Dismon, Henry

Henry Dismon was born in London, England, on 3 July 1887. He was the sixth of the seven children of George Dismon, a boot maker, and Isabelle Dismon.

A wood carver, Dismon enlisted in the 39th Canadian Infantry Battalion in Lindsay, Ontario, on 23 April 1915. After initial training in Canada, he embarked for England with the battalion in late June 1915, arriving in early July. Not long after returning to England, on 11 September 1915, Dismon married Isabel Jessie Brettell at Our Most Holy Redeemer, an Anglo-Catholic church in Exmouth Market, in London.

On 14 January 1916, Dismon was appointed bookkeeper for his company, obviously having learned bookkeeping skills from his father. From 28 August to 12 September 1916, he was hospitalized with a severe case of quinsy (an abscess in the region around the tonsils). He was transferred to the 21st Canadian Infantry Battalion (Eastern Ontario) on 21 April 1917 and joined the unit in France the next day.

Dismon was reported missing on 15 August 1917, during the Battle of Hill 70. Assigned an assault role, the 21st Battalion was one of the 10 battalions that left the Canadian trenches at 4:20 a.m., at the start of the Canadian Corps’ attack on the German-held hill. Although it rapidly took all its objectives, the battalion experienced considerable shelling and faced numerous strong, but ultimately unsuccessful, counterattacks over the next three days.

On 28 February 1918, Canadian military authorities declared that Dismon was presumed to have died on or after 15 August 1917.

Henry Dismon is commemorated on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, on Vimy Ridge, in France