Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | November 17, 1887 |
Place of Birth | Norman, Ontario |
Country | Canada |
Marital Status | Single |
Next of Kin | Brother-Arthur Chaloner |
Trade / Calling | Trainman |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | 4781 |
Service Record | Link to Service Record |
Battalion | Canadian Army Service Corps |
Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Branch | Canadian Army Service Corps |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Enlisted |
Address at Enlistment | Kenora, Ontario |
Date of Enlistment | April 24, 1916 |
Age at Enlistment | 27 |
Theatre of Service | Europe |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | Yes |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | August 22, 1953 |
Age at Death | 64 |
Buried At | Kapuskasing Roman Catholic Cemetery |
Charles DuBerger Chaloner was born in Norman, Ontario on November 17, 1887, the fifth child of John Henry Chaloner and Polly (Mary Gertrude Heatley). His siblings were Mary Constance Loretta, Clara Louise Kate, Adelaide Heatley, Florence Isobel, Henry St. John, Marguerite Josephine, Arthur Reginald, Robert Edward and Celina Frances Dorothy. Charles’ elder sisters were born in Quebec City and the family later had homes in Rat Portage (Kenora) and Norman, Ontario, and Lauder, Manitoba.
Charlie was known as the shy one in the family but he loved music and was always an active participant in family parties. He started out working on survey crews with his uncles Atlee and David doing projects for the Canadian Pacific Railway. At the time of his enrolment in the armed forces he was working as a trainman on the CPR. On April 24, 1916 he enlisted into the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in Winnipeg, Manitoba and was assigned to Training Depot 1 in Military District 10 for the Expeditionary Force. He was 27 years old at the time, 5 ft. 8 in. tall with brown eyes and black hair.
Charlie was colour blind and this limited the assignments that were open to him. He served as a driver in the Expeditionary Force and his military duty took him to Britain and France. He received a discharge from the Force as a private, in Winnipeg on June 17, 1919 and was issued the British War and Victory medals. The war story his nieces cherished after he came home was of the leather case with a mirror he always carried over his heart. He would take it out and show them the hole in the outside leather flap, the broken mirror, then the second layer of leather unscathed. A close call.
He managed to find work in the Ontario and Minnesota Pulp and Paper mill in Kenora and was there until 1927 when he moved to Kapuskasing, Ontario for a job in the Spruce Falls Pulp and Paper mill. In 1929 he married Ethel Blanchard of Kapuskasing and raised two sons, Charles and Robert and a daughter, Marguerite who survives him. Charlie worked there for 25 years and wound up in the maintenance department of the mill and was very active in both the curling club and the bowling club in Kapuskasing. He was quite ill during the later years of his life and he died of cancer in 1953. He was 66. Charles is buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery lot #276 in Kapuskasing, Ontario.
He is remembered as a kind and gentle man.
By Carolyn Cameron
Photo of Charles and his medals: courtesy of his daughter Marguerite (Chaloner) Heise
Gravemarker photo: Kapuskasing Cemetery (Immaculate Conception) Archives