Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthApril 3, 1900
Place of BirthToronto, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinElizabeth Christoffer, mother, Chesley, Ontario
Trade / CallingStudent
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number341080
Service RecordLink to Service Record
BattalionReserve Brigade
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Field Artillery
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Place of EnlistmentToronto, Ontario
Address at EnlistmentChesley, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentOctober 24, 1916
Age at Enlistment16
Theatre of ServiceGreat Britain
Prisoner of WarNo
Death Details
Date of DeathMay 26, 1980
Age at Death80
Buried AtSaint James Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Plot313-4

Waterman, Allen McRae

Allen McRae Waterman was born on 3 April 1900 in Toronto, Ontario. His father William Guy Waterman, a printer/pressman, was from the Pancreas area of London, England. He had immigrated to Canada as a child with his parents, the family settling in Toronto. Allen’s mother Elizabeth Reid Hastie was from the Sullivan Township, Grey, Ontario. The couple married on 16 March 1899 in Toronto. At some point after the 1901 census they moved to the area of Elizabeth’s birth. Sadly, William died in 1903 and is interred in the Latona Cemetery in Dornoch, Grey. In September of 1904 Elizabeth married Frederick Christoffer, a mechanic/factory machinist, the couple giving birth to son Eric Andrew in 1906. At the time of the 1911 census the family, including Allen, was living in nearby Chesley.

Allen enlisted with the District Artillery Depot on 24 October 1916 in Toronto. His year of birth was given as 1898, his mother Elizabeth in Chesley as next of kin, and occupation as student. With a draft to the 70th Overseas Battery, Allen arrived in England aboard the Missanabie on 7 April 1917. Taken on strength with the Canadian Artillery Reserve Brigade, he was posted to the 5th Battery on the 8th. In November Allen was transferred to the Canadian Army Medical Corps at Shorncliffe, posted to the CAMC Depot in April of 1918. In July he was transferred to the Reserve Brigade, CFA at Witley. Allen was hospitalized at the No 12 Canadian General Hospital at Bramshott in mid September, transferred to the No 13 Canadian General Hospital at Hastings for ten days in October, and on to the Canadian Hospital, Etchinghill where he was discharged on 18 November (vds). With the end of the war Allen returned to Canada in April of 1919 and was discharged from service on demoblilzation in London, Ontario on the 23rd, rank of Gunner.

On 17 November 1920, in Welland, Ontario, Allen married Mildred Bertha Sharrad. At the time of the marriage Allen was living in Welland and working as a barber while Mildred was living in Oshawa, Ontario. Born on 14 October 1900 in Oshawa, Mildred was the daughter of Ernest Sharrad, a moulder by trade, and Mary Mildred Jones. Both previously married, her parents had married in 1899 in Oshawa. Allen and Mildred gave their intended residence after the marriage as Oshawa but by the time of the 1921 census Allen was living in Kenora, Ontario where he was working as a barber, the whereabouts of Mildred unknown. The couple settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba, giving birth to one known child, daughter Doreen Ellen. For many years Allen worked as a barber but by the mid 1950’s was working as an orderly at Deer Lodge Hospital. According to his obituary, he also served during WW2.

Allen died on 26 May 1980 in Saint Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Mildred, son-in-law John Tickle, and two grandchildren. He was predeceased by his father, his stepfather Fred (1938), mother Elizabeth (1956), and stepbrother Eric (1977), the latter three interred in the Chesley Cemetery. He was also predeceased by his daughter Doreen in 1973 in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Moving to Portage la Prairie after Allen’s death, Mildred died on 9 November 1986 in Lions Prairie Manor in Portage la Prairie. Along with Mildred, Allen is interred in Saint James Cemetery in Winnipeg.

By Judy Stockham