Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMarch 24, 1896
Place of BirthKeewatin, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinWilliam Carley, father, New Osgoode PO, Tisdale, Saskatchewan
Trade / Callinglabourer
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental Number886447
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion46th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentBig River, Saskatchewan
Date of EnlistmentMarch 8, 1916
Age at Enlistment20
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarNo
Death Details
Date of DeathJanuary 31, 1917
Age at Death20
Buried AtVillers Station Cemetery, France
PlotVII. A. 16.

Carley, Albert Leonard

Albert  Leonard Carley was born on 24 March 1896 in Keewatin, Ontario. His parents were William and Elizabeth (née Moore) Carley. At the time of his birth his father’s occupation was given as carpenter.  Albert Leonard had an older sibling Manford who was born on 18 December 1891 in Wallaceburg, Kent, Ontario. Manford died of blood poisoning in May of 1895 in Rat Portage, Ontario (later renamed Kenora) and is interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora. Just two years later Albert Leonard’s mother died in December 1897, and another brother, 24 year old Alton who had stayed in Kenora after the family left, died of asthma and congestion of lungs 21 February 1912. Elizabeth and Alton are also interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery.

By the 1911 and 1916 censuses Leonard  and his father William were farming in the New Osgoode/Tisdale area in the district of Conaught, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. William was listed as a widower on both censuses and Albert Leonard mistakenly listed as James in 1911. William’s sister Mary (Carley) Kenny and family had come from Keewatin and settled in the area as well. A Western Land Grant record was found for joint ownership by William and Albert Leonard Carley for Part SE Section 7 Township 47 Range 13 W2, and another record for William  for Part NE  Section 22 Township 46 Range 13 W2, location of the farm for the censuses.

Albert Leonard Carley enlisted in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan 8  March 1916, just 16 days before his 20th birthday, occupation given as labourer. Fairly tall for the day, he measured in at 5 feet 11 inches, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. He gave his present residence as Big River, Saskatchewan, and next of kin as his father, New Osgoode PO, Tisdale. The 188th (Saskatchewan) Battalion, CEF had begun recruiting during the winter of 1915/16 in northern Saskatchewan and it was with this battalion that Private Arthur Leonard Carley embarked from Halifax aboard the Olympic on 12 October 1916. Once overseas, on 1 December 1916 he was taken on strength with the 46th Battalion, joining the unit in the field  four days later. His records indicate that on 18 January 1917 he was attached to the 10th Field Company Canadian Engineers.

Private Albert Leonard Carley was    killed in action 31 January 1917 in the vicinity of Souchez, France. Details of his death are not known. He is interred in the  Villers Station Military Cemetery located 1 mile northwest of Villers au Bois and 3  and 3/4 miles southwest of Aix Noulette, France.

According to the 1926 46th Battalion reunion booklet: ‘The 46th Battalion served during the Great War of 1914-1919 with the 10th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Canadian Division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). The unit has come to be known as ‘The Suicide Battalion’. The 46th Battalion lost 1,433 killed and 3,484 wounded – a casualty rate of 91.5 percent – and won 16 battle honours in 27 months.’

Albert Leonard Carley is commemorated on page 213 of the First World War Book of Remembrance in Ottawa, on the Tisdale, Saskatchewan  War Memorial, on the Roll of Honour in St Mary’s Anglican Church in New Osgoode, Saskatchewan, on the Keewatin Cenotaph located in Beatty Park in Keewatin, Ontario, on the Lake of the Woods Milling Company Roll of Honour Plaque and Municipality of Keewatin Plaque, as well as two St James Anglican Church plaques.

by Judy Stockham

photo of Albert Leonard:  New Osgoode Restoration Club: Preserving Our Heritage 1904-1983
photos of St James memorials: courtesy of the church
photo of Tisdale War Memorial: We Will Remember, War Monuments in Canada World Wide Web Site

Carley-Albert-Leonard-2 Carley-Albert-Leonard-3 Carley-Albert-Leonard-4 Carley-Albert-Leonard-5 Carley-Albert-Leonard-6 Carley-Albert-Leonard-7 Carley-Albert-Leonard-8

 

 


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