Augustus Wilberforce McKnight was born in Owen Sound, Ontario, on August 1, 1888. He grew up in Owen Sound with his parents, sisters, and brother. His brother Franklin also served in the First World War. Augustus attended the Owen Sound Collegiate Institute and post-secondary school at Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston. Augustus graduated from RMC in 1910 with an engineering degree and moved west to British Columbia so he could help with the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. He later made his way to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he began working with an engineering company and later becoming a member of the Provincial Land Surveyors Association. After travelling all over the west coast, Augustus ended up settling in Port Moody, British Columbia, and becoming a city engineer. He was very active in the community of Port Moody, and was a member of the local rifle association, tennis club and was a boy scout leader.
In 1914, Augustus chose to resign from his position in Port Moody to fight in the First World War. Augustus was commissioned with the rank of lieutenant in North Vancouver’s 6th Field Company Canadian Engineers. He later served with the 4th Field Company, Canadian Engineers while in France, serving for approximately 1 year. Tragically, Augustus McKnight was killed in action on August 11, 1916, while working on a support line trench in the Bois-Carre region of France. He is buried at Reninghelst New Military Cemetery in Belgium. His death was a heroic and noble effort to fight for his country.