Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | March 24, 1896 |
Place of Birth | Keewatin, Ontario |
Country | Canada |
Marital Status | Single |
Next of Kin | William Carley, father, New Osgoode PO, Tisdale, Saskatchewan |
Trade / Calling | labourer |
Religion | Church of England |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | 886447 |
Service Record | Link to Service Record |
Battalion | 46th Battalion |
Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Branch | Canadian Infantry |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Enlisted |
Address at Enlistment | Big River, Saskatchewan |
Date of Enlistment | March 8, 1916 |
Age at Enlistment | 20 |
Theatre of Service | Europe |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | No |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | January 31, 1917 |
Age at Death | 20 |
Buried At | Villers Station Cemetery, France |
Plot | VII. A. 16. |
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: ‘
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