Lawrence Young Pt. 2: Service and Sacrifice

On January 3, 1916, at the height of the First World War, Métis sixteen-year-old Lawrence Young voluntarily enlisted in the Canadian military. Not yet officially old enough to serve, Lawrence recorded he was older than his actual age on his military enlistment papers, joining the 94th Overseas Battalion in Kenora. Seven months later, Lawerence departed for England to receive training.

After arriving in Europe, Lawrence was soon transferred to the 17th Reserve Battalion in Kent, where he contracted mumps only a month later. After recovering in August 1916, he resumed training until November, when he was deployed to active duty in France.

There, during the Battle of the Somme, Private Young faced a harsh, damp, and arduous winter in the trenches, working to improve conditions and conducting raids on German lines. Tragically, on February 13, 1917, just two days before his eighteenth birthday, Lawrence succumbed to a fatal abdominal wound that he suffered the previous evening while wiring a trench when an artillery shell exploded nearby.

Lawrence is buried in Aubigny Communal Cemetery in the village of Aubigny-en-Artois, northwest of Arras in France.

In 1919, the Kenora Miner and News published a verse selected by the Young family in memoriam of Lawrence: “One precious to our hearts has gone; The voice we loved is stilled; The place made vacant in our home can never be more filled.”

Lawrence Young's journey, from enlistment through illness, training, and frontline service, exemplifies the strength and resilience that he and many other young Métis service members have shown—and continue to show—over generations.

See Our Sources

• Lawrence Young, Canadian Great War Project

• Lawerence Young, Kenora Great War Project

• Young-Thompson VMFL

• Lawrence Young Attestation Record (1)

• Lawrence Young Attestation Record (2)

Mini Word Search

Have fun with the facts by completing today's mini word search.