Herbert Sydney Sparks

Lieut. Herbert Sydney Sparks (58075) was born on September 5th, 1890, in Stoke Newington, London, England. His family moved to Canada and Settled in Toronto. Pte. Sparks was studying theology at the time of his enlistment on March 3, 1915, and he was also a member of the University of Toronto Militia. He joined the 20th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and was shipped overseas shortly afterwards on May 15th on the S. S. Megantic from Montreal, arriving in England nine days later. In September he shipped out to France, arriving in Le Havre. At the end of 1915 he was transferred to the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade, in the Machine Gun Corps and saw action at the Somme and Vimy Ridge. Like many WW1 soldiers in the trenches in France and Flanders, he had his share of illness, but recovered from bronchitis first, and later trench fever to return to service with his comrades. He continued to serve in the C.E.F., rising to the rank of Lieutenant, until May 1917 when he was appointed to a commission in the Imperial Army. He survived the war and lived until Feb. 15, 1960. 

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