was officially authorized in mid-June.

The 1916 Manitoba census shows that as of June 14, 1916, Lake was at Camp Hughes for training. Mary was still living at Livinia Court with her sister in-law.

A newspaper story after Lake's death indicates that Mary had a child around October 1916. (A Manitoba Vital Statistics search doesn't note a baby Lake born to a George and Mary in 1916, so it is unclear which source is incorrect.)

Lake arrived in England aboard the S. S. Grampian on November 4, 1916. He spent the holidays, Christmas Eve 1916 to January 3, 1917, in the isolation wing of the military hospital at Aldershot with rubella.

Once recovered, Lake was transferred to the 44th Battalion in April 1917 and was killed in action on June 3, 1917. His military file simply notes "Killed in action in the field, France or Belgium". It was during the Attack on La Coulotte that started on April 23, 1917.

Lake's remains were never found. He is commemorated on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial at Pas de Calais, France.

What happened to Mary and Baby Lake is unclear. A brief newspaper mention of his death says that the baby was nine-months-old at the time. If that is the case, it likely never met its father. The same story notes that Mary had gone to visit her parents, Rev. and Mrs. J. Hart, at Ninette.

Reference:
George James Lake Military File
George James Lake Canadian Virtual War Memorial