Private Cecil George Birley - Sniper on the front lines at the Battle of the Somme
Born: June 8, 1891 in Alexander, Manitoba, Canada
Enlistment: 84th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces and was drafted to the 75th Battalion upon arrival overseas.
Died: September 17, 1916 in Farnham, Surrey, England
Information for this biography was gathered with the help of Albert Devereux.
Cecil was the fifth of eleven children born to Charles and Kathleen Birley who farmed in North Dumfries Township near Paris, Ontario.
On August 28, 1915, at the age of 24, he enlisted with the 84th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. He embarked the S.S. Empress of Britain in Nova Scotia and left there on June 20, 1916 towards England. Upon arrival he was transferred to the 75th Battalion where he was trained as a scout and sniper and put on the front lines at the Battle of the Somme in France.
On August 31, 1916, he received a gunshot wound to the back and was sent to a military hospital in Farnham, Surrey, England where he died on September 17, 1916. He was buried at St. Mary’s Churchyard Cemetery in Bramshott, England. He also has a headstone along with many other family members at the Paris Plains Cemetery in Paris, Ontario. In 2018, his name along with other war veterans who died in World War I and II were engraved on two large stones that were placed at the cenotaph in Paris, Ontario and his name is also on a memorial stone at the cenotaph in Ayr, Ontario.
Private Birley had kept a small journal with him and an excerpt from it explains in great detail his journey when he left Canada with the 84th Battalion towards England. This journal was passed down to his grand-nephew, Bill Birley from Paris, Ontario, who then donated it to the Paris Museum and Historical Society.
Every year on November 11th at the Remembrance Day ceremonies at the cenotaph in Paris, Ontario a member of the Birley family places a wreath in his memory there.
This tribute was made by the Birley Family to pay tribute to Private Cecil George Birley through the Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign. We are not only planting a tree in his memory but also telling a story of his ultimate sacrifice that he gave for our country.
Thank you to all who have donated in his memory. It has been a great honour on behalf of the Birley family to share this tribute to you.