Campbell River Genealogy Society
~ LOST FAMILIES FOUND ~
CLEMENT CHAMBERLAIN CAFFERATA
Service Personnel Information 1914–1918
| Attestation Paper | |
| Service/Regimental Number: | 645028 |
| Present Address: | No. 616 Royal Alexandra Apts., Vancouver, B.C. |
| Birthplace: | Newark, England |
| Date of Birth: | 1 September 1885 |
| Next of Kin: | Marion F. Cafferata (Wife) |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Trade or Calling: | Rancher |
| Previous Service in a Military Force: | None |
| Date of Enlistment: | 24 November 1915 |
| City and Province of Enlistment: | Vancouver, B.C. |
| Digitized Personnel Record: | Library and Archives Record Link |
| Description on Enlistment | |
| Height: | 5 ft 8 1/2 ins |
| Chest: | 36 ins |
| Complexion: | Fair |
| Colour of Eyes: | Blue |
| Colour of Hair: | Dark Brown |
| Religion: | Church of England |
| Considered Fit for Duty by: | John A. MacDunald, Lt. CAMC, Medical Officer |
Military Service Record 1914–1918
| Force: | Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force |
| Unit (battalion or company): | Duke of Connaught’s Own, 158th Overseas Battalion |
| Division: | 26th Coy., Canadian Forestry Corps |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Honours and Awards: | |
| Photograph: | Click Here |
| Date of Death: | 8 February 1919 |
| Age (at death): | 38 |
| Country of Burial: | England |
| Cemetery: | Newark-Upon-Trent Cemetery |
| Grave Reference: | B. A. “R.C.” 207 |
| Location: | Nottinghamshire |
| Book of Remembrance: | CLEMENT CHAMBERLAIN CAFFERATA’S name can be found on page 531 of the 1919 First World War Book of Remembrance. |
His Story
Clement Chamberlain Cafferata was born on 1 September 1885 in Newark, Nottinghamshire. He was one of the younger of thirteen children of Redmond Cafferata and Ellen Barton (m. 1871). In C1891 the family (parents, eight of the children, and eleven servants) were living in Irnham, Lincolnshire. Redmond owned a plaster board company. In C1901 Clement was a student, with two of his brothers, at Midsomer Norton, Somerset. By 1909 he had decided to emigrate to Canada – arriving on the Empress of Britain in November 1909 from Liverpool to Saint John, New Brunswick. The record states that he was going to Pine Creek, Alberta (north of Edmonton) as a clerk in the timber trade. By C1911 he was living in Vancouver, working as a labourer. Clement married Marion Fennell Fraser in Vancouver on 6 October 1915.
He attested six weeks later on 24 November 1915 in Vancouver with the Duke of Connaught’s Own 158th Battalion, and later served with the “Canadian Forestry Corps (which) was formed following an appeal from Britain on February 14, 1916 for troops to undertake lumbering operations overseas. The Canadian Forestry Corps undertook various tasks including clearing land for airfields, preparing railway ties and lumber for use in trenches, building barracks and hospitals as well as farming. During the critical days of 918 the Corps also supplied 1,270 men to the infantry.” The Canadians produced 70% of allied lumber used during WWI. Clement died of pneumonia at the 14th Canadian General Hospital, Eastbourne on 8 February 1919 “On Active Duty”. He is buried in the Newark-on-Trent Cemetery, Nottinghamshire, England.
Family Bits: There was a record of Marion Cafferata returning to Canada on the Melita in July 1919, from Liverpool to Montreal. She was listed as a Military Dependent (b. 1888). She must have gone over when Clement was injured or sick. She died in Vancouver in 1954.