Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthDecember 6, 1883
Place of BirthMarch, Cambridgeshire
CountryEngland
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMrs. Eliza Alterton (Mother) March, Knights End, Cambridgeshire, England.
Trade / CallingLocomotive Engineer
ReligionMethodist
Service Details
Regimental Number2124997
Service Record Link to Service Record
BattalionNo. 58 Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Railway Troops
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentYMCA, Kenora, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentJanuary 30, 1917
Age at Enlistment32
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJune 19, 1953
Age at Death68
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot53E-36-4

Alterton, Arthur Thomas

Arthur Thomas Alterton was born 06 December 1883 in March, Cambridgeshire, England.   His parents were Charles and Eliza Jane Alterton. Siblings included John (born 1877) and Alice (born 1879).

In May of 1904 Arthur immigrated to Canada settling first in Manitoba.   The following year he moved to Kenora, Ontario and got work on the CPR as a fireman.   The 1911 Canadian Census shows Arthur living at the YMCA on Matheson Street in Kenora.

By the time Arthur enlisted with the Section #1 Skilled Railway Operators on 30 January 1917, he was a locomotive engineer for the CPR.   His unit arrived in England on 23 March 1917 and Arthur was appointed 2nd Corporal. The unit changed names to the 58th Broad Gauge Operating Company in April of 1917.   Arthur arrived in France on 18th of May 1917 and worked for a long year operating lines in the immediate rear of active operations and hauling troops, ammunition, supplies, material, ambulance trains, refugees, etc. for the battles of Messines Ridge, June 1917 and the Lys, April 1918. In the spring of 1918, No. 58 Broad Gauge Operating Company was brought under the command of the Headquarters, Canadian Railway Troops and became part of the Corps of Canadian Railway Troops.   Arthur had a three week leave to the UK in August of 1918 and a nine day leave to Paris in March of 1919.   He returned to England in April of 1919 and sailed back to Canada aboard the Aquitania in May of 1919.

After the war Arthur returned to Kenora and his job on the CPR.   On 09 June 1920 he married Anna Laura Myles.   They had two daughters – Laurene and Ruth.

Arthur died on 19 June 1953 in Kenora, Ontario.   He is buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora.

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