How did Lieutenant Skill get to Passchendaele?
From Central Ontario in Canada to Flanders in Belgium: • May 22, 1882 – Thomas Albert SKILL born in Hamilton, Ontario • August 12, 1908 – he married Edith Watson Thompson. The Best Man at the weedding was Jack Syme of Hamilton. • For six years he served in the Canadian Militia, 97th Regiment. • Before enlisting, he lived for a number of years in the northern Ontario town of Elk Lake, Ontario and worked as a mining recorder. • February 15, 1916 – he enlisted and passed the medical exam, “fit” for the Canadian Over-seas Expeditionary Force in Haileybury, Ontario. According to the online Attestation paper, he was assigned to the 159th Battalion at a rank of Lieutenant. However, later he was promoted to Captain. • October 31, 1916 – Embarked from Canada. • November 11, 1916 – Arrived in England. • January 30, 1917 – Attached to the 8th Res. Bn. in Shoreham. • February 21, 1917 – Ceases to be attached to the 8th Res. Bn. in Shorncliffe. • July 14, 1917 – To reach France faster, he reverted
