Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthNovember 17, 1887
Place of BirthNorman, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinBrother-Arthur Chaloner
Trade / CallingTrainman
ReligionRoman Catholic
Service Details
Regimental Number4781
Service Record Link to Service Record
BattalionCanadian Army Service Corps
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Army Service Corps
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentKenora, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentApril 24, 1916
Age at Enlistment27
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathAugust 22, 1953
Age at Death64
Buried AtKapuskasing Roman Catholic Cemetery

Chaloner, Charles DuBerger

Charles DuBerger Chaloner was born in Norman, Ontario on November 17, 1887, the fifth child of John Henry Chaloner and Polly (Mary Gertrude Heatley). His siblings were Mary Constance Loretta, Clara  Louise  Kate, Adelaide  HeatleyFlorence  IsobelHenry St. John, Marguerite Josephine, Arthur Reginald, Robert Edward and Celina Frances Dorothy. Charles’ elder sisters were born in Quebec City and the family later had homes in Rat Portage (Kenora) and Norman, Ontario, and Lauder, Manitoba.

Charlie  was known as the shy one in the family but he loved music and was always an active participant in family parties.  He started  out working on survey crews with his uncles Atlee and David doing projects for the Canadian Pacific Railway.  At  the time of his enrolment in the armed forces he was working as a trainman on the CPR. On April 24, 1916 he enlisted into the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in Winnipeg, Manitoba and  was assigned to Training Depot 1 in Military District 10 for the Expeditionary Force.  He was 27 years old at the time, 5 ft. 8 in. tall with brown eyes and black hair.

Charlie  was  colour  blind and this limited the assignments that were open to him. He  served as a driver in the Expeditionary Force and his military duty took him to Britain and France. He received  a  discharge from the Force  as a private, in Winnipeg on June 17, 1919  and was issued the British War and Victory medals.  The war story his nieces cherished after he came home was of the  leather case with a mirror he always carried  over his heart. He would take it out and show them the hole in the outside leather flap,  the broken mirror, then  the second layer of leather unscathed.  A close call.

He  managed to find work in the Ontario and Minnesota Pulp and Paper mill in Kenora  and was there until  1927  when  he  moved to Kapuskasing, Ontario  for  a job in the Spruce Falls Pulp and Paper mill.  In 1929 he married Ethel Blanchard of Kapuskasing and raised two sons, Charles and Robert and a daughter, Marguerite who survives him.  Charlie worked there for 25 years and wound up in the maintenance department of the mill and was very active in both the curling club and the bowling club in Kapuskasing. He was quite ill during the later years of his life and he died of cancer in 1953. He was 66.  Charles is buried  in the Roman Catholic Cemetery  lot #276 in Kapuskasing, Ontario.

He is remembered as a kind and gentle man.

By Carolyn Cameron

Photo of Charles and his medals: courtesy of his daughter Marguerite (Chaloner) Heise
Gravemarker photo:  Kapuskasing Cemetery (Immaculate Conception) Archives

Chaloner-Charles-DuBerger-2


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