Render, Private Frederick

Service highlights

  • Service Number: 401331
  • Born: 6 December 1883
  • Immigrated to Canada in 1908 with his family and lived in St. Marys at 12 Robinson Street.
  • Work: Machinist by trade.
  • Enlisted 4 August 1915 in London, Ontario with the 33rd Canadian Infantry Battalion.
  • Posted to the 58th Canadian Infantry Battalion in France on 8 May 1916 and spent time at the Canadian General Base Depot at Le Havre before joining the battalion on 29 May.
  • Served in the Ypres Salient after the Battle of Mount Sorrel and was killed by a sniper on 9 July 1916.
  • Died: 9 July 1916,
  • Buried at Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm).
  • Survived by his wife Hannah Render and four children.
  • Commemorated on the St. Marys cenotaph and at St. James Anglican Church.

A Life and Service Remembered

Frederick Render was born in England and came to Canada in 1908, settling into a working life in St. Marys as a machinist. He lived at 12 Robinson Street in the West Ward, close enough to be part of the everyday rhythm of town life, the kind where people know what you do for work and who your family is.

He enlisted in August 1915. That year included an unusual episode for the 33rd Battalion, In November 1915, tensions were high after repeated delays in sending the battalion overseas, a drunken incident in London escalated into a clash at bars, the downtown police station and damage to nearby businesses; the Riot helped cement the 33rd’s reputation as “tough customers” and was followed soon after by the unit’s move to Quebec City. By the spring of 1916 he was on the move again, crossing the Atlantic on the SS Lapland and spending only a short time in England before being sent to France and posted into the 58th Battalion.

The 58th was drawn into the hard fighting that followed the German attack at Mount Sorrel. In mid June 1916, the battalion took part in a successful counter attack that helped regain lost ground, including Sanctuary Wood. After that, they returned to routine trench duty in the same battered sector north of Mount Sorrel.

On 9 July 1916, during one of those front line tours, Frederick lifted his head above the parapet and was seen by a German sniper. He was shot immediately. Private Thomas Sweeney, also from St. Marys who enlisted on the same day as Frederick and served alongside him, pulled him down under cover and went for help, but Frederick died before the stretcher bearers could bring him out. He was buried near Zillebeke. Back home, his wife and children were left with a loss that arrived suddenly, in a single day, from a place that must have felt impossibly far away.

Major battles and operations

  • Mount Sorrel sector, June 1916, including the counter attack that helped recapture Sanctuary Wood.
  • Trench duty north of Mount Sorrel, July 1916, where he was killed.

Learn More

https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/593498
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/490525/frederick-render/
https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?op=pdf&app=CEF&id=B8193-S015
https://canadiangreatwarproject.com/person.php?pid=30604
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/6074255
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/455620406/
https://swveterans.blogspot.com/2011/06/tempest-in-teapot.html
https://rcl236stmarys.ca/cenotaph/sweeney-private-thomas/
Richard Holt, The Fallen 401331 Private F. Render, Pg55