Jean Longstaff has submitted the following:-

Frederick Hewitt was born on 9th July 1892 and baptised at Burbank Street United Methodist Church, West Hartlepool; he was the sixth child and third son of Matthew Christopher Hewitt, a marine engine fitter and Agnes Harper. By 1901 the family was complete and they were living at 41 Keswick Street and Fred was a pupil at Lister Street School and father Matthew had moved from fitting marine engines to locomotive engines. The 1911 census shows them living at 39 Keswick Street and only Hedley, Fred, working as a labourer in a shipyard, and Agnes and Richard were still living with their parents.

In November 1912 Matthew and his wife and the three younger children sailed for Canada on board the Empress of Britain, heading for Alberta where their oldest son Robert William had settled in 1905, Hedley followed them seven months later to join them in Lethbridge, where Fred had found work as a shipping clerk with Plunkett and Savage, fruit wholesalers. All four boys enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and the 1916 census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta shows that both families were living together whilst Hedley, Robert, Richard and Fred were serving overseas.

On 1st October 1915 Fred enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Lethbridge and became Private 160399 of the 82nd Battalion and a note was made on his enlistment papers of his chronic eczema. The 82nd Battalion was mobilised in Calgary and it was here that Fred spent 35 days in hospital with a skin infection at the start of 1916. Fit and having undergone some training Fred embarked for England with the rest of the Battalion on 20th May, arriving in Liverpool and a posting to the camp at St. Martins Plain near Folkestone, Kent; by 17th July he was in France with the 2nd Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles, which despite its name had just been dismounted and converted to infantry. In 1st Army Rest Camp for two weeks in August, on his return to duty Fred was posted to the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp where he came into contact with a case of diphtheria and was placed in quarantine at no.3 Convalescent Depot at Le Treport for five weeks before returning to his unit at the start of December. Awarded a Good Conduct Badge in April 1918 Fred remained with 2CMR and in August was involved in the attack on the Germans at Le Quesnoy. The battalion lost 82 men between 9-11th August, and 140 were wounded, 342 Germans were taken prisoner and 15 machine guns, 1 trench mortar and 1 anti-tank rifle captured. Fred was one of the casualties. The War Graves Register (Circumstances of Casualty) for Private 160399 reads “killed in action during an attack in the vicinity of Le Quesnoy, killed by enemy shrapnel”.

His parents added “Fred killed in France 10 August 1918” to their headstone at Mountain View Cemetery, Lethbridge, Canada.

Frederick Hewitt is remembered at Hartlepool on H115.30 page 21 and at West Hartlepool on W111.06, W111.54 , W111.86 page 18 and the 1914-1918 List of Casualties

He is also remembered in Canada on their Virtual War Memorial and in their Book of Remembrance.

Canadian Book of Remembrance
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
The CWGC entry for Private Hewitt