Fred Handley (1893-1968)
From Fencehouses to France with the Canadian Army
Fred Handley arrived in Quebec on board the SS Corsican on 28 August 1913 and settled in Manitoba as a farmer. Two years later he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Brandon, Manitoba as Private 150435 attached to the 79th Battalion. However, before departing for England Fred was in hospital in Brandon with tonsillitis.
Arriving in England on 4 May 1916, two months later the battalion, he was absorbed into the 17th Reserve Battalion at East Sandling. It was here that Fred was promoted to lance corporal and then acting corporal, before being posted to France with the 42nd Battalion as Private Handley in January 1917. For two months from March he was on duty with the agricultural supervisor and the Town Mayor in Bruay in northern France, and then reverted to his normal duties with the battalion.
On leave in the UK in January 1918 Fred married childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Graham, and then returned to France where he once again was promoted to lance corporal. Moving into Belgium at the end of November, the battalion was in Mons on Armistice Day and remained in Belgium until returning to camp at Bramshott, Hampshire in mid February 1919. Fred returned to Canada with the rest of the battalion on board the SS Adriatic, and was demobilised in Winnipeg on 4 April 1919. Seven months later, Fred sailed from New York to Liverpool, heading for home and intending to stay, as is stated on the ship’s manifest.
Fred Handley died on 26 July 1968 and was cremated at Durham Crematorium.
Civil Parish: Morton Grange
Birth date: 13-Mar-1893
Death date: 26-Jul-1968
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: Morton Acres, Morton Grange, Chilton Moor, Fencehouses (1901 and 1911 censuses)
Religion: Wesleyan
Employment: Rag and Bone Merchant Cartman (1911 census)
Family: Parents: James Handley, Ellen Ann Handley, nee Whetsone
Military service:
Lance Corporal 154435
79th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
17th Reserve Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
42nd Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
Medal(s): British War Medal
Victory Medal
Gender: Male
Contributed by Jean Longstaff, Durham