The 116^th Battalion had five Battalion Sergeants-Major in its existence. William Raynor Hole, the 116^th Battalion’s first Sergeant-Major, was born on November 11, 1872 (some documents in his service record indicate 1870) in Barnsbury, England. It is unknown when he immigrated to Canada but Hole began his Canadian Militia career in 1893 with the 36^th Peel Battalion. In the early 1900s he transferred to the 34th Ontario Regiment, worked his way up through the ranks, and became Regimental Sergeant-Major in 1913. He held that position at the outbreak of the First World War. His civilian occupation was variously described as auto repair, carpentry and contracting. Hole was unmarried at the start of the war.

William Hole’s attestation paper shows that he officially joined the 37^th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force in June 1915 at Camp Niagara. He would have been one of the earliest to sign up with the new Battalion as there are pay sheets from March 1915 showing Hole with the rank of Sergeant-Major. It was logical for Hole to join the 37^th because its commanding officer was Lieutenant-Colonel C.F. Bick, the pre-war commanding officer of the 34^th Ontario Regiment. The 37^th Battalion was mostly recruited from northern Ontario but about 100 of the original soldiers were from Oshawa, likely due to Lieutenant-Colonel Bick’s influence.

There is very little in Hole’s service record regarding his time in the 37^th Battalion but he would have been at Camp Niagara with the battalion between May and October 1915. He transferred to the 116^th Battalion on November 15, 1915, about two weeks before the 37^th Battalion sailed for England. This was the time period when the 116^th Battalion was actively recruiting. As with the 37^th Battalion, Hole would have been one of the earliest members of the 116^th. Hole was named the Battalion Sergeant-Major and was in that role during the key events in the early life of the 116^th Battalion – the formation and recruiting in late 1915 and early 1916, the county march of May 1916 and the training at Camp Niagara in June and July.  Fred Palmer replaced Hole as the BSM when the 116^th Battalion sailed for England in July 1916. A battalion inspection report from 1916 indicated that Hole did not have the qualification to be BSM. Age may have been working against Hole as well, as he was 44 years old at this time. Hole was made a Company Sergeant-Major.

While the 116^th Battalion was posted to Witley Camp in England in late 1916, Hole married Sarah Elsie (last name is unknown). He sailed to France with the Battalion in February 1917. In May 1917 his back was injured when the force of a shell explosion knocked him down the stairs of a dugout. While recuperating in the transport lines he developed trench fever and was sent to the hospital for about a month. He rejoined the Battalion for three weeks before being transferred to the 6^th Canadian Railway Troops in August 1917 and was appointed a Company Sergeant-Major.

The back pain intensified over the next few months and he was invalided to England for treatment in December 1917. He was diagnosed with neurasthenia, a vaguely defined condition of the time which was equivalent to shell shock and remained hospitalized until June. Hole was sent to Canada in October 1918 for further examination and treatment. He was obviously suffering from what we now recognize as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. An October 1918 medical report indicated that he had trouble sleeping and was “always dreaming of aeroplanes or bursting shells”.

Hole was discharged from the Canadian Expeditionary Force as medically unfit on November 11, 1918. I have been unable to find anything about his life after his military career.

William Hole passed away on February 15, 1961.

Rod Henderson

Rod Henderson is the Regimental Historian of the Ontario Regiment. He served as a Sergeant in the Regiment and is the author of “Fidelis Et Paratus: The History of The Ontario Regiment RCAC”.