100 years ago: Beniah Ridgwell died

On this day in 1917 Benjamin Ridgwell died of shell wounds at the 3rd Australian Casualty Clearing Station near Ypres in Belgium during the Battle of Passchendaele. Ridgwell had enlisted in Saskatoon in 1915. At the time of his death he was serving in the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion (which, despite the name, was an infantry unit). In relieving a New Zealand battalion at Capricorn Keep at Passchendaele on October 24th 1917, six men were injured, as recorded by the unit’s war diary.

War diary for the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion

Ridgwell was buried at the Nine Elms British Cemetery, southwest of Ypres. His name appears on the Deseronto war memorial. Benjamin’s father, Charles, was living in Deseronto when his sons (Benjamin and Sidney) enlisted.