Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthNovember 20, 1893
Place of BirthLondon
CountryEngland
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinHenry Drysdale, father, Pineview, Manitoba
Trade / CallingFarmer
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number3346283
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Address at EnlistmentPineview, Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentMay 17, 1918
Age at Enlistment24
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathMarch 26, 1967
Age at Death73
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot17E-3-4

Drysdale, Alexander Abel

Alexander Abel Drysdale was born on 20 November 1893 in London, England. He was the youngest son of Henry Watt Drysdale and Alice Amanda Ward. His siblings included: Henry (1889-1991), James (1891-1982), Dorothy (1892-1979), Eileen (b. 1898) and Edith Marjorie (1901-1989). In the fall of 1906, Alex’s father, Henry, immigrated to Canada and took up farming in Manitoba. His wife and children followed arriving in Montreal on 23 May 1908.

The family was living in Pine View, Manitoba when WW1 broke out. James enlisted in June of 1915 and his father, Henry, shaved a few years off his age and signed up in January of 1916. Alexander, who was farming at the time, was conscripted, signing his attestation papers on 17 May 1918. He was a private attached to the 1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment and he served in Canada. Alexander was struck off strength on 09 December 1918 and received his official discharge due to demobilization on 12 February 1919 at Minto Barracks in Winnipeg.

On 28 June 1919 Alexander married Phyllis Irene Yarnold in Winnipeg. The 1921 Canadian census shows them living in Eriksdale, Manitoba where Alexander was farming. With them is son, ‘Dudley’, whose actual name was Roslyn (Ross) Ward Drysdale. At some point Alexander left farming and began working as a restaurant operator for the Canadian Pacific Railway. He was in charge of lunch counters in CPR depots in Winnipeg, Brandon and Regina. His obituary mentions that Alexander served with the RCAF in Canada and overseas during WW2 and that he was a member of the Veteran’s Guard from 1943-1944. He moved to Kenora, Ontario in 1946 and worked at the CPR lunch room until his retirement in 1962.

Alexander Abel Drysdale died on 26 March 1967 in Kenora and is buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery.  His wife, Phyllis, and son, Ross, died in Winnipeg in 1984.

Alexander's discharge papers

Alexander’s discharge papers

Alexander's obituary from the Kenora Miner & News

Alexander’s obituary from the Kenora Miner & News


« Back To Soldier Biographies