Joseph Delco Bice

Private Joseph (Delco or Delcort) Bice was born in Uxbridge, Ontario on May 21, 1903. His father, Joseph (Dales or Delco) Bice, born in Pickering on April 12, 1871. Joe’s older brother was John (Jack) David Bice, born on September 10, 1900.  Jack and Joe's mother was Margaret James of Uxbridge. Joseph Sr. enlisted in August 1915, and joined the 83rd Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Jack and Joe Jr. enlisted the following year, and as did many others, they gave false birth dates as they were both underage. Their mother had written a letter giving permission for Jack to enlist, but the brothers added Joe’s name as well. When they were discovered to be underage, Jack was allowed to stay at training camp at the CNE grounds as he would soon be old enough, but Joe was sent home. Jack reenlisted when he turned 16 that October and was assigned to the 204th Battalion, CEF (Toronto Beavers), part of the Royal Regiment of Canada. Joe reenlisted in May 1918 using the false date on his first set of papers (May 21, 1899). However, those papers also noted that he was still underage, but he was allowed to stay until he turned 16. He was a driver in camp for the Canadian Army Corps, reenlisted and officially joined the CAC the next spring (March 1919). With the war over, and no need for additional soldiers, he was demobilized June 10, 1919. He married Jeannie Louise Murphy in 1920 or 21, and they lived in Toronto. They had two children, Helen and Bill, but divorced after their children had grown and left home.  Joe reenlisted in WW2 and served as a driver with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. He was wounded in the leg and that was when he met Daisy Gladys Simmons who was an ambulance driver during the war. Joe and Daisy returned to Canada together and married. Several years later they adopted their only child, Ken. He worked as TTC bus and streetcar driver, after the war and owned Bice’s Variety and Snack Bar in Mimico, and Seaway Fish and Chips on the Queensway in Etobicoke, and after retiring from TTC worked as a security guard. 

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