Thomas George King was born March 17, 1887 in London, England and emigrated to Canada, becoming a farmer in Kenmore, Ontario. He met and married Sarah whereupon they became parents to three daughters and a son.

Upon the outbreak of World War 1, he eventually enlisted (#145542) with the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force on November 25, 1915 in Ottawa. Likely as a result of this enlistment and prior to joining up, the family relocated to Ottawa to 10 Adelaide Street in the Glebe, just north of Lansdowne Park. In 1916, the family relocated again to 276 Bank Street.

With two summers of earlier military experience with the 56th Grenville Regiment Lisgar Rifles, Thomas was assigned to the 77th Battalion for training, shipping out to England on June 19, 1916. He was posted to the 87th Battalion, known as the Grenadier Guards, on July 7, 1916, which arrived on the Western Front on August 11, 1916, part of the 11th Brigade, Fourth Canadian Division, during the Battle of the Somme.

In preparation for the Battle of Vimy Ridge, on April 9, 1917 just three days before the start of this conflict, Private King was wounded in action, taking a rifle bullet in his forearm. He recovered and eventually returned to the trenches. In November 1917, like thousands of other soldiers, he suffered with trench fever (a lice born disease which takes a week to pass), returned again to the trenches and continued fighting throughout 1918. The Allies were desperate to break the stalemate of trench warfare of World War 1 which was now entering its fifth year. “The Hundred Days Offensive” began on August 8, 1918, and was designed to bring the war to a close. The ‘Second Battle of Arras’, August 26 – September 3, 1918 was a key event during the “The Hundred Days Offensive”, and within this conflict was the Battle of Drocourt-Queant Line, on September 2-3 involving the Canadian Fourth Division, including the 87th Battalion. This fortification of German trenches, bunkers, machine gun nests and barbed wire situated between these two French towns of Drocourt and Queant, part of the feared Hindenburg Line.

At 05:00 hrs on September 2, 1918, the Canadian Corps attacked this area, supported by both tanks and aircraft. In a ferocious battle which eventually saw 7 Canadians awarded Victoria Crosses, the 4th Division took the village of Dury but at a heavy price, having to advance up an open incline swept by German machine guns as well as shelling by enemy artillery. Victory was achieved with the German forces forced to retreat with more than 6,000 captured as prisoners of war; however, the price of victory was high. In this Battle of Drocourt-Queant Line, in the first four days of September 1916, Canada suffered more than 5,600 casualties.

One of these casualties was Private Thomas George King of the 87th Battalion, Grenadier Guards, who was killed in action shortly after leaving the jumping off trench when attacking enemy positions near Dury in this battle. He endured more than two years of battle in the trenches of France, until just 70 days before the end of hostilities. Like all those killed in this battle, he was buried at Dury Mills British Cemetery, near to the village and the Dury Canadian War Memorial, where he rests today.

Private Thomas George King, 31 years young, left behind his wife, Sarah, and three young daughters and one son. He is remembered today at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in the Glebe.