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Description

Private Edward James Fright was born in Birchington-on-Sea, England on December 12th, 1896, to parents Edward James & Christiana Fright. Both died while Edward was quite young leaving himself and his younger brother Alfred orphaned at the ages of five and two. They were taken in at Dr. Barnardo's Home for Orphans in London, England.

Both Edward and Alfred were sent to Canada as "Home Children" in March of 1910, aboard the ship Dominion.  Both were eventually placed into domestic work with a family in South Dorchester, Elgin County, Ontario.

On January 1st, 1916, in Saint Thomas, Ontario, Edward enlisted with the 91st Overseas Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He arrived in England abord the troop ship S.S. Olympic on July 5th, 1916, and was sent to France in October of that same year.

Pte. Fright was killed in action in an attack at Bellevue Spur at Passchendaele, Belgium, on October 26th, 1917. He is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium.  

External links:
Pte. Fright's service record (Reg/Ser# 189881) is available online through Library and Archives Canada.
Library and Archives Canada also has immigration information for Fright as part of their database on Home Children.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Pte. Fright can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

The Memorial Honour Roll Plaque to the Home Children of WWI, designed by Dawn Heuston, was sponsored by veteran Len Brown in memory of his mother Miriam Ann Morris who came to Canada as British Home Child. A high resolution jpg of the Plaque can be downloaded from the website of the British Home Child Advocacy and Research Association.

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