Edward Stanley McDonald

Private Edward Stanley McDonald (745138) was born on July 20, 1894 in Goodwood. He became a carpenter in Uxbridge. He enlisted on December 2, 1915, age 21. Like many local lads he joined the 116th Battalion, and was sent to England on the S. S. Olympic, arriving July 31, 1916. He had a difficult time in the Army because of health problems, and needed treatment for several serious illnesses. Dec. 30, 1916 saw him admitted to the Allied General Hospital in Havre with a corneal ulcer. He was discharged nine days later. However, the conditions for the troops there were deplorable, with mud and waterlogged trenches, and McDonald developed a serious case of trench feet. He was invalided out from Etaples for treatment that lasted almost five months in hospitals in England (Shoreham and Orpington). During his stay he complained of shortness of breath, and was coughing up blood. Tests revealed tuberculosis, and he was invalided back to Canada on the H. M. H. S. Araguaya on September 14, 1917. He was sent to the Muskoka Sanatorium in Gravenhurst for treatment, returning to Spadina Military hospital after 7 months, in the early spring of 1918. Here he was diagnosed with a small tumour in his right breast, which was removed. While continuing his treatment for tuberculosis he had an attack of appendicitis which necessitated the removal of his appendix at the Toronto General Hospital. Needless to say these maladies resulted in him being deemed unfit for duty in spite of his willingness to serve, and he was discharged on August 9, 1918.

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