Theodore Augustus GIRLING

Captain Theodore Augustus Girling was born at Linthwaite, near Huddersfield, Yorkshire, on 11 January 1876. He emigrated to Canada in 1897 and initially worked as a teacher in Manitoba before training as a veterinary surgeon. He graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1904, winning the gold medal for the best examination result, and established himself in Saskatchewan. By 1908 he was also serving as a veterinary officer in the Canadian militia.

Girling was commissioned in the Canadian Army Veterinary Corps in March 1915. He left Canada later that year with the 9th Canadian Mounted Rifles and reached France in 1916. His wartime service included duties with the Canadian divisional engineers and as a brigade veterinary officer. He served with the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division, and later with the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade. He was promoted Captain and was Mentioned in Despatches.

Early in 1919 Girling contracted pneumonia. The war diary of the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade records that, after about three weeks of illness, he died at the 8th Casualty Clearing Station at Namur on 1 March 1919. His funeral on 4 March was attended by the General Officer Commanding and much of the brigade staff; the 21st Canadian Battalion provided the firing party and band, and veterinary officers from across the division were represented.

Girling was buried in Belgrade Cemetery, Namur, grave II.A.15. He was also a published poet. His collection The Salient and Other Poems drew on his wartime service in France and Belgium.