Frank Meyers was born on 12th December 1897 in Jordan, Scott County, Minnesota, U.S.A.
I cannot find Frank on any census returns for either the United States of America or Canada.
Frank Meyers’s army records tell us that he enlisted into the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionery Force on 21st June 1918 at Regina, Saskatchewan. He was born in Jordan, Scott County, Minnesota on 12th December 1897 and gave his trade as Mechanic Helper. His next of kin was recorded as his father, Frank Michael Meyers, Father,of Jordan, Minnesota. Frank was single. His medical form reveals that he was 6ft tall with a medium complexion. He had blue eyes and brown hair.
After basic training in Canada, Frank embarked for England on 10th September 1918 aboard the HMT Durham Castle. He disembarked on the 25th September and was posted to Bramshott Camp to complete training. Hostilities were, however, drawing to a close and he was shortly afterwards transferred to Kinmel Camp in North Wales on 18th October 1918 for discharge and repatriation to Canada. Tragically, Frank contracted Bronchial Pneumonia, and was admitted to the Canadian General Hospital where he died on 18th October 1918
(From The Library of Canada).
Kinmel Park Camp was a segregation camp used to house Canadian Soldiers awaiting repatriation to Canada after the end of WW1. Unfortunately the conditions at that time were extremely harsh with a lack of every kind of commodity, the camp was overcrowded and the services were poor, there were shortages of clothing, food and blankets. As a result of this situation, a vast number of servicemen and women became ill and many succumbed to the Influenza Epidemic or complications associated with this infection.
Frank Meyers is buried in St. Margaret’s Cemetery, Bodelwyddan.
He is commemorated on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Additional Information.
The following information is from the Government website for Jordan, Minnesota.
The City of Jordan has a long history starting back in the early 1850’s. On November 27, 1853, Thomas A. Holmes sent a crew of men from Shakopee to build a sawmill. His brother, William Holmes, together with his wife and oldest son Orin Thomas Holmes, lived in a log house built in what was later to become the town of Jordan.
This area of Minnesota was opened up for settlement when the Indians were forced to move to reservations. By the late 1850’s Jordan had a hotel, churches, school, tavern, post office, two mills, and a number of new homes. The village remained without a name for a several years. It was later said to have been named “Jordan” by William Holmes, after the biblical River Jordan.
In 1872, Jordan City and Brentwood (land owned and surveyed in the southeast corner of section 18 and on the line of the Minnesota Valley railroad) were incorporated together under the name of the village of Jordan. Soon, general stores, breweries, hardware stores and more churches sprung up. The only item missing, according to some locals was the county courthouse.
From 1872 to 1929, Jordan tried to move the county seat to the city unsuccessfully. The County seat established in 1853 would remain in Shakopee.By 1880 the village which consisted of about 640 acres and 915 residents had the advantage of two railways.
Businesses consisted of two flouring mills, two breweries, a stone quarry, a lumber shop, a harness shop, a blacksmith, a gunsmith, a baker, a boot and shoe store, three general merchandise stores, two hardware stores, two grocery stores, two millinery, two meat markets, two jewelers, two hotels, and eight saloons.Later, in 1891, Jordan was incorporated as a city.
That same year phone service was installed from the doctor’s office to the drug store and from the RR Deport to the Hotel.Breweries thrived until 1921 when 100 gallons of beer and whiskey was seized in a raid by the Prohibition Enforcement agent. Brewing started up again in the 1930’s after it became legal, but later production was limited when the government rationed grain in the 1940’s.
Today, the City of Jordan is a flourishing city with the growth of the Metropolitan area. Scott County is the most rapid growing county in the state of Minnesota. The City has a full range of urban land use services and is the cultural and economic center of the immediate region
