WW1 Soldier's Pocket Watch Found in Michigan!

R. H. Smedley's Pocket Watch from WW1

Recently Chad wrote to Olive Tree Genealogy about finding a watch that belonged to a soldier in WW1:

I am trying to find someone that once lived in or around Thamesville.  Here is the story, years ago when i was a kid i found a nice watch laying in a yard in Michigan. Inside there is some engraving indicating that this watch was given to RH Smedley by the friends of thamesville for his service in world war 1. I forgot about this watch but found it yesterday in a box.  I would just like to find a relative of RH that I can return this watch to. Any assistance you can provide would be much appreciated.

Pocket watch of R. H. Smedley CEF

Lorine's Research: Thamesville is in Kent County so I had a quick look in the online CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) records for that area.  There were 20 hits for the search term SMEDL*Y but only one with the initials R.H. - Ronald Herbert Smedley born Oct. 26, 1898.

Ronald's Attestation Paper (front) shows he was living in Thamesville when he enlisted November 1, 1916.

He was born in Blackpool, Lancashire England and his parents were Herbert and Maggie Smedley.

Starting with that information it should be possible to find out if he survived the war, had any siblings, or a wife and family who might like to have the watch.

I hope my readers will jump in to help find Ronald's family. Let's help Chad send this watch home!

Update: It only took a few hours and we have the names of 3 children for Ronald, who moved to Detroit Michigan from Thamesville Ontario, in 1920. See comments for more updates! Thanks everyone! Let's keep going and find Ronald's sons and grandchildren to let them know about this watch.