Fred Greenwood was born to Joe and Anne
Greenwood at Harrogate, Yorkshire. England.
He was their only child. It was about 1896 or 97.
There he attended school. In 1908 when about
twelve or thirteen years old, Fred left his English
home and accompanied his parents to a new home
across the sea in Canada. The family settled in
Spring Coulee and Fred went to the local school
for a time. His mother said he was always a rather
quiet child who never did anything drastic to
cause them any trouble.

World War I commenced in 1914 when Fred was about
nineteen years old. After some time he, like thousands
of other young men, was caught up in the conflict
and eventually went overseas where he saw service
on the active battlefront. While serving in the trenches
it was his misfortune to be there when the German
Command ordered the use of Poison Gas against the
Allied forces. He was sent to a base hospital for
treatment and about the end of the war was invalided
back to Canada and eventually home to Spring Coulee.

Having recovered to the point where he could get
around fairly well he decided to marry and picked as
his bride a young lady named Edith Schofield also
of Spring Coulee. About one year later a son was
born with another son following approximately
two years later.

However Fred's health had not held up and his
lungs never recovered from the devastating effect
of the poison gas. He passed away when the
youngest child was still just a baby.

Fred was buried in Mountain View Cemetery at
Lethbridge. I cannot remember for sure but I
think in the first Field of Honor located just to
the left of the main gate entrance to the ceme-
tery. That was about 1923 or 24. Although he did
not die on the battlefield, he died from the effects
of the injury he received while serving his country.
For this he should be honored and remembered.

Return Pioneer Histories