Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJune 23, 1883
Place of BirthWolverhampton, Staffordshire
CountryEngland
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinJohn Wade, brother, 10 Clarence Villas, Wolverhampton, England
Trade / CallingCoppersmith
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental Number198303
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion5th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentEmo, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentNovember 23, 1915
Age at Enlistment32
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJune 23, 1959
Age at Death76
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot59E-37-3

Wade, Frederick William

Frederick William Wade was born on 23 June 1883 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England. His parents Clifford Wade and Fanny Case were both from the area and had married earlier that year. Over the years Clifford worked as an iron driller/turner. Fred had three younger siblings, John (1885), Clifford (1887), and Henry (1890). At the time of the 1891 census Fred was living with his paternal grandparents Thomas and Charlotte Wade in Coven, Brewood on the outskirts of Wolverhampton while his parents and siblings were living in Wolverhampton. Sadly, Fred’s brother Clifford died later that year and then his mother Fanny in 1893. For the 1901 census the remaining children were living with their grandparents in Bushbury, Brewood where Fred was working as a coppersmith. It appears that their father had married Annie Griffiths in 1898 in Woverhampton but by the time of the census he was living in Newcastle upon Tyne in Staffordshire, listed as a widower on the census form. According to his obituary, Fred served in the South African War with the South Staffs Regiment from 1901 to 1902.

It appears that Fred immigrated to Canada around 1911, settling in the village of Emo in the Rainy River District in northwestern Ontario. He signed his attestation papers with the 94th Battalion on 23 November 1915 in nearby Fort Frances. His occupation was given as coppersmith and his brother John in Wolverhampton as next of kin. A short time later, on 15 December, Fred married Annie Elizabeth Kentner in Emo. Born in 1894 in North Dakota, Annie was the daughter of Erastus Kentner and Elizabeth Dark. The family had lived in Langdon, North Dakota but by the time of the 1901 Canada census were living in Emo where they farmed.

After training with the battalion in Port Arthur, Private Fred Wade embarked from Halifax for Liverpool, England on 28 June 1916 aboard the Olympic. Once in England he was taken on strength with the 32nd Reserve Battalion. That September he left England to join the 1st Canadian Entrenching Battalion before transferring to the 5th Battalion on 3 October. The 5th Battalion had been authorized on 10 August 1914 and embarked for Great Britain on 29 September 1915. It had entered the theatre of operations in France on 14 February 1915, where it fought as part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war. The battalion had recruited in Brandon, Manitoba; Saskatoon, Regina and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan; Red Deer, Alberta and Merritt and Vernon, British Columbia and was mobilized at Camp Valcartier, Quebec. The battalion was to participate in most of the major battles during the war.

In October 1916 Fred was appointed Lance Corporal but reverted to the ranks at his own request in April of 1917. That May he was transferred to the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade Headquarters for duty. In November Fred was granted a fourteen day leave to the UK. In May of 1918 he was transferred back to the 5th Battalion. On 12 October, at Cambrai, he sustained a severe gunshot wound to his left leg, causing a compound fracture of his femur and sciatic nerve damage. Seriously ill, he was first admitted to the 2nd Canadian Field Ambulance and then was transferred to the 47th General Hospital in Le Treport. Over the course of the next two years Fred underwent numerous surgeries and treatments in France, England, and Canada. He was invalided to England in January of 1919 and then to Canada aboard the Essequibo in June where he was admitted to the Manitoba Military Hospital in Winnipeg. Fred was discharged from service as medically unfit on 8 March 1920 in Winnipeg.

Fred returned to Emo where he and Annie farmed. They gave birth to three children, Helen, Evelyn, and Kathleen. In 1944 they moved to Kenora, Ontario, living first on River Street and later on Agur Street. After Annie died in 1950 in Kenora, Fred moved to Winnipeg in 1952. He married Charlotte (née Wilson) Hall. Born in England (abt 1881), Charlotte had married John Hall in 1907 in Winnipeg. John had passed away in 1948.

Following a lengthy illness, Fred died on his birthday in 1959 in Deer Lodge Hospital in Winnipeg. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Charlotte, daughters Helen (William) Churney, Evelyn (Robert) Makinen, and Kathleen (Alvin) Hager, all of Kenora, seven grandchildren as well as two of Charlotte’s daughters. Charlotte later died in 1965 and was laid to rest with her first husband in Brookside Cemetery in Winnipeg. Fred and Annie are interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora.

By Judy Stockham


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