Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthApril 9, 1898
Place of BirthFulham, London
CountryEngland
Marital StatusMarried
Next of KinAlice Wolsey (grandmother), 529 Wiley Sreet; later changed to wife Ina Ackerman.
Trade / CallingClerk/Stenographer
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental Number2115488
Service Record Link to Service Record
BattalionCanadian Army Service Corps Training Depot
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Army Service Corps
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Place of EnlistmentWinnipeg, Manitoba
Address at Enlistment529 Wiley Street, Fort William, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentAugust 20, 1917
Age at Enlistment19
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJanuary 31, 1942
Age at Death43
Buried AtMountain View Cemetery, Thunder Bay, Ontario
PlotNew IODE Military Section

Ackerman, Cyril Douglas

Staff Sergeant Cyril Douglas Ackerman was born in London, England and immigrated to Canada with his family in 1907, when he was nine years old. He enlisted at the age of 19 and served with the Canadian Army Service Corps in Winnipeg and Ottawa.

Cyril was the son of Ella Lilian Cahill Stuart and George Abraham Ackerman. Ella was born in Melbourne, Australia around 1872 and she moved to England with her family as a young girl. She married George, a journalist and author, in June 1897 in Fulham, London. Cyril was their only child. He was born in Fulham in April 1898 and George died in November when Cyril was seven months old.

In July 1907 Ella and her son immigrated to Canada, going to Kenora, Ontario where her sister Florence and brother William were living. Ella’s mother and stepfather also came with her and they lived in her sister’s home at the corner of Main Street and Seventh Street. Ella’s brother lived in a cottage on the same property. Ella died tragically on 31 July 1908 and afterwards her family moved to Fort William, Ontario, taking Cyril with them. He was raised there by his aunt and uncle, Florence and Albert Humphreys, and his grandmother Alice Woolsey.

Cyril enlisted on 20 August 1917 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was 19 years old and working as a clerk/stenographer for the Board of Grain Commissioners in Fort William at the time. He signed up with the Canadian Army Service Corps Training Depot in Winnipeg. On 16 February 1918 he was promoted to Acting Corporal and four days later he was sent to Ottawa, where he was posted to another CASC Training Depot. In April he was promoted to Acting Sergeant. Cyril was granted permission to marry and given a one-week leave in August. He married Ina Rena Hallett on 12 August 1918 at St. Margaret’s Church in Winnipeg then he returned to Ottawa to serve for another four months. The Armistice ended hostilities in November and Cyril was discharged on demobilization on 31 December 1918, with his intended residence listed as Winnipeg.

After the war Cyril may have lived in Winnipeg briefly but by February 1919 he was back in Fort William. He was hired by the North Shore Supply Company and he worked for them as an accountant for 21 years. He had two sons with Ina, Charles in 1920 and Lloyd in 1922. Cyril and Ina divorced in 1930. Cyril married his second wife in June 1935 and they had a daughter Joan Ella.

Cyril passed away in Fort William on 31 January 1942, at age 43. Both of his sons enlisted during the Second World War and they were serving overseas when he died. Cyril is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Fort William, which is now part of the city of Thunder Bay.

By Becky Johnson

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