Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJuly 3, 1898
Place of BirthGlengarry County, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMaggie Ann Campbell, mother, 10063 114th Street, Edmonton, Alberta
Trade / CallingPrinter
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number2147794
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion34th Fort Garry Horse
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Cavalry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at Enlistment128 Harriet Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentMay 1, 1918
Age at Enlistment19
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJanuary 22, 1936
Age at Death37

Campbell, Finley

Finley Campbell was born on 3 July 1898 in Kenyon, Glengarry, Ontario. His father Philip Alexander Campbell was from Quebec while his mother Margaret Ann (Maggie) Campbell (no relation) was from Kenyon where the couple had married in 1897. By the 1901 Canada census the family was living in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario where Philip found work as a day labourer. They gave birth to their second child, son Daniel William, in 1904. Leaving Rat Portage in 1909 the family briefly lived in White Bluff in Washington before moving to Edmonton by 1911 where Philip became a horse dealer.

On 31 January 1918 Finley signed attestation papers in Winnipeg with the Royal Flying Corps. His address was given as with his parents in Edmonton and occupation as miscellaneous (aviator cadet) salesman. However he was discharged 5 days later as not finally approved. He stayed in Winnipeg and signed attestation papers on 1 May 1918, occupation given as printer and his mother Maggie back in Edmonton as next of kin.

After spending a brief time at Petawawa Camp in Ontario, with the 66th Draft Depot Squadron of the 34th Fort Garry Horse, Finley arrived in England aboard the Thongwa on 22 July 1918. Upon arrival he was taken on strength with the Canadian Reserve Cavalry Regiment at Shorncliffe until early November, joining the Fort Garry Horse in the field on the 13th. In December Finley spent a week at the #39 Stationary Hospital at Frevent suffering from influenza, rejoining the unit in late January. On 31 January 1919 he was sentenced to 7 days Field Punishment No 1 for offence against property of an inhabitant of the country in which he was serving. On 12 January 1919 he had broken 3 panes of glass and 2 spittoons in a hotel. Finley was out of service for most of February (vdg) and in June was returned to England. Leaving for Canada in early July, Finley was discharged from service on July 14th.

By the 1921 Canada census Finley was living in Vancouver with his parents and brother and working as a salesman. For the census his father’s occupation was given as inventor. On 21 September 1921, in Vancouver, Finley married Velma Corrine Bales. Born in Kansas in 1902, Velma was the daughter of Virgil and Myrtle (née Grubb) Bales.

At some point Finley and Velma moved to the United States, found living in Seattle in 1931 where Finley was working as the vice president of the Northwestern Automobile Association. Finley died on 22 January 1936 in Los Angeles, California. His Veteran Death Card listed his wife of Los Angeles, California as his next of kin. Velma was listed on the 1940 census for Los Angeles where she was working as a dental assistant. In 1946, in Spokane, Washington, she married widower WW1 veteran William Kerkis. Velma died on 23 May 1995 in Spokane and is interred in the Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon with William.

Finley’s mother Maggie died in 1968 and his father Philip in 1973, both in Vancouver. Finley’s brother Daniel, a salesman, had moved to Los Angeles in the 1930’s where he died in 1991.

by Judy Stockham

Photo of Finley: as found on ancestry.ca

Campbell-Finley-2

 


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