Private Thomas Warren Reeve was born on June 26th, 1893 in Meadowvale, Ontario to Sigsworth Simpson Reeve and Sarah Esther McClure - two of the founding families of the area. At the time he signed up for the war, Reeve’s next of kin was his father, who still lived in Meadowvale, but he himself had moved to Gerard Street in Toronto. Under “What is your Trade or Calling”, Private Reeve originally wrote Labourer, but crossed that out and wrote Salesman instead. He had some military experience, being a member of the Corps of Guides (source: Library and Archives Canada). The Corps of Guides was a mounted corps of non-permanent active militia. The members were spread across Canada, and were directed to carry out intelligence duties. In the case that war ever broke out on Canadian soil, these Guides would be expected to have detailed and accurate data about their appointed jurisdictions. Thomas Reeve must have been an impressive person, as the General Officer commanding the Corps of Guides said, “There is much competition among the best men in the country for admission to the Corps of Guides.” 

               When he signed up for WW1, Thomas was 22 years old with black eyes and black hair. Like Privates Porteous and Gwilt and Sgt. Hutton, Reeve joined the 126th Peel Battalion. In early February, 1917, Thomas became extremely ill with pleural pneumonia. He went on to stay in hospital (first in France, then in Glasgow, Scotland) until May 16th when he was finally declared well enough to leave. That would not be Thomas’ only hospital stay overseas unfortunately. On April 4th, 1918 he was hospitalized for gunshot wounds to the right arm; then on August 29th, he was put in hospital again for ‘multiple gunshot wounds’, including in his head and shoulder, and he wasn’t discharged from the hospital until January 31st, 1919. An x-ray showed that this second shooting event left him with shrapnel in his right mandible (jaw) and shoulder, as well as limited movement and general weakness in that arm. The doctor in charge advised against trying to remove this shrapnel, however later medical documents state that Reeve experienced considerable pain when eating or moving his arm due to the shrapnel (source: Library & Archives Canada). 

              Thomas returned to Meadowvale after the war, where he married Beatrice MacIntosh. He passed away on April 18th, 1973, aged 88 and was buried in Churchville Cemetery. Below is a picture of Private Reeve taken from a group shot of the 126th Battalion.