Archibald "Archie" Wray (1897-1950)
From Coundon to Canada to the Somme with the Canadian Army
Archie Wray was born in Coundon near Bishop Auckland to Yorkshire-born couple, William Wray, a coal miner, and his wife, Margaret Ellen, on 23 February 1897. He was baptised in Bishop Auckland a month later. Archie was the youngest of three boys, and also had two sisters, Dora and Jeanie. In April 1906 father William, along with Archie and his older brother arrived in Canada, making for British Columbia. They were joined six months later by Margaret and daughter Jeanie.
On 2 July 1915 Archie enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in Edmonton, British Columbia, giving his mother as his next of kin and his occupation as a teamster. He became Private 466111 of the 63rd (Edmonton) Battalion. Nine months later, the battalion arrived in England having crossed the Atlantic on the SS Metagama, a voyage that lasted fifteen days. The battalion was posted to camp at Shorncliffe in Kent. At the end of June Private Wray was posted as a reinforcement to the 5th Battalion and joined them in Corps reserve near Abeele on 13 July.
Treated at No. 9 Field Ambulance Station for a sprained ankle whilst fighting in the Brickfields around Albert, Archie was only away from his post for one day. It was whilst fighting in the Regina Trench on 27 September 1916 that he was shot in the shoulder. After initial treatment at Rouen he was invalided to Liverpool General Hospital, followed by a stay of two months at Lancashire Military Convalescent Hospital. Discharged in-mid January he was posted to the Saskatchewan Regimental Depot and, as he was still not fit to return to France, was transferred to the Canadian Forestry Corps depot at Sunningdale, Berkshire.
With no employment to be found for him, Private Wray returned to Canada in May 1917 and was posted to the 13th Special Services Company in Calgary, from where he finally discharged on 9 March 1918.
Archie returned to live with his widowed mother and siblings in Edmonton and found work in a local laundry. In 1023 he married Hilda May Sutton, but they later divorced. In 1949 Archie was working as a logger, and later as a cook on a construction site.
On the morning of 28 March 1950 Archibald Wray was found in a room at the Regent Hotel, Revelstoke with a self inflicted wound severing the jugular vein in his throat. The coroner declared it suicide and Archie was buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Revelstoke, British Columbia.
Civil Parish: Coundon
Birth date: 23-Feb-1897
Death date: 28-Mar-1950
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: Silver Street, Coundon, Bishop Auckland (1901 census)
253 Columbia Avenue, Edmonton, British Columbia (enlistment papers)
Religion: Church of England
Employment: teamster (enlistment papers)
Logger (voters list 1949)
Cook (death certificate)
Family: Parents: William Wray, Margaret Ellen Wray nee Curley
Siblings: Edward Wray, Ernest Wray, Dora A.Wray, Jeanie Wray
Wife: Hilda May Wray nee Sutton
Military service:
Private 466111
63rd Battalion Canadian Expeditiknary Force
5th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
Saskatchewan Regimental Depot
Canadian Forestry Corps
13th Special Services Company
Medal(s): British War Medal
Victory Medal
Gender: Male
Contributed by Jean Longstaff, Durham