Jesse Croucher was born in Herne Bay, Kent, England, on May 28, 1888, the son of John Thomas Croucher (a brickmaker) and Anne Marie Anderson/Parker, both from England. Jesse’s many siblings included: Alice Matilda (born 1866); James Thomas (born 1867); John Thomas (born 1870); Harriett Ann (born 1872); Anne Susan (born 1875); Louisa Jane (born 1877); Rosa (born 1881); Elizabeth (born 1882); Isabelle (born 1885); Florence Maude (born 1890); Lizzie (born 1891); and Violet May (born 1895). Jesse enlisted originally with British Royal Engineers and Army Service Corps in Canterbury, England on December 29, 1908. At that time, he recorded his occupation as a brickmaker. Jesse arrived in Canada (at the Port of Quebec) aboard the passenger ship Empress of Britain on July 21, 1910. He listed his destination as Watford, and his intended occupation as farm labourer.
Jesse Croucher would enlist with the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on July 1, 1915 in Sarnia. A bachelor at the time, living at Devine Street, he recorded his occupation as a car repairer. He became a member of the Army, Canadian Infantry, British Columbia Regiment, 7th Battalion, as a Private. On September 9, 1916, Jesse Croucher would lose his life while fighting during the Battle of the Somme, France. Jesse Croucher would later be officially be listed as, Killed in action, at Courcelette. Buried outside Tom’s Cut Trench Somme. Twenty-eight year old Jesse Croucher has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.
SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, L, N, 2C, 2D, 2G