I was flipping through my photos from Lake View Cemetery the other night when I noticed something unusual about this particular monument.
Did you catch it? Lt. Higgins served in the Royal Air Force. So what is a young man who died while serving in a Royal Air Force during the First World War doing buried in a Cleveland cemetery?
Unfortunately, my research has presently come up short on that count. I’ve found a number of mentions of Harold Higgins that match his name, basic rank (they state he was specifically a Second Lieutenant), date of death, and branch of service. Except that they all state he is buried in a churchyard in the United Kingdom. One such mention is on a page for Canadian Veterans Affairs, and another is on a website entitled Canada at War. I’ve determined that the churchyard mentioned – St. Andrews in Cranwell, Lincolnshire – has a large number of military graves due to its proximity to an Air Force school. At least one transcription has Higgins listed but with a different date of death in the same month and year. So maybe this monument in Lake View is a cenotaph, or maybe there were two Harold Higgins whose information has become melded over the years.
A Grave Concern 
So higgins ris recorded as 91st Canadian Training Sqdn RAF. If you look at wikipedia – List of RAF Squadrons and scroll down, you will find 91 Canadian Reserve Squadron. I can’t open it at work but you will be able to. Hope this helps?
Laurie
Thank you, but sadly there is no actual article for the 91st Canadian Training Squadron. I’ve filed this under things to look up when I find another resource I haven’t tried. My guess is that this is a cenotaph erected where other members of the family are buried, but that is only an educated guess.
Before American official involvement in the war(s), some Americans went to Canada and England to join their forces to help fight. He could be one of them.