As a young man, he took great interest in math and science and saw the Canadian Army as an opportunity to further his engineering skills. He enlisted in Valcartier, Quebec on the 28th of September, 1914 at the age of 23.
The 17th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force embarked for Europe in the early days of the war and saw action almost immediately. Life in the trenches was an endless succession of mud, cold, rats and dreadful food and it must have seemed a far cry from Alden's engineering dreams.
On June 3, 1916 a bullet ended Private Blaikie's life. The Battle of Ypres had claimed yet another victim. While his widowed mother, mourned at home, Alden was laid to rest in the Railway Dugouts Burial Ground, Ypres, West Belgium. He is memorialized in the Chapel of Rembrance at the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa and on the cenotaph at Upper Stewiacke.
Alden Blaikie was my great uncle (my grandfather's brother). We have always been very interested in his life and his military experiences. Thank you for sharing this with your readers. I do have some further items pertaining to Alden. I would gladly share them with you. If interested, please e-mail me at miller.berryhill@gmail.com Thanks, Judy Miller
ReplyDeleteAlden Blaikie was also my great uncle. Since I was a young child I was told of the ultimate sacrifice he made during WW I. Thanks for publishing this. - Paul Dunphy
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