MILITARY GENEAL SERVICE MEDAL FAMILY GROUP 92ND HIGHLANDERS
A Military General Service Medal, 92nd Gordon Highlanders
Private Hugh Polson, 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot: Military General Service Medal 1793-1814, 2 Clasps - VITTORIA, PYRENEES (HUGH POLSON, 92nd FOOT). Naming is officially impressed. Replacement ribbon, dark patina, with repair to fixed suspension, which comes detactched but slots back in and holds , condition fair. Hugh Polson was born about 1780 in Loth, Sutherland, Scotland. He enlisted as a Private with the 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and served in Leuitanent Holmes' Company. He was admitted as a Chelsea Pensioner on August 16th 1814. Polson died August 4th 1877 at Inverness.
Accompanied by 1914-15 Star (55070 Sjt H.L. POLSON. 19/CAN:INF:). Naming is officially impressed. Replacement ribbon, light contact, spotting. Fine.
His son and Hugh Lyon Polson's father, Hugh Polson was born in 1857 in England, of Scottish heritage. He was employed as a Banker and immigrated to Canada in 1875, initially settling in Hamilton, Ontario, with his wife, Charlotte and their two boys, Norman and Hugh. As of the 1901 Census, the family had a Margaret Smith residing with them. Grandson: Hugh Lyon Polson was born on March 26, 1890 in Woodstock, Oxford County, Ontario, the son of Hugh Polson and Charlotte Polson, the family later moving to Toronto, Ontario. He signed his Attestation Paper (55070) with the 19th Infantry Battalion, on November 10, 1914 in Toronto, at the age of 24, naming his next-of-kin as his father, Hugh Polson of Toronto, stating that he was with an Active Militia, the 2nd Battalion, Queen's Own Rifles, that he was not married, that his religion was Church of England and that his trade was that of Salesman. He was posted to No. 4 Section, B Company at Exhibition Camp and would go overseas as part of the 2nd Contingent. The 19th Infantry Battalion was raised and mobilized in Toronto, Ontario under the authority of G.O. 36, March 15, 1915. The Battalion sailed from Montreal, Quebec on May 13, 1915 aboard the S.S. Scandinavian, with a strength of 41 officers and 1,075 other ranks under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel J.J. McLaren, arriving in England shortly thereafter. He was promoted to Sergeant on June 1, 1915 and embarked for service in France on September 14, 1915. Sergeant Hugh Lyon Polson suffered a severe gun shot (shrapnel) wound to his right knee, on November 7, 1915 at Dickebusch, Belgium. He was shot by a sniper in his right knee joint, the bullet entering on the inner surface of his right knee and exiting on the anterior surface of the patella. Three days later, he was admitted to No. 24 General Hospital at Etaples on November 10th, where the decision was made to not drain his knee and let the wound heal naturally, which it eventually did. After five weeks and a half weeks at Etaples, he was invalided to England, where he was admitted to Moore Barracks Canadian Hospital at Shorncliffe on December 19th, his stay lasting eighteen days, before being discharged on January 6th. He was subsequently invalided to Canada, embarking England aboard the S.S. Missanabie on January 17, 1916. Upon arrival in Canada, he was admitted to the Canadian Military Convalescent Hospital at Military District No. 2 in Toronto on January 27th. In a Medical Board Report issued at Exhibition Camp in Toronto, on March 3, 1916, in regards to Sergeant Polson's knee injury, one of the senior medical officers stated: "At present the wound is completely healed with no thickening of the joint. There is still some limitation of extension and complete flexion, and some muscular stiffness and swelling. Condition is improving under massage. The Board recommends that he be granted an extension of sick furlough for three months from this date." Seven months later and now fully recovered from the gun shot wound to his knee, Hugh Lyon Polson returned to duty, once again enlisting for overseas service. He signed his Officers' Declaration Paper as a Lieutenant with the 170th Infantry Battalion "Mississauga Horse", on October 13, 1916 at Camp Borden, at the age of 26, naming his next-of-kin as his father, Hugh Polson of Toronto, stating that he had served with an Active Militia, the 2nd Battalion, Queen's Own Rifles, along with having served for one year and seven months with the 19th Infantry Battalion CEF, that his religion was Church of England and that his occupation was that of Manufacturer's Agent. The Battalion was raised and mobilized in Toronto, Ontario under the authority of G.O. 69, July 15, 1916. The 170th Infantry Battalion sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia on October 25, 1916 aboard the S.S. Lapland, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel L. Reed with a strength of 31 officers and 888 other ranks, arriving in Liverpool, England on October 31st. In England, the Battalion was absorbed into the 5th Reserve Battalion. A week after arriving in England, he was admitted to the Military Isolation Hospital at Aldershot on November 6, 1916 with a case of "Rubella" (also known as German measles or three-day measles, an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and last for three days). After ten days treatment, he was discharged to duty on November 16th.
Lieutenant Polson was transferred to the Canadian Machine Gun Depot at Crowboro on January 4, 1917. While serving at the CMG Depot, he sought hospitalization again, this time admitted to Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Extension at Millbank S.W. on March 24, 1917, with a case of "V.D.G. slight" (venereal disease, gonorrhea). After one months' treatment, he was discharged from hospital on April 23rd and returned to the Canadian Machine Gun Depot at Crowboro on May 21st. His talents were required elsewhere, as he was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps on June 30, 1917 and was placed on command to the Royal Flying Corps at Reading on July 7th. Temporary Lieutenant Hugh Lyon Polson, Canadian Machine Gun Corps was seconded for duty with the Royal Flying Corps on July 30, 1917, the announcement appearing in the Supplement to the London Gazette 30237 of Friday, August 17, 1917, on Friday, August 17, 1917, page 8512. Lieutenant Polson returned to France on August 25, 1917. He is acknowledged on the airhistory.org.uk website as being on the muster roll of the Royal Flying Corps. Six months after arriving in France, Lieutenant Polson was admitted to No. 1 Casualty Clearing Station on February 26, 1918, suffering from an abscess in his left ear. He was later transferred and admitted to No. 14 General Hospital at Boulogne on April 6th, then transferred and admitted to to No. 51 General Hospital at Etaples on April 8th, where he would recuperate for the next nine weeks, before being discharged on June 11th. After serving with the air force for eighteen months, Temporary Lieutenant Hugh Lyon Polson, Canadian Machine Gun Corps ceased to be seconded for duty with the Royal Air Force (nee Royal Flying Corps) on February 10, 1919, the announcement appearing in the Second Supplement to the London Gazette 31204 of Tuesday, February 25, 1919, on Thursday, February 27, 1919, page 2831. He was posted to the Canadian Concentration Camp at Kinmel Park for return to Canada on March 16, 1919. He embarked for Canada aboard the H.M.T.S. Empress of Britain on March 23, 1919, arriving in Canada on the 31st. Lieutenant Hugh Lyon Polson, 170th Infantry Battalion was discharged from service upon general demobilization at Military District No. 2 in Toronto, on April 1, 1919. For his First World War service, he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Hugh Lyon Polson re-enlisted for service during the Second World War, enrolling with the Canadian Active Service Force in the Veterans Guard of Canada on June 28, 1940. However, his service would be a short one, as he died in Mimico, Ontario on January 1, 1941, at the age of 50. He was buried in the Anglican Cemetery, Woodstock, Oxford County Municipality, Plot M. Lot 17. Grave 3. and is commemorated on page 41 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. For his Second World War service, he was posthumously awarded the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and the War Medal 1939-1945.
