John Symonds Breedon

Rank:

Corporal

Regimental number:

435803

Unit at enlistment:

50th Battalion

Force:

C.E.F.

Volunteered or conscripted:

Volunteered

Survived the war:

Date of death:

November 18th, 1916

Cemetery:

Vimy Memorial - Pas de Calais, France

Commemorated at:

Grace Anglican Church

Birth country:

Canada

Birth county:

Frontenac

Birth city:

Kingston, Ontario

Address at enlistment:

Calgary, Alberta

Next of kin address:

Brantford, Ontario

Trade or calling:

Clerk

Religious denominations:

Church of England

Marital status:

Single

Age at enlistment:

Image gallery:

Letters and documents

Circumstances of service: Killed

Circumstances of Casualty: Killed in Action. While endeavouring to get across an open place in Regina Trench during the attack on Desire Trench, Corporal Breedon was shot by a bullet from the rifle of an enemy sniper.
Location of Unit at Time of Casualty: Courcelette.

BX December 1, 1916

Three More Brantford Men Pay The Supreme Sacrifice – Corporals John Symonds Breedon, and Alfred Norman Goodfellow, Private Thomas Rowland – Corporal John Breedon Was Veteran of South Africa and Had Held Commissions in Regulars and Militia – 84th Men Died

Veteran of the South African war, a lieutenant in the Canadian regulars, and a former captain in the Dufferin Rifles here, John Symonds Breedon joined the Canadian Overseas Forces as a private, and was promoted to corporal. He is now reported to have been killed in action, on Nov. 18, while with the 50th Battalion, from Calgary.

For many years a resident here, at which time he held a captaincy in the Dufferin Rifles, Corporal John Symonds Breedon was in British Columbia when the war broke out. He had previously been a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment, serving with them for a year and a half in South Africa, being at the battles of Bloemfontein, Paardenburg, and Driefontein, winning the South African medal with four bars. He afterwards received a commission in the Canadian regulars as a lieutenant.

For service against the Huns, he enlisted at Calgary, going overseas with them in October, 1915. He had been in the trenches since August 10, of this year, and was killed in action on Nov. 18.

His brother, Fred, is a prisoner of the Germans at Giessen, Germany, prison camp, having been taken prisoner while fighting with a Nova Scotia battalion. Another brother, Jasper, resides at the family home, 156 Brant Avenue, as does a sister Miss Grace M., while another sister, Mrs. W.F. Newman, is at present in the Old Land, whither she accompanied her husband, Major William Firth Newman of the 125th Battalion. The parents passed away early this year, only a short time intervening between their passings.