Description
When he enlisted at the age of 18, Semia spoke neither English nor French. After basic training, he landed in Liverpool in April 1917 and was at the Front by June. He served with the 52nd Battalion in France, including at Passchendaele. He was shot in October 1917 and invalided back to Britain, spending a couple of months being treated at Bath War Hospital. He was transferred to several other hospitals in the following months, as doctors suspected he was suffering from lupus. While his original injury healed, he was discharged back to Canada due to lupus at the end of 1918.
Bibliographic sources
Personnel file: https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?op=pdf&app=CEF&id=B8775-S041; https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/those-who-served/indigenous-veterans/native-soldiers/first_response