FWW Names – C

Regimental Number: 75191
Enlistment Date / Location / Unit: 9 November 1914 / Vancouver, BC / 29th Battalion
Birth Date / Location: 2 July 1894 / Stirling, Scotland
Parents: Peter Campbell and Mina Cowie
Occupation on Enlistment: Chauffeur
Date of Death / Location: 26 September 1916 / Courcelette during the Battle of the Somme
Age at Death: 22
Unit on Date of Death, or on Demobilization: 29th Battalion
Circumstances of Death: “Previously reported Missing, now for official purposes presumed to have died.”
Cemetery or Memorial: Canadian National Vimy Memorial
Medals / Awards: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Where commemorated: Canadian National Vimy Memorial, Pas-de-Calais, France; Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Veterans Affairs Canada; First World War Book of Remembrance page 63, Memorial Chamber, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, ON; Maple Ridge Cenotaph, Maple Ridge, BC; Maple Ridge Legion Branch #88 Memorial Plaque; St John the Divine Anglican Church Memorial Plaque, Maple Ridge, BC; Municipality of Maple Ridge Honour Roll, St John the Divine Anglican Church, Maple Ridge, BC

James Lindsay Campell was the second youngest of the seven children born to Sergeant-Major Peter Campbell and Mina Cowie. Three of his siblings were born in India and Hong Kong while his career soldier father was serving there.

The family immigrated to Vancouver with five of their children after Peter Campbell retired in May 1910. Peter, Mina, James, and Irene were farming in Maple Ridge in 1911. According to the British Columbia Directories, by 1913 they were living in Vancouver.

Twenty year old James enlisted with the 29th Battalion on 9 November 1914. He was 1.7 meters (5 feet 6 inches) tall, weighed 68 kilograms (150 pounds), had grey eyes and brown hair. As fate would have it, James unknowingly enlisted the day before his brother Robert Vernon, Regimental No. 9302, lost his life in Belgium. Robert Vernon had enlisted in Scotland with his father’s former regiment.
James arrived in England on 20 May 1915 and was promoted to Lance Corporal 15 September 1915. A few days later, on the 18th, he arrived in France. On 30 April 1916 James was promoted to Corporal. He attended a bombing course from 27–31 July 1916. On 16 September 1916 James was promoted to Lance Sergeant. He was reported missing in action on the 26th September, and subsequently presumed killed in action.

Not surprising given their father’s military career many members of the family served during the First World War. Peter Campbell Senior, Colour Sergeant-Major, Regimental No. 624, 13th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Scotland; Brothers: Gregor McGregor Campbell who served in the Merchant Marine Service; Robert Vernon Campbell, Sergeant, Regimental No. 9302, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Scotland (died 10 November 1914); Peter Campbell Junior, Private, Regimental No. 826735; the brothers-in-law: James Ritte Davidson, Piper/Private, Regimental No. 76484, 29th Battalion (died 6 November 1917), husband of Elspet Campbell; Bert Rattray, Private, Regimental No. 101648 (second husband of Elspet Campbell); William James Wilkinson, Private, Regimental No. 107633 (husband of Irene Campbell).

James’ sister Elspet Campbell and her second husband Bert Rattray lived in Maple Ridge in the 1940s and into the 1950s.

J. Campbell’s name was on the Maple Ridge Cenotaph when it was unveiled in 1923.

(Updated 28-Jan-2024)

Regimental Number: 790236
Enlistment Date / Location / Unit: 10 December 1915 / New Westminster, BC / 131st Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
Birth Date / Location: 6 September 1886 / Esquimalt, BC
Parents: Nelson Carter and Eleanor “Ellen” (nee Hopkins) Carter
Spouse: Leila Louisa (nee Hancox) Carter
Dependents: Ivan Walter Carter; Alice Louisa Carter; Ethel May Carter; Olga Ellen Christina “Babe” Carter
Occupation on Enlistment: Plasterer
Date of Death / Location: 22 August 1917 / “Avion Sector” on the outskirts of Lens in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.
Age at Death: 30
Unit on Date of Death, or on Demobilization: 47th Battalion
Circumstances of Death: Killed in Action
Cemetery or Memorial: Canadian National Vimy Memorial
Medals/ Awards: Victory Medal
Where commemorated: Canadian National Vimy Memorial, Pas-de-Calais, France; Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Veterans Affairs Canada; First World War Book of Remembrance page 214, Memorial Chamber, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, ON; Maple Ridge Cenotaph, Maple Ridge, BC; Maple Ridge Legion Branch #88 Memorial Plaque; Municipality of Maple Ridge Honour Roll, St John the Divine Anglican Church, Maple Ridge, BC; The Gold Stripe Roll of Honour, Maple Ridge, page 89

Harry Lewis Walter Carter was the son of Nelson and Eleanor (nee Hopkins) Carter. He was born 6 September 1886 in Esquimalt, BC but by 1892 his family had moved to Haney where his father Nelson purchased a brickyard. Nelson was a creative mason and in 1907, built the unusual fireplace in the manager’s home of the Port Haney Brick Company which now houses the Maple Ridge Museum. Harry worked with his father as a plasterer and together they took on many building contracts in Vancouver and throughout the Fraser Valley.

In 1906, Harry’s brother Horace Nelson Carter married Flora Webster. Flora was the daughter of James Murray Webster, who came to the Maple Ridge community in 1882 and settled on a 160 acre homestead in an area now known as Webster’s Corners.

On 7 May 1907 Harry married Leila Louisa Hancox in New Westminster, BC. By 1912 the couple welcomed four children, Ivan, Alice, Ethel, and Olga into their family. The family lived in Maple Ridge at 21694 River Road, in a house that was still standing in 2024.

At the age of 29, Harry enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force,131st Battalion on 10 December 1915 in New Westminster, BC. Upon enlistment, Harry was 1.8 meters (5 feet 11¼ inches) in height, weighed 75 kilograms (165 pounds), had blue eyes and brown hair. He had a tattoo of a ring on each ring finger. On 28 November 1916, in France, Harry was transferred to the 47th Battalion and on 2 April 1917 promoted from Private to Sergeant.

Harry was killed in action on 22 August 1917 in the “Avion Sector” on the outskirts of Lens in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. His body was never recovered. In a 29 October 1917 Province article, Captain C.E. Bailey reported that “Sergt. H. Carter of Port Haney met death while performing reconnaissance work with a small patrol.” H. Carter was one of the names of former students of the Maple Ridge School on an honour roll unveiled at a patriotic fundraiser. The 10 April 1917 edition of The Province reported on the unveiling.

Harry’s brother Edward Obediah “Obie” Carter (1896-1947), Regimental No. 790336 Sergeant enlisted in the 131 Battalion C.E.F on 8 January 1916 in New Westminster. Harry’s nephews William Ernest Howe, Regimental No. 703733, and George Nelson Howe, Regimental No. 790448, both enlisted.

H. Carter’s name was on the Cenotaph when it was unveiled in 1923. Descendants of Nelson and Ellen Carter continue to reside in the Maple Ridge area into the modern era.

(Updated 20-Feb-2024)

R. Cromarty’s name was on the Cenotaph when it was unveiled in 1923. See Private Sam Roy GARNER