Private Howard Joseph Cleary was born on June 29th, 1891, in West Caledonia to single-mother Ellen Cleary.  Ellen later married Edward Canning and Howard had six half-sisters, Margaret, Viola, Mary, Hilda, Helen, Stella, Ethel and Sarah.  According to the 1911 Census, Howard and his grandfather Charles were living in West Caledonia at the household of Stephen Winters and his wife Mary, later listed on Private Cleary’s military records as his cousin and next of kin. 

       

      A Catholic, Howard sported a tattoo on his left forearm of a cross with a heart in the center, and on his right forearm, a sailor and a shield.  At the time of his enrolment, Howard was a labourer and active in the 76th Regiment of the Canadian Militia.  He stood 5 feet 5 inches tall (165 cm) with hazel-grey eyes and auburn hair. 

 

      Howard enlisted on November 26th, 1915, at 24 years old.  He joined the 25th Battalion as an Infantryman and was assigned the rank of Private and Regimental number 715020.  Private Cleary sailed from Halifax on the SS Empress of Britain on July 15th, 1916, and arrived in England ten days later.​

​

      Private Cleary’s records are sparse and the next notation is that he was Killed in Action on April 9th, 1917, near Arras in northern France.  He was 25 years old when he perished.  His death occurred on the first day of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and he is interred just two kilometers from the Canadian Vimy Ridge Memorial, so he likely perished as part of that battle.  The battle began on Easter Monday when the Canadian Corps advanced against the German 6th Army.  After hellish fighting for three days, the Canadians captured the German-held Vimy Ridge.  The battle was a turning point for Canada and a major tactical victory.

 

      The Vimy Ridge National Historic Site of Canada honours the soldiers who died in France and have no known grave.  The Battle of Vimy Ridge proved to be a great success but came at a heavy cost.  The 100,000 Canadians who served there suffered more than 10,600 casualties, nearly 3,600 of which were fatal.

 

      Private Cleary bequeathed his estate to his friend Mary Ross of Truro.  As his next of kin, his cousin, Mary Stevens of West Caledonia, received the Memorial Plaque and Scroll.  Because he was unmarried and his mother was deceased, his Memorial Cross Medal (also known as the Silver Cross) was not endowed.

 

      Private Cleary is interred at the Nine Elms Military Cemetery (Thelus) near Arras, in Plot IV, Row E, Grave 3.  Such was the brutal nature of the battle and the chaos on the battlefield, that of the fourteen other graves in his row, three identities are unknown, and are listed as “A SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR; A CANADIAN REGIMENT”.

     

      Private Howard Joseph Cleary is commemorated on page 217 of the World War One Book of Remembrance.  He is also listed on the Caledonia Cenotaph.

​

​

 

 

Online References

War Grave Search – https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/297077/h-j-cleary/

Local Grave Search - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24757129/howard-joseph-cleary

Genealogy - https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/G457-66N

Canadian Virtual War Memorial - https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/297077?Howard%20Joseph%20Cleary#inline_content_modal_1

Canadian Census  - https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=census&IdNumber=8011587&ecopy=e001975918

First World War Personnel Records Database (file download size 10.3 Meg) - https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=pffww&IdNumber=104865&ecopy=B1782-S055

https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/wars-and-conflicts/first-world-war/battle-of-vimy-ridge