Personal Profile Collections
Alonzo Young
Service Number 877363
Short Biography:
Alonzo Young was born in Little Bras D’Or Bridge, Cape Breton County, NS, on April 6, 1876, the son of Larence and Rachel (Capstick) Young of Little Bras D’Or. Alonzo was a 40 year old miner when he enlisted as a private in the 185th Battalion (Cape Breton Highlanders) on March 13, 1916. He was married with two young boys.
Alonzo joined the 185th Battalion in Broughton, an abandoned mining town near Sydney, NS, where the unit was in the process of recruiting and mobilizing. He trained with battalion in Broughton during the early spring of 1916, and later at Camp Aldershot, NS, during the summer and fall. In October, Alonzo sailed overseas with the battalion to England where they were stationed at Witley Camp in Surrey, south of London. On November 25, 1916, not long after arriving in England, Alonzo was admitted to hospital at Witley Camp, suffering from soreness through his chest and pain across his back, neck and shoulders. He was diagnosed with nephritis, a kidney ailment, and later myalgia. Upon discharge from the hospital a month later, he was immediately transferred to the 193rd Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders) who within days were disbanded to create reinforcements for units already at the front. Alonzo was then attached to the 17th Reserve Battalion and sent to the Canadian Casualty Assembly Centre in Hastings where wounded or sick soldiers were assessed for further treatment or returned to duty. On March 10, 1917, he was transferred to the Nova Scotia Regimental Depot at Bramshott to be returned to Canada due to his illness. In September, 1917, he sailed from Liverpool for home. He was an outpatient at Moxham Military Hospital in Sydney and was eventually discharged from the army on February 26, 1918, as no longer physically fit for war service.
After the war, Alonzo resettled at home in Cape Breton. Unfortunately little is known about his life after the war. He passed away at home in Bras D’Or on January 5, 1951. He was 74 years old. Alonzo was laid to rest in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Little Bras D’Or.