Hill, Horace E. K.

Horace Hill was born in Bristol, England, on 6 September 1895. He immigrated to Canada in 1912.

An ironworker, Hill enlisted in the 24th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Victoria Rifles of Canada) in Montréal, Quebec, on 7 November 1914. The medical examiner described him as “small [but] otherwise fit” and recommended that he be made a bugler. Hill was 5 feet 1¼ inches tall and had an expanded chest girth of 32 inches — physical characteristics that were below the minimum requirements for service (5 feet 3 inches and 33.5 inches, respectively). The examiner’s recommendation was not followed, and Hill became a combat infantryman.

After initial training in Canada, Hill and his unit embarked for England on SS Cameronia. They left Montréal on 11 May 1915 and arrived in Devenport nine days later. After further training and preparation, the 24th Battalion was sent to France on 15 September 1915, landing in Boulogne the following day.

Hill died at 6th Canadian Field Ambulance near Dickebusch (Dikkebus), Belgium, on 30 April 1916, having been wounded the day before by shelling.

Horace Hill is buried in Dickebusch New Military Cemetery, in Belgium, next to his brother Cyril, who also served in the 24th Battalion and died on the same day.