2nd Canadian Tank Battalion
Glenn Eden Flintoff was born at Clinton, Ontario, Canada on 13 May 1898, the son of Elizabeth and the late George Flintoff. Elizabeth later re-married and became Mrs Etherington. They lived at Hensall, Ontario.
He enlisted at Toronto, Ontario on 15 May 1918 for the duration of the war, giving his address as 208 Ontario Street, Stratford, Ontario. He gave his occupation as a packer and noted that he was unmarried.
Following enlistment he underwent training at Petawawa Camp, Ontario and was initially posted to 71st Battery Canadian Field Artillery, transferring to the 2nd Canadian Tank Battalion on 30 September 1918. He left Petawawa Camp on 4 October 1918 bound for England on board the SS Victoria and his likely destination was Bovington Camp, Dorset. It would appear that he fell il during the journey and on arrival in England on 18 October 1918 he was admitted to Nightingale House, Cheltenham (a satellite of the Red Cross Hospital, Gloucester and under the control of 2nd Southern General Hospital, Bristol), suffering from influenza. The Gloucester Journal of 26 October 1918 reports the arrival of a soldier named Flintoff at the Gloucester Red Cross Hospital which could well be the same individual. He died at Nightingale House on 3 November 1918 from pneumonia, age 20.
His grave in Gloucester Old Cemetery is in the World War One plot and marked by a CWGC headstone. He is commemorated on the War Memorial inside the Usborne-Hensall Cemetery in Ontario and is also named on the Exeter War Memorial Cenotaph, Ontario (south side, under listing for the township of Usbourne).
Researched by Graham Adams 31 January 2015 (revised)