Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJune 26, 1889
Place of BirthWinnipeg, Manitoba
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMalcolm Campbell, father, 798 Broadway Winnipeg, Manitoba
Trade / CallingTinsmith
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number106122
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion1st Regiment Canadian Mounted Rifles
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Mounted Rifles
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Date of EnlistmentJanuary 11, 1915
Age at Enlistment25
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathNovember 27, 1948
Age at Death59
Buried AtMount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario
PlotSection 48 Lot 2255

Campbell, Donald Malcolm

Donald Malcolm Campbell was born on 26 June 1889 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His father Malcolm Campbell, hardware merchant and tinsmith, was from the Township of Stanley in Huron County while his mother Margaret McLean was from Lucknow in Huron, a community about 60 kms from Stanley. The couple married on 30 June 1882 in Winnipeg. Known children born to the family in Winnipeg were Alexander Lorne (1883-1951), Christina (Jan 1886-1890), Wilford Nichol (Sep 1886-1889), Donald, Colin Langil (1891-1970), Peter Clinton (1893-1968), James Albert (1896-1954), and Robert Arthur (1899-1966).

With occupation given as tinsmith and his father Malcolm in Winnipeg as next of kin, Donald signed his attestation papers in Brandon, Manitoba on 11 January 1915. Elsewhere in his service record his occupation was given as commercial traveller for the James Smart Manufacturing Company headquartered in Brockville. Donald’s active Militia was listed as Fort Garry Horse. The 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles was organized in December of 1914 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel H Stevenson with recruitment from nine mounted regiments in the Military District No 10 Manitoba. Aboard the  Megantic the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles embarked from Montreal on 12 June 1915, strength of 28 officers , 602 other ranks. After spending a short time in England the unit embarked for France on the 22nd of September.

In early December of 1915 Donald was admitted to the No 1 Canadian Field Ambulance suffering from influenza. On 1 January 1916 the designation of the 1st CMR was changed from regiment to battalion on the formation of the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade. On 13 January 1916 Donald was taken on strength at the Canadian Base Depot, Havre and it was mid April before he rejoined the unit. Just a short time later, on 14th of May at Hooge in Belgium, although first diagnosed as shrapnel wounds, Donald suffered gunshot wounds to his back with two bullets lodged in his lungs, effectively ending his service during the war.

Donald was first admitted to the No 3 Canadian General Hospital in Boulogne on the 16th of May and then transferred to the 3rd Northern General Hospital in Sheffield by the end of the month. In late June he was moved to the Kings Canadian Red Cross Hospital at Bushey Park, discharged on the 1st of August. A medical board decided Donald should be returned to Canada for further convalescing, arriving in Quebec aboard the  Scandinavian on the 23rd of August 1916. After convalescing in Winnipeg for eleven months, Donald was discharged from service as medically unfit on 30 September 1917, bullets still in his lungs.

By 1921 Donald had married Lillian Graham and the couple had given birth to a son, Graham Douglas. He worked in Winnipeg with the family’s business, Campbell Heating Company, and then along with his brother Lang Donald operated the company for a number of years in Kenora, Ontario. Around 1934 Donald, Lillian, and Graham moved to Toronto. Donald was a member of the Ionic Lodge, AF and AM, the Thistle Curling Club, and for many years the Kenora Curling Club.

Three of Donald’s brothers enlisted during WW1. Colin signed his attestation papers in Winnipeg in January of 1916 with the Canadian Army Service Corps Training Depot. He arrived in England in March of 1917 and then in France in July of 1918 where he served with the CASC until February of 1919, discharged back in Canada that July. Brothers Peter and James signed their papers in March of 1916 with the 221st Battalion. James went overseas with the battalion, transferring to the 27th Battalion to serve in France. He was discharged in May of 1919. Peter did not go overseas as he was found medically unfit for service in February of 1917. He signed recruitment papers with the 1st Depot Battalion Manitoba Regiment in June of 1918, discharged as medically unfit in March of 1919.

Predeceased by his father Malcolm in 1939, his mother Margaret in 1947, both in Winnipeg, and his wife Lillian 19 days earlier, Donald died on 27 November 1948 in Toronto, Ontario. His Veteran Death Card listed his son Graham Campbell of Toronto, Ontario as his next of kin. Donald and Lillian are interred in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto along with their son Graham who died in 1963.

by Judy Stockham

Campbell-Donald-Malcolm-1 Campbell-Donald-Malcolm-3 Campbell-Donald-Malcolm-2

Veteran Death card: Library and Archives Canada
grave marker photograph: Islington ID #47351667, findagrave.com
obituary: Kenora Miner and News 3 December 1948


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