Lieutenant Thomas Arthur Metheral was born in Singhampton, Ontario, on July 7, 1896, to parents Thomas and Martha (née Taylor) Metheral. Prior to the war he was living in Lawson, Saskatchewan, where he worked as a school teacher.

Metheral enlisted on September 5, 1916, in Gilroy, Ont., with the 196th (Western Universities) Battalion. He shipped to England aboard the SS Southland that November, where he joined the 19th Reserve Battalion. Metheral was Commissioned as a Lieutenant on March 12, 1917, and the following month was attached to the Royal Flying Corps. Crossing to France, he joined the 45th Squadron, R.F.C., on May 31, 1917, and was killed in action five days later.

Initially reported missing, having failed to return from a flight over the German lines, Metheral’s death was confirmed by a German aviator’s message drop over Allied lines, but his burial site was unknown. In 1956 Metheral’s body was found, and he was reburied in Cement House Cemetery, Langemark, Belgium.

Content notes:
The collection contains a 1956 letter from the Imperial War Grave Commission, as well as an obituary notice.

External links:
Lt. Thomas Metheral’s service record (Reg/Serv# 911062) can be viewed/downloaded through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Metheral can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.