Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMarch 21, 1880
Place of BirthGoole, Yorkshire
CountryEngland
Marital StatusMarried
Next of Kinwife, Olive Ellen Bateman of Keewatin,Ontario
Trade / Callingaccountant
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental NumberNA
Service Record Link to Service Record
BattalionNo. 130 Company
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Forestry Corps
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentKeewatin, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentJanuary 15, 1916
Age at Enlistment35
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathMay 3, 1947
Age at Death67
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot18E-21-3

Bateman, Ralph

Ralph Stanley Bateman was the youngest child of blacksmith Collingwood Bateman and Mary Ann Nicholson.  He was born 21 March 1880 in Goole, Yorkshire, England.  His siblings included: Collingwood, Rebecca, Ada, William G., and Harold S.

In 1901 Ralph was still living in Goole, working as a timber merchant clerk.   Then in March 1905 he immigrated to Canada settling in Ottawa, Ontario.   He married Olive Ellen McCreery in Ottawa on 10 June 1908.   At that time his occupation was listed as ‘bookkeeper’.   Around 1911 Ralph and ‘Nellie’ moved to Kenora, Ontario and he began a 37 year career with the Keewatin Lumber Company and its subsidiaries.

Ralph enlisted with the 94th Battalion in Kenora on 15 January 1916.  Due to former service with the 98th Regiment he was given the rank of Lieutenant. After a short training period in Port Arthur, Ralph was detailed to attend the school of musketry in Ottawa.  His wife relocated to Ottawa at this time. Ralph headed overseas with the 94th Battalion embarking from Halifax on 28 June 1916 aboard the S.S. Olympic. He was Platoon Commander of ‘D’ Company.  Once in England he was transferred to the 17th Reserve Battalion. He headed to France in October of 1916 and served with the 52nd Battalion.   Ralph was hospitalized for three months in 1917 suffering from ‘trench fever’. Upon his discharge from hospital in August 1917 he joined the Canadian Forestry Corps and was taken on strength to Company 130. By October of 1918 Ralph was appointed second in command of Company 130.  Then, the following April he became its commanding officer.  He returned to Canada as Captain Bateman in July of 1919.

Upon his return, Ralph resumed his position at the Keewatin Lumber Company. He was put in charge of their new recently opened office in the old Rat Portage Lumber Co. office building on the lake front overseeing their rapidly expanding box manufacturing business.  In 1923 he was moved to the Winnipeg office of the company and he didn’t return to Kenora until 1936.

When Ralph died on 03 May 1947 he was resident Vice President of the Ontario Minnesota Pulp and Paper Company. He is buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora.

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