COLLINS, Frederick Rupert

Frederick Collins was the son of Isaac and Agnes Collins who was a local fruit dealer in Kingswinford. He was employed as a fancy glass etcher but decided to emigrate to Canada in 1913. On the outbreak of war he was living at 90c Beverley Street, Toronto. He volunteered for the Canadian infantry and after training joined the 4th Infantry Battalion, Central Ontario Regiment, in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. On 6th June 1916 they sailed for France from Halifax, Nova Scotia, on HMT Olympic and went into action in the Battle of the Somme. On the 10th October they were in the front line for the attack on Courcelette. They advanced successfully but were driven back by a German counter-attack. Private Frederick Collins was fatally wounded and buried in Adanac Military Cemetery (I J 17) near Miraumont and commemorated on the Kingswinford and Canadian National Memorials.