Category Archives: Canada

accident, Air Mechanic, Canada, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, photography, Royal Air Force, Second Lieutenant, story, war

Second Lieutenant Arthur Belyea

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Second Lieutenant Arthur Belyea

Arthur Fred Belyea was born in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada, on 21st October 1894. The second of five children, he was one of three sons to John and Sarah. John was a farmer, and local to the area, but Sarah, who was sixteen years her husband’s junior, had been born in Pennsylvania, and lived in Kansas for twenty years before moving to Canada.

By the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Calgary, where John had taken up work as a horse dealer. Interestingly, the census also recorded the Belyeas’ racial background, which was German, although John and Sarah were at least second generation North American.

Arthur had finished school by this point, and had found employment as a bookkeeper for the Royal Bank of Canada. He was settled in for a career, and, by 1916 had achieved the role of assistant accountant. War was on the horizon, however, and life was to change.

Full details of Arthur’s military service have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the Canadian Royal Flying Corps on 3rd December 1917. His service papers show that Air Mechanic 3rd Class Belyea was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall, with dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a medium complexion.

Arthur was sent to Britain and stationed at East Boldre, Hampshire. When the Royal Air Force was formed on 1st April 1918, he transferred across. He was obviously proficient at what he did, because at the end of May he earned a commission, and rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant.

Mr A C Hallett, Deputy County Coroner, held inquests on Tuesday, of Lieut. Austin Wyard Blackie, RAF, of California, and Second-Lieut. Arthur Fred Belyea, RAF, of Calgary, Canada, who met thwir deaths while flying. The evidence showed that their machines collided at a great height, and that death in each case must have been instantaneous. Verdicts of “Accidental death” were returned.

[Hampshire Advertiser: Saturday 21st September 1918]

The RAF report card on the incident noted that: “The cause of the accident was in our opinion an error of judgement on one pilot (unknown) in flying his machine into the other machine from the rear, causing the left hand frame of Camel C8322 and the right hand frames of Camel C96 to collapse, thus causing each machine to spin to the ground. The one pilot was probably attempting to obtain good photographs of the other machine.”

Arthur Fred Belyea was 23 years of age when he died on 17th September 1918. He was laid to rest alongside Lieutenant Blackie in the graveyard of St Paul’s Church, East Boldre, not far from the airfield at which he served.

You can read about the life of Lieutenant Blackie here.

Second Lieutenant Arthur Belyea
(from findagrave.com)
accident, Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, Lieutenant, photography, Royal Air Force, Sergeant, story, war

Lieutenant Austin Blackie

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Lieutenant Austin Blackie

Austin Wyard Blackie was born in Spring Bay on Ontario’s Manitoulin Island on 17th November 1895. The seventh of eight children, his parents were farmers John and Mary Blackie. John took the family to where the work was: by the time of the 1901 census they had relocated to Algoma, 190km (120 miles) to the north west.

Little further information is available about Austin’s early life. When war broke out, he stepped up to play his part. His military records take a bit of unpicking, but he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 10th April 1916, and was assigned to the 227th Battalion as a Sergeant. He was dismissed from service on 15th December 1916, as he was deemed medically unfit.

Undeterred, Austin’s service papers confirm that he re-enlisted on 7th March 1917, and that he was a student at the University of Toronto Officers’ Training Corps at the time. This document also gives his year of birth incorrectly as 1894.

Austin’s medical in 1917 confirmed that, at 22 years of age (based on the incorrect year of birth), he was 5ft 7.5ins (1.71m) tall and weighed 143lbs (64.9kg). He had fair hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion, good hearing and 20/20 vision. He was also recorded as having a number of scars: two either side of his stomach from an operation, and a third on the right side of his left ankle.

Sergeant Blackie’s time in the army was not destined to be a lengthy one, and there is a sense of his determination to better himself. On 5th May 1917, he was discharged from service again, but this time because he mad the transfer to Canadian Royal Flying Corps.

At this point, Austin’s trail goes frustratingly cold. He was shipped out to Britain, and was based at the 29th Training Depot Station in East Boldre, Hampshire. When the Royal Air Force was formed, he transferred across, and, at some point during this time, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

Mr A C Hallett, Deputy County Coroner, held inquests on Tuesday, of Lieut. Austin Wyard Blackie, RAF, of California, and Second-Lieut. Arthur Fred Belyea, RAF, of Calgary, Canada, who met thwir deaths while flying. The evidence showed that their machines collided at a great height, and that death in each case must have been instantaneous. Verdicts of “Accidental death” were returned.

[Hampshire Advertiser: Saturday 21st September 1918]

The report’s suggestion that Austin was from California is incorrect, although his parents had, by this point, moved there from Canada.

The RAF’s own report gave a little more detail on what happened:

The court considered the evidence, found that the cause of the accident was entirely due to misadventure in that the [Lieutenant Blackie’s] foot became entangled behind the rudder bar, the machine thus being our of control.

It appears that Austin had been offered a different aircraft to the Sopwith Camel in which he he had been killed. “He apparently took his machine up without asking his Flight Commander’s permission or his Instructor’s, contrary to standing orders.”

Second Lieutenant Belyea’s report card adds a stark twist to the crash: “The cause of the accident was in our opinion an error of judgement on one pilot (unknown) in flying his machine into the other machine from the rear, causing the left hand frame of Camel C8322 and the right hand frames of Camel C96 to collapse, thus causing each machine to spin to the ground. The one pilot was probably attempting to obtain good photographs of the other machine.”

Austin Wyard Blackie was just 22 years of age when he died on 17th September 1918. He was laid to rest alongside Second Lieutenant Belyea in the graveyard of St Paul’s Church, East Boldre, not far from the base in which he had served.

You can read about Second Lieutenant Belyea’s life here.

Lieutenant Austin Blackie
(from findagrave.com)
Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Kent, photography, Private, story, Surrey, Sussex, war, Wiltshire

Private Archibald Leal

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Private Archibald Leal

Archibald Edmund Leal was born in Tinwood, West Sussex on 13th September 1894. The youngest of six children, his parents were George and Clara Leal. George was a dairyman, and, by the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to a terraced cottage at 66 Newland Road in Worthing.

Clara died in 1906, and Archibald – who was better known as Archie – and two of his siblings took the opportunity to seek a better life across the Atlantic. In 1910, the three of them – Archie, brother Phillip and sister Winifred – emigrated to Canada, settling in Breakeyville, to the south of Quebec.

Archie found work as a chauffeur, but when war was declared, he was quick to step up and serve his King and Empire. He enlisted on 10th September 1914, joining the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a Private. His service records show that he was 5ft 6in (1.67m) tall, with fair hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. He was also noted as having “very many [acne] scars over [his] chest and back.”

Assigned to the 15th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry, Private Leal sailed to Britain, arriving at Tidworth Camp in Wiltshire on 12th February 1915. By April he was in France, and, on 28th July he was in a front line trench near the town of Ypres. A shell exploded nearby and, in seeking shelter, he badly twisted his ankle and back. Medically evacuated to Britain, Archie spent a month recuperating at the Royal Herbert Hospital in Woolwich, Kent, before returning to his unit in Wiltshire.

By December 1915, Private Leal was back on the Western Front and remained there for the next five months. In April his unit was on the front line, and he was injured in his right leg when a rifle grenade exploded. Archie was initially treated by a field ambulance, but his injury was such that evacuation to Britain was again necessary. He was admitted to the County of London War Hospital in Epsom, Surrey, but had contracted tetanus by this point. This was to prove fatal, and his body succumbed on 10th May 1916: he was 21 years of age.

The body of Archibald Edmund Leal was taken back to Worthing for burial. He was laid to rest with full military honours in the town’s Broadwater Cemetery. A local newspaper reported that “Private Leal, although not a Canadian, was possessed of true Colonial grit, and had had his full share of active service.” [Sussex Daily News: Wednesday 17th May 1916]

Private Archibald Leal
(from ancestry.co.uk)
accident, Canada, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, photography, Royal Air Force, Second Lieutenant, story, war

Second Lieutenant Frank Reid

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Second Lieutenant Frank Reid

Frank Rice Reid was born on 1st September 1898 in Toronto, Canada. One of four children, his parents were Nova Scotians George and Annie Reid. George was a commercial traveller, and the family had moved back to Nova Scotia by the time of Frank’s youngest sibling’s birth in 1910.

When Frank finished his schooling, he found work as a clerk, but was drawn to the excitement of flight and, soon became an aviation cadet. War was raging across Europe by this point, and, on 9th October 1917, he enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps. At 19 years and one month old, his service papers show that he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall.

By the spring of 1918, Frank was in Britain, and had been a commission to Second Lieutenant. Assigned to the newly-formed Royal Air Force’s No. 1 Training School in Beaulieu, Hampshire, within a matter of months he was working as an instructor, flying Sopwith Camels.

On the morning of the 30th September 1918, Second Lieutenant Reid was flying his aircraft, when it crashed into the ground and he was killed. He had not long turned 20 years of age. The report of the incident noted that “the cause of the accident was an error of judgement on the part of the pilot in doing a half-roll too near the ground and not having enough height to come out of the dive.”

The body of Frank Rice Reid was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Paul’s Church, East Boldre, not far from the base he had called home.

Second Lieutenant Frank Reid
(from finagrave.com)
accident, Air Mechanic, Canada, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, photography, Royal Air Force, Second Lieutenant, story, United States of America, war

Second Lieutenant Malcolm Vande Water

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Second Lieutenant Malcolm Vande Water

Malcolm Gifford Boggs was born on 14th August 1894 in Brooklyn, New York. The second of four children, his parents were Seth and Anna Boggs. Seth died in 1905, and Anna married again, to widower lawyer Charles Vande Water: her children took his name.

The next record for Malcolm is that of his Royal Flying Corps service records. Interestingly, they note that he enlisted on 10th September 1917, and did so in Toronto, Canada. While the United States had entered the First World War by this point, it may have been easier for him to join via a colonial route.

Malcolm’s papers show that he was 5ft 11ins (1.81cm) tall, and was a student aviator at the time he joined up. He was recorded as being an Air Mechanic 3rd Class, but that came to an end when, on 2nd February 1918, he was accepted for a commission.

Second Lieutenant Vande Water was attached to the 29th Training Depot Station in Hampshire. There is little information about his time there, but a later American newspaper provided details of what happened to him:

Intelligence reaching relatives of Lieutenant Malcolm G Vande Water, of the Royal flying corps, a former Passaic newspaper man, is that he was killed in a fall while testing a new airplane at the British airdrome in Beaulieu, France. Wande Water was the first member of the Pica club to pay the supreme sacrifice. He was on leave in England, after six months’ active service at the front, having operated a machine across the English channel to France on the day before his fatal fall. His machine gun shot off a propellor blade while he was flying 100 feet in the air and the airplane dove to the earth.

[The Morning Call: 17th December 1918]

The accuracy of the information included in the article is variable to say the least. Malcolm may have enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps, but, by the time of the accident on 26th October 1918, that had become the Royal Air Force. The Beaulieu aerodrome mentioned was in Hampshire, not France. The RAF’s records for the incident do confirm, however, that the propellor of his Sopwith Camel was indeed shot through, causing the aircraft to fall to the ground.

Second Lieutenant Vande Water was taken to the Forest Park New Zealand General Hospital in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, for treatment, but his injuries would prove too severe. He died later that day, at the age of 24 years old.

The body of Malcolm Gifford Vande Water was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Paul’s Church in East Boldre, Hampshire, not far from the base he had called home.

The life of a WW1 pilot was notoriously dangerous. On the same day of Malcolm’s death, and at the same airfield, Flight Cadet Douglas Baker was also killed, in a separate incident.

accident, Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, Hampshire, history, Lancashire, photography, Private, Royal Air Force, Second Lieutenant, Sergeant, story, Surrey, war

Second Lieutenant Wesley Archibald

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Second Lieutenant Wesley Archibald

Wesley Alexander Archibald was born in Flatlands, New Brunswick, Canada, on 19th October 1894. The oldest of ten children, his parents were Scottish-born couple James and Jane Archibald. It is unclear what employment James was in, but when he completed his schooling, Wesley found work as a telegraph operator.

When not working, Wesley was an active member of the Irish Fusiliers of Canada, and, by the time was broke out, he had been with the 11th Regiment for a year.

Wesley enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 29th November 1915. His service records show that he was 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall, with black hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a large scar on the outer side of his right thigh.

Private Archibald’s initial training was completed on home soil. His unit – the 121st Battalion – left Halifax on 14th August 1916, and arrived in Liverpool, Lancashire, ten days later. His dedication to the role was clear: his unit moved to Bramshott, Surrey, and he had been promoted to Corporal by the time he arrived there, and Sergeant just two months later.

In January 1917, Wesley was assigned to the 7th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and sent to the Front Line. Over the next few months, his unit saw some fierce fighting at Arras, Vimy and Hill 70. On 9th July Sergeant Archibald was awarded the Military Medal for his actions.

By the end of 1917, Wesley was seeking more adventure, and, on 10th December, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. Attached to the 29th Training Depot Station, he was based near Beaulieu in Hampshire when the Royal Air Force was created. Over the next year he learnt his new trade and, on 7th November 1918, he was appointed Second Lieutenant.

The following day, Wesley was preparing for a flight in his Sopwith Dolphin. The aircraft took off, but the engine stalled, and the plane crashed. Second Lieutenant Archibald was killed instantly. He was 24 years of age.

The body of William Alexander Archibald was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Paul’s Church in East Boldre, not far for the airfield he had called home.

Bermuda, Cambridgeshire, Canada, Chaplain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Kent, London, Nova Scotia, photography, Royal Navy, story, Suffolk, war

Reverend Joseph Dathan

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Reverend Joseph Dathan

Much regret has been felt… at the death of Rev. JD Dathan MA, chaplain to the Royal Marines, at the age of 50 years. His death was due to pneumonia, caused by catching a chill while doing temporary duty… at the [Royal Naval Hospital, Chatham, Kent]. The eldest son of Captain JC Dathan RN, the deceased gentleman was educated at Christ’s Hospital and Cambridge, where he obtained the degree of MA. He entered the Royal Navy as a chaplain in 1896, and served on the China Station during the Boxer riots. For five years he was chaplain of Bermuda Dockyard and Hospital. He also served commissions in HMS Monmouth, Goliath and Russell. He was posted to the Royal Marine Barracks in July 1914, but on the outbreak of war he was appointed to HMS Formidable, and was transferred from the ship a week before she was lost. He was subsequently sent tot he Dardanelles for service in the Implacable at the first landing in April 1915. Later he joined the Italian Fleet, and was subsequently recalled to the Royal Marine Barracks. Three of the deceased officer’s brothers – Paymr.-in-Chief Ellis Dathan, Com. Hartley Dathan, and Eng.-Com. William Dathan – are serving in the Royal Navy.

[Naval & Military Record and Royal Dockyards Gazette: Wednesday 16th January 1918]

Joseph Duncan Dathan was born in 1866 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The second of seven children, his parents were Joseph and Emma Dathan.

By the time of the 1891 census, the Dathan family had moved back to Britain. Joseph Sr and Emma were living in Portsea, Hampshire, while the younger Joseph was studying at Christ’s Hospital. The next return, taken in 1901, found him having taken up a role as curate at St John’s Church in Ipswich, Suffolk. He was, by this point, living on Foxhall Road on the western edge of the town.

On 25th February 1904, Joseph married Alicia Cane. The daughter of a vicar, she lived in Ipswich, and the couple married in the local parish church. By this point, Joseph was based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and this is where the young couple set up home. Alicia gave birth to their first child, John, that November. The couple’s second son, Joseph, was born in 1906 and their third, daughter Alicia, was born in Bermuda while the family were stationed out there with Reverend Dathan’s work.

Joseph’s connection to the navy continued much as the newspaper reported. He died from pneumonia on 7th January 1918: he was 51 years of age.

Reverend Joseph Duncan Dathan was laid to rest in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, a place he would have known well, given its proximity to the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, where he had been based.

Berkshire, Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Company Sergeant Major, Great War, history, injury, Kent, Middlesex, Middlesex Regiment, photography, Sergeant, story, war

Company Sergeant Major George Mote

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Company Sergeant Major George Mote

George Arthur Mote was born on the 25th August 1888 in Islington, Middlesex. The oldest of three children, his parents were Arthur and Norah Mote. The 1891 census recorded Arthur as a shoemaker’s finishing ink maker and the family had taken rooms at 45 Wyatt Road in Islington.

The next census return, taken in 1901, found that Arthur had been promoted, and was now a foreman or a leather dyer. The family had moved around the corner from the old address, and were living in rooms at 193 Blackstock Road.

At this point, George’s trail goes cold. By the autumn of 1914, he had emigrated to Canada, and was working as a corset cutter in Quebec. With war having broken out in Europe, it was here that he enlisted to serve his empire.

Goegre’s service records confirm the young man he had become. Standing 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, he had black hair, blue eyes and a dark complexion. A number of scars were also noted on his left forearm, the middle finger of his right hand, and on the left side of his neck.

While back in Britain, George had volunteered for the Middlesex Regiment, and this experience stood him in good stead, as he enlisted with the rank of Sergeant.

Attached to the 3rd Battalion of the Canadian Infantry, Sergeant Mote arrived in St Nazaire, France, on 11th February 1915. His unit was thrown into the deep end from the start, and George’s actions at the Second Battle of Ypres that spring won him the DCM. By the autumn, he had been promoted to Company Sergeant Major.

George continued to serve on the Western Front, but his luck was to change. On 5th June 1916, he was badly injured, receiving gunshot wounds to his right shoulder and back. Medically evacuated to Britain, he was admitted to Fort Pitt Hospital in Chatham, Kent. His medical records noted than he was paralysed, and, in October 1916, he was transferred to the Duchess of Connaught Hospital in Taplow, Berkshire.

Company Sergeant Major Mote spent the next four months admitted to the hospital, but his wounds would prove too severe to overcome. He passed away on 6th February 1917 at the age of 28 years old.

George Arthur Mote’s body was taken back to Middlesex for burial. He was laid to rest in the majestic Highgate Cemetery.

Canada, Canadian Army Veterinary Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, story, Sussex, war, Wiltshire

Private John McKinnon, aka James Chalk

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Private John McKinnon, aka James Chalk

In Mere Cemetery, Wiltshire, is a headstone dedicated to JE Chalk, who served as Private J McKinnon in the Canadian Army Veterinary Corps. He died on 25th June 1920, and gives his age as 53 years old.

Private McKinnon’s service records suggest, however, that he was born on 14th October 1874 in Inverness, Scotland, and give his army name as John. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission give his other name as James Edward Chalk. James seems to have been keen to disguise his background, and it is only with some digging that the real story comes out.

James was the youngest of five children to Edward and Mary Chalk. Edward was a carpenter from Mere, and this is where the family were born and raised.

When he finished his schooling, James found work as a booking clerk. Edward died in the 1880s, and the 1891 census found James living at home with his mother, who had taken on laundry work to help with their finances.

By 1901, Mary and James were living on Water Street, to the south of the town centre. There’s was now an extended household, and included James’ sister Olive. James is noted as being married, and while no marriage records exist, it would seem that his wife, Mary, and their daughter, Ivy, were also living there.

The next census, taken in 1911, suggests James’ life had taken a different turn. Employed as a railway foreman, he was now living with his older sister, Olive, in her home. He is noted as being married with a child, but neither Mary nor Ivy appear in the same census.

At some point in the next five years, James took the decision to move overseas, and create himself a new identity.

John McKinnon was living in Montreal when the call came to join up. He enlisted on 29th April 1916, by which point he was 41 years of age. Assigned to the Canadian Army Veterinary Corps, his service records confirm that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, with greying brown hair, grey eyes and a sallow complexion. He was noted as having scars on both legs, and another on the second toe of his right foot.

Private McKinnon’s unit were quick to be dispatched to Britain, and he arrived in Shornecliffe, Kent, on 29th June. He spent the next five months at the army base, and had two spells of a month each in hospital during that time: the first for asthma, the second for bronchitis.

In November 1916, John moved along the coast to Shoreham, West Sussex. His health was badly impacted, though, the medical report stating that ‘his chest is of the emphysematous type but at present free from bronchitis. He will not do well in England.’ John was formally discharged from the army on 15th November 1916.

At this point, John’s already sparse trail goes cold once more. It is possible that he moved to Wiltshire to be nearer to family, although nothing can be confirmed.

James Edward Chalk, who serves as Private John McKinnon, died on 26th June 1920: His service records suggest that he was 45, but he was, in fact, 53 years of age. He was laid to rest in Mere Cemetery, on the outskirts of the town he had called home for so long.

Canada, Canadian Army Service Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, story, war

Private Arthur Shute

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Private Arthur Shute

Arthur Henry Shute was born on 13th February 1893 in Buckfastleigh, Devon. The younger of two children, he was the only son to Henry and Elizabeth Shute. Henry was a baker, and this trade soon took the family to Cirencester, Gloucestershire, where they had set up home by the time of the 1901 census.

Cirencester certainly suited the Shute family, and they remained at 107 Dyer Street for at least ten years. Arthur was set on learning the business, and the 1911 census found him as one of four apprentices to George Cox, a flour confectioner based in Hastings, Sussex.

New things were on the horizon, however, and Henry was evidently set on a better life for his family. On 10th May 1912, the family boarded the SS Victorian, destined for a fresh start in Canada. The Shutes eventually set up home at 118, 4 Avenue West in Calgary, Henry becoming a chef, and Arthur a baker.

Within a few years, the world was at war, and Arthur would step up to play his part. He enlisted on 13th September 1915, and wold be assigned to the Canadian Army Service Corps. His service records show that he was 6ft 0.5ins (1.84m) tall, with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. The document also highlighted three years’ voluntary service with the 5th Gloucestershire Regiment.

Private Shute’s unit arrived back in Britain on 6th November 1915. Sent to a base in Shorncliffe, Kent, Arthur was transferred to the 3rd Field Bakery, taking up a role suited to his skills. In March 1916, his unit was sent to France, and he remained there for the next five months.

Arthur’s time in the army seems to have been beset by illness. He was admitted to hospital on 12th August 1916, having come down with influenza, and he was medically evacuated to Britain to recuperate. Arthur would not be discharged for another six weeks, and only returned to the base in Shorncliffe on 3rd October.

From this point on, Private Shute remained on British soil, and he would remain in Shorncliffe for the remainder of the conflict and beyond the Armistice. In January 1919, he was admitted to the No. 14 Canadian General Hospital in Eastbourne, again suffering from influenza, but this time the condition would prove to be fatal. He passed away on 5th February 1919, a week short of his 26th birthday.

With his immediate family living thousands of miles away in Canada, Arthur Henry Shute’s body was taken back to the town of his birth for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in Buckfastleigh.