Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJune 16, 1893
Place of BirthNebraska
CountryU.S.A.
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinJohn Clark (father), Ravenna, Nebraska, U.S.A.
Trade / CallingFarmer
ReligionRoman Catholic
Service Details
Regimental Number4070508
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion8th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Railway Troops
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Place of EnlistmentWinnipeg, Manitoba
Address at EnlistmentKenora, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentNovember 11, 1917
Age at Enlistment24
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details

Clark, Aldo

According to his service file Sapper Aldo Clark was the son of John and Florence Clark of Ravenna, Buffalo County, Nebraska. He was born in Nebraska but living and working in Kenora, Ontario when conscription started in the fall of 1917. He was called up for service in November 1917 in Winnipeg and assigned to the 1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment. His recruitment papers record his birth date as 16 June 1893 and his trade as farmer, although his service file mentions that he was formerly employed as a railroad machinist. Under previous military service Aldo listed the 7th British Columbia Pioneers (November 1914 – July 1916) and the 251st Battalion (March – June 1917).

Aldo had a medical exam in November 1917 and again in April 1918 in Winnipeg. Due to defective sight in his right eye he was classified as B2, suitable for non-combatant work. On 1 June 1918 he was transferred to No. 10 Forestry and Railway Construction Depot in Winnipeg and by mid-July he was at Niagara Camp in Ontario. He embarked from Montreal with the 95th railway draft on 29 July, on the SS Cassandra, arriving in Liverpool about two weeks later. On 15 August he was posted to the Canadian Railway Troops Depot at Purfleet, where he trained for two months. On 22 October Aldo was transferred to the 8th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops and sent to France. He joined his unit in the field towards the end of the month and the Armistice ended hostilities two weeks later.

After the Armistice the railway troops were kept busy moving supplies and troops, including the wounded and repatriated prisoners of war. On 1 February 1919 Aldo was transferred to the Canadian Railway Troops Pool and by early May he was back in Canada. He spent another five months with No. 10 District Depot in Winnipeg. The vision in his right eye had deteriorated, possibly due to an injury while serving overseas, and he was considered blind in that one eye. He was discharged on demobilization on 31 October in Winnipeg, listed as medically unfit for general service. His intended residence was Dryden, Ontario.

The name Aldo Clark may have been an alias as we have found no record of Aldo or his family either before or after his time in the army.

By Becky Johnson


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