Private James Alex Spears was the son of Benjamin and Melinda (nee Zwicker) Spears of South Brookfield.  He was born on August 18th, 1898, when his father Benjamin was 72 years old and his mother Melinda was 29.  Benjamin died when James was two years old.  The Canadian 1911 census has no record of him or his mother Melinda, but it appears that she left for the USA and that he was raised by Melinda’s family, the Zwickers.

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      James joined the 63rd Regiment of the Halifax Rifles on April 22nd, 1916 and was given a Regimental number of 5580.  He was 18 years old, stood five feet, 10 inches tall and weighed 160 pounds.  He listed his occupation as farmer. 

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      Private Spears was assigned to Garrison duty on McNabs Island at the mouth of Halifax Harbour from May 1916 until May 1918.

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      Private Spears entered the Camp Hill Hospital in Halifax on May 25th, 1918 “having just recovered from an attack of the measles, but suffering from an abscess of the upper lid of the left eye, which extended well up under the left eye”, according to a report from his doctor.  Over the course of the next three weeks, he had several procedures to drain pus from the abscess and eventually from the area around his brain.  From Harvard Health - A brain abscess is a collection of pus enclosed in the brain tissue, caused by a bacterial or fungal infection.   A brain abscess can develop as a complication of an infection, trauma or surgery.

    

      A Nursing Sister notes of his care that 10 days after hospital entry he was very drowsy at times but eating well.  She was on duty on the evening of June 12th when he was taken for an operation to relieve pressure on his brain.  She notes that “he was brought back about 9 PM in an unconscious state remaining that way until 4 AM on June 13th when he died.  I was at his bedside the greater part of the night and was there when he died”.  Private Spears was 19 years old when he perished.

 

      Private Spears was interred in South Brookfield Union Cemetery at a funeral on June 18th.  His father is buried in the same cemetery as James. 

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      Private Spears’ cousin, Private Harold Ulmont Zwicker perished at Passchendaele in 1917.

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      Private James Alex Spears is commemorated on page 504 of the World War One Book of Remembrance.  The Book of Remembrance shows that he was a member of the 8th Battalion, but there is no source cited for that observation.

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      He is also listed on the Caledonia Cenotaph.

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Online References

War Grave Search – https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2755424/james-spears/

Local Grave Search - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/140828551/james-spears

Canadian Virtual War Memorial - https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2755424?James%20Spears

Canadian Census - https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=census&IdNumber=34920279&ecopy=z000046777

First World War Personnel Records Database (no digital files) - https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=pffww&IdNumber=630701