Reverse of the Above Postcard

The postcard is addressed to Mrs. John Cantwell of Little Bras d'Or Bridge in Cape Breton, from her son Amos Cantwell, a soldier in the 185th Battalion. It is postmarked May 4, 1917. The battalion was training in England at the time.

Amos Cantwell was born in Little Bras d’Or Bridge in Cape Breton, NS, on November 12, 1896, the son of Annie and John Cantwell. He was still living in Little Bras d’Or and working as a coal miner, when he enlisted in the 185^th Battalion (Cape Breton Highlanders). At the time, the battalion was being raised in Broughton, near Sydney. His service number was 878199 and he was given the rank of private. Amos trained with the battalion in Broughton and later in Aldershot, NS, and went overseas to England with them in October, 1916. When the 185^th Battalion was eventually disbanded in England in early 1918, Amos was transferred for a brief period to the 17^th Reserve Battalion before being transferred to the Canadian Railway Troops Depot in Purfleet, near London. His rank changed from private to sapper. At the end of March he was posted to the 13^th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops in France. Amos spent the rest of the war with the 13^th Battalion in France and Belgium and eventually returned to Canada, via England, to be discharged from the army on March 28, 1919.