Sergeant
McVity, James
Unit
87th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Canadian Grenadier Guards)
Branch
Infantry
Service Component
Canadian Expeditionary Force
Service Number
177544
birth
1896/06/18
Aylmer, Quebec, Canada
death
1916/11/18
Somme, France
grave
Canadian National Vimy Memorial, Vimy Ridge, France
Gender
Male
James McVity (sometimes spelt McVeity) was born in Aylmer, Quebec, on 18 June 1896. He was the sixth of William and Liza McVity’s seven children.
A farmer, McVity enlisted in the 87th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Canadian Grenadier Guards) in Montréal, Quebec, on 13 November 1915. After initial training in Canada, his unit was shipped to England on SS Empress of Britain on 25 April 1916, embarking in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The battalion disembarked in Liverpool on 5 May 1916. Upon arrival in England, McVity, who held the rank of lance corporal, travelled with the 87th Battalion to Camp Bramshott, a Canadian military facility in Hampshire. He was promoted to corporal on 5 August 1916. McVity embarked for France six days later and was promoted to sergeant the following month. McVity was killed by shrapnel in France on 18 November 1916, as his unit attacked Desire Trench during the Battle of the Somme. His body was not recovered.
James McVity is commemorated on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, on Vimy Ridge, in France.
