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De Wolf, J.H. Our Heroes in The Great World War. Ottawa: The Patriotic Publishing Co., 1919.
De Wolf, J.H. Our Heroes in The Great World War. Ottawa: The Patriotic Publishing Co., 1919.
CWM 19840007-005
George Metcalf Archival Collection
Canadian War Museum
CWM 19840007-005 George Metcalf Archival Collection Canadian War Museum
CWM 19920166-1691
CWM 19920166-1691

Sergeant

McVity, James

Unit

87th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Canadian Grenadier Guards)

Branch

Infantry

Service Component

Canadian Expeditionary Force

Service Number

177544

birth

1896/06/18

Aylmer, Quebec, Canada

death

1916/11/18

Somme, France

grave

Canadian National Vimy Memorial, Vimy Ridge, France

Gender

Male

James McVity (sometimes spelt McVeity) was born in Aylmer, Quebec, on 18 June 1896. He was the sixth of William and Liza McVity’s seven children.

A farmer, McVity enlisted in the 87th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Canadian Grenadier Guards) in Montréal, Quebec, on 13 November 1915. After initial training in Canada, his unit was shipped to England on SS Empress of Britain on 25 April 1916, embarking in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The battalion disembarked in Liverpool on 5 May 1916. Upon arrival in England, McVity, who held the rank of lance corporal, travelled with the 87th Battalion to Camp Bramshott, a Canadian military facility in Hampshire. He was promoted to corporal on 5 August 1916. McVity embarked for France six days later and was promoted to sergeant the following month. McVity was killed by shrapnel in France on 18 November 1916, as his unit attacked Desire Trench during the Battle of the Somme. His body was not recovered.

James McVity is commemorated on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, on Vimy Ridge, in France.

The Canadian War Museum’s Collection includes the following artifacts for this recipient