Captain Tillman Alfred Briggs, MC, was born in Victoria, British Columbia ,on June 12, 1887. Prior to enlistment he was worked as a doctor at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Victoria.

Capt. Briggs was commissioned in Victoria on November 23, 1915, with B Section of the No. 1 Field Ambulance, Canadian Army Medical Corps (C.A.M.C.). Shipping for England aboard the SS Lapland on March 11, 1916, Briggs initially trained and worked with the C.A.M.C. at Sandgate. In December he proceeded to France where he served with several units including No. 3 Canadian General Hospital and No. 9 Canadian Field Ambulance.

Briggs received the Military Cross  (awarded for acts of exemplary gallantry  during active operations) in January 1919, for attending to the wounded while under fire with the 116th Battalion Canadian Infantry, 2nd Central Ontario Regiment. He was demobilized February 16, 1920.

External links:
Capt. Briggs’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
The announcement awarding Briggs the Military Cross was published in the London Gazette on January 11, 1919 (supplement #31119, pg. 653).

[Editor’s Note: All diary transcriptions (including annotations within these transcriptions) in the Briggs Collection have been provided by the collection donor.]