Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | December 17, 1899 |
Place of Birth | Hull, Yorkshire |
Country | England |
Marital Status | Single |
Next of Kin | mother, Sarah Jane Howard of Winnipeg, Manitoba |
Trade / Calling | fireman for CPR |
Religion | Church of England |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | VR-4071 |
Service Record | see images below |
Battalion | Niobe, Seagull |
Force | Navy |
Branch | Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Enlisted |
Date of Enlistment | April 14, 1917 |
Age at Enlistment | 19 |
Theatre of Service | Canada |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | Yes |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | March 4, 1925 |
Age at Death | 25 |
Buried At | Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario |
Plot | 31E-35-1 |
Frederick Howard was born on 17 December 1899 in Hull, Yorkshire, England. He was one of thirteen children of Mathew Edward Howard (a painter) and Sarah Jane Gibson. His siblings included Beatrice, John Edward, Ann, Dora, Ada, Clifford, Elsie, Edith, Harriet Ann, Donald, Leonard and Ethel.
Matthew Howard immigrated to Canada in June of 1914 followed by Sarah and children Fred, Elsie, Edith, Donald, Leonard, and Ethel in November of 1916. They settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was from there that Fred enlisted with the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve in early 1917. At the time he was five feet six inches tall with dark brown hair and grey eyes. He listed his occupation as fireman, probably with the CPR.
Fred went to Halifax and served on the home depot ship ‘Niobe’ and then the ‘Seagull’, a patrol ship based in Sydney, Nova Scotia. He achieved the rank of Stoker and was demobilized on 11 March 1919.
Fred’s parents had moved to Kenora while he was away, so it was to this Northwestern Ontario town that Fred returned. He got employment in the CPR shops as a stationary engineer. Sadly, Fred passed away from pneumonia on 04 March 1925. He is buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora.
Fred’s brother, Clifford also served in WW1.