Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJuly 14, 1893
Place of BirthKenora, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMrs Elizabeth Dahm, Sub PO 23, Calgary, Alberta
Trade / CallingFruit warehouseman
ReligionRoman Catholic
Service Details
Regimental NumberVR-6235
Service Record Link to Service Record
BattalionHMS Rainbow, Niobe, Guelph, Niobe
ForceNavy
BranchRoyal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Place of EnlistmentVictoria, British Columbia
Address at EnlistmentCalgary, Alberta
Date of EnlistmentMay 18, 1918
Age at Enlistment24
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathDecember 11, 1958
Age at Death65
Buried AtSaint Mary's Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta

Dahm, Aloysius Bonaventure

Aloysius (Allie) Bonaventure Dahm was born on 14 July 1893 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His father Christian Dahm was from Rockville while his mother Elizabeth Brunenkamp was from Buffalo City, both in Wisconsin, USA. The young couple first lived in Saskatchewan (called the Northwest Territories at the time) where they gave birth to two children, John Francis (1887) and Helena Susan (1889). They moved back to Wisconsin for a brief time, giving birth to Emma Mary (1891) in Cochrane, now a suburb of Buffalo City. By the time of Allie’s birth they were in Rat Portage where Christian worked as a general merchant. Other children born in Rat Portage were William Edward (1895), Agnes Elizabeth (1897), and Rosa Beatrice (1900). By the 1906 census the family had moved to Calgary where Christian found work as a machinist and Allie as a packer/shipper in a warehouse.

With occupation given as fruit warehouseman and his mother Elizabeth in Calgary as next of kin, Allie signed his recruitment papers with the 2nd Depot Battalion BC Regiment in Victoria, British Columbia on 18 May 1918. He was discharged from service on May 30th at Willows Camp to RNCVR Training Depot, Esquimalt, British Columbia, service #VR-6235. With rank given as Y Asst (likely yeoman assistant), Allie was to work on the follow ships: Rainbow (May 31-June 15), Niobe (June 16-September 24), Guelph (September 25-December 31, January 1 1919-January 31) and Niobe (February 1-March 15). He was discharged from service due to demobilization and was awarded a War Badge Class AA #1947 on 19 November 1919 as well as a Victory Medal and British War Medal on 24 September 1925.

By the time of the 1921 census Allie had married Susan May (Susie) Cuell. Born in Portsea Island, Hampshire in 1897, Susie was the daughter of Charles and Susan (née Johnson) Cuell. The family had immigrated to Canada in 1908, arriving on April 8th aboard the Lake Manitoba, on their way to Calgary. Allie and Susie gave birth to three children, Edna May, Allan, and Bernard Charles. Over the year Allie continued to work in a warehouse although he was listed as a traveller on a 1945 Voters list for Calgary.

Allie died suddenly of a heart attack on 11 December 1958 in Calgary. He was predeceased by his father Christian in 1911 in Calgary, his daughter Edna in an automobile accident in 1941 near the Quebec/Ontario border, and his mother Elizabeth in 1951 in San Francisco. Edna had married Maurice McLear who was killed in action on 8 June 1944 while serving with the RCAF. Susie died in 1987 and is interred with Allie in the Saint Mary’s Cemetery, Calgary. Allie and Susie’s son Allan served in the military in WW2, later marrying war bride Jacqueline O’Neill. He died in 1999 in Vernon, British Columbia. Allie and Susie’s son Bernard died on 15 December 2012.

by Judy Stockham

Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve record: Library and Archives Canada

Dahm-Aloysius-Bonaventure-2 Dahm-Aloysius-Bonaventure-3


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