Near, Frank Sidney

Service highlights

  • Name: Frank Sidney Near
  • Rank: Private
  • Service number: 491130
  • Force / Unit: Canadian Army, The Royal Canadian Regiment
  • Born: July 14, 1894, St. Marys, Ontario
  • Enlisted: June 23, 1915, Ontario
  • Died: October 8, 1916, France
  • Commemorated at: Vimy Memorial, France (no known grave)
  • Family: Son of John H. and Mary A. Near of St. Marys, Ontario
  • Before service: Worked as a barber

A Life and Service, Remembered

Before France and the trenches, Frank Sidney Near’s life was rooted in St. Marys. He worked locally as a barber, a steady trade built on routine, skill, and the everyday familiarity of a small town. When he enlisted on June 28, 1915, he joined the 33rd Canadian Infantry Battalion in St. Marys, stepping into a unit that already carried a reputation.

Nicknamed the “Dirty 33rd,” it became notorious after being involved in a riot in downtown London in November 1915. In the aftermath, the battalion was moved to Québec City and housed in immigration sheds, an early glimpse of how quickly discipline, hardship, and public scrutiny could become part of a soldier’s story even before reaching the front.

In March 1916, the 33rd entrained for Halifax. On April 1, Frank boarded the SS Lapland and sailed for England and he did not go alone. His older brother William ( https://rcl236stmarys.ca/cenotaph/william-near/) sailed with him, two brothers from St. Marys crossing the Atlantic together into the unknown. That detail matters, because it turns enlistment from an individual act into a family one: shared risk, shared hope, and a bond carried right into the war.

Frank did not remain in England long. Shortly after arriving, he was posted to The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR), serving in Belgium with the 3rd Division. He was with the RCR during the period of the Battle of Mount Sorrel in early June 1916, though the battalion was not heavily engaged in that particular fighting. Later that year the unit was transferred south to the Somme, where battles were measured in trench lines, shattered strongpoints, and the terrible math of yards gained versus lives lost.

October 8, 1916 was one of those days that swallowed men whole. The battalion went forward from Vancouver Trench to seize a stretch of Regina Trench north of Courcelette. At first the attack succeeded, and by early morning the battalion was consolidating and pushing out patrols. But the larger situation collapsed. On the flanks, other battalions ran into trouble. In places the German wire had not been cut and the advance could not be carried forward. That left the men who had taken ground dangerously exposed, and counterattacks followed.

After beating off repeated attacks, what remained of the battalion was forced back to its start line at Vancouver Trench. When roll was called that night, losses were staggering. Frank Near was among those listed as missing.

Search parties went out into no man’s land, but they did not find him. With no body recovered and no known grave, he was recorded as missing and later presumed dead. His name is preserved on the Vimy Memorial in France, a marker for families who never received the final certainty of a burial place, only the lasting certainty of loss. Later his name was engraved back in his home town on the front of the St. Marys cenotaph.

Major battles and operations

  • 33rd Battalion period in Canada, including the “Dirty 33rd” reputation and the London riot (1915)
  • Overseas embarkation: SS Lapland (1 April 1916), sailing with brother William
  • RCR service in Belgium with the 3rd Division (1916)
  • Somme operations: Regina Trench attack from Vancouver Trench (8 Oct 1916)
  • Missing in action, no body recovered, presumed dead (8 Oct 1916)

Links and sources