Date of birth: 02/10/1894

Place of birth: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Last known residence: 195 Turner Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Profession: Stenographer

Religion: Methodist

Country: Canada

Force: Canadian Expeditionary Force

Rank: Private

Service number: 633487

Enlistment date: 16/02/1916

Enlistment place: Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

Units:  —  Canadian Infantry, 21st Bn. (Eastern Ontario)  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 03/11/1917

Place of death: Crest Farm, Passchendaele, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 23

Cecil Lancaster Spence, a former stenographer, was born on the 2nd of October 1894 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of John and Eliza Spence. On February 16th, 1916, he enlisted at Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. Cecil served as a private in the 21st Battalion Canadian Infantry, part of the 4th Canadian Brigade, of the 2nd Canadian Division.

On night between the 2nd and 3rd of November 1917 the 4th Canadian Brigade relieved the men at the front. The 21st and 19th Battalion took over the left and right front line between the s’ Graventafelstraat and Ypres-Roulers railway. The 18th Battalion was in support near Abraham Heights and the 20th Battalion was in reserve between Hill 37 and Bostin Farm.

At 3:45 the front- and support trenches were heavily shelled. At 4:50 a.m. an S.O.S. flare was sent up and ten minutes later the Germans attacked. The 19th Battalion repulsed the attack, but the Germans were able to gain a foothold on the side of the 21st Battalion near Crest Farm. They were eventually driven off by a counterattack by the 21st Battalion. November 4th was spent improving defences at the front. The 4th Canadian Brigade was relieved at 3:00 a.m. on the 5th of November 1917.

Cecil Lancaster Spence, aged 23, was killed in action on 3 November 1917. Private Spence was initially buried near Crest Farm at 28.D.12.a.10.90. His remains were not recovered or identified after the war. Cecil Lancaster Spence has no known grave and is remembered on panel 26R of the Menin Gate Memorial.

McCarthy, Chris. Passchendaele: the Day-by-Day Account. (Londen: Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018), 159. Sources used

Personnel Record of Spence, Cecil Lancaster. Library and Archives Canada, RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 9182 – 57, 243581. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=243581 Sources used

War Diary of the 21st Canadian Infantry Battalion, November 1917. Library and Archives Canada, RG9-III-D-3, Volume number: 4931, Microfilm reel number: T-10731--T-10732, File number: 410. https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=1883237 Sources used

War Diary of the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade, November 1917. Library and Archives Canada, RG9-III-D-3, Volume number: 4915, Microfilm reel number: T-10707, File number: 360. https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=1883157 Sources used

War Graves Registry file of Spence, Cecil Lancaster. Library and Archives Canada, Commonwealth War Graves. RG150, 1992-1993/314, Box 39-244; Box: 123. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/mass-digitized-archives/commonwealth-war-graves-registers/Pages/commonwealth-war-graves-registers.aspx Sources used

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1596202

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=4f0f9a10-16f2-4ed5-a6f9-45623b364fbd