Private
Fairnie, William
Unit
67th Canadian Infantry Battalion
Branch
Infantry
Service Component
Canadian Expeditionary Force
Service Number
102234
birth
1888/12/21
Glasgow, Scotland
death
1918/04/04
Vimy, France
grave
Canadian National Vimy Memorial, Vimy Ridge, France
Gender
Male
William Fairnie was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 21 December 1888.
A waiter, Fairnie enlisted in the 67th Pioneer Battalion in Victoria, British Columbia, on 18 September 1915. He sailed to England in April 1916 aboard SS Olympic and proceeded to France in August.
Fairnie was reported missing in action on the night of 23–24 October 1916. Authorities later discovered that he had been captured. He was imprisoned in a number of German prisoner-of-war camps, including Limburg, Minden, Dülmen, Soltau, Hameln, Mannheim and Heuberg. Fairnie died in prison. The circumstances of his death were unclear to Canadian military authorities, but records indicate that he may have drowned while trying to escape.
William Fairnie is commemorated on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, on Vimy Ridge, in France.
