Edith Wakefield (1889-1972) and Albert Dore (1894-1954)
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| Aquitania - Annette Fulford collection |
Edith Rebecca
Wakefield was born in 1889 at Folkestone, Kent, the daughter of William Matthew
Wakefield and his wife Emma Elizabeth Cullen. Edith worked as a domestic
servant before the war. She met British-born Canadian Expeditionary Force
soldier Albert Dore and they were married in June 1916 at Folkestone, only
eight months after he arrived in England.
Albert William Dore
was born in 1894 at Milton, Oxford, England to Wyckliffe Albert Dore and Fanny
Puffet. Albert came to Canada in April 1913 onboard the Ascania,
which travelled from Southampton, England to Portland, Maine. He was headed to
Toronto but ended up in Paris, Ontario working in the knitting mills.
Albert enlisted with
the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles (Regimental # 109312) on 23
November 1914 at Toronto, went overseas in July 1915 and trained at Dibgate and
Caesar’s Camp in Kent. They left for France from Folkestone in October 1915.
He suffered from
shell shock after the Battle of the Somme in September 1916 and was in the
hospital for three weeks. He complained of nervousness, headaches, shortness of
breath on exertion, and excessive perspiration at night. He was also easily
startled and had a slight tremor.
He was awarded the
Military medal in October 1916 for bravery in the field “for conspicuous
gallantry and devotion to duty.” The website Great War Centenary Association,
Brant County, Ontario gives a full citation for receiving the medal “in
carrying despatches on frequent occasions under rifle and shell fire. He
carried despatches in daylight through places which were considered too
dangerous to allow other ranks to use.”
"In June 1917, a
shell exploded close by and he was thrown into a shell hole." He returned
to England from France and spent the rest of the war in and out of hospitals
suffering from dyspnoea, palpations, vertigo, fatigue and sweating on exertion.
Albert was diagnosed
with Neurasthenia and was no longer fit for service. He was invalided to Canada
on the hospital ship Araguaya in February 1918, landing at
Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Halifax harbour was severely damaged in the explosion
of a supply ship and a munitions ship in December 1917.
Edith Dore came to
North America on the ship Aquitania in October 1918 with their
daughter Minnie Edith, who was born earlier in the year. They were headed to
Paris, Ontario. The ship travelled from Southampton, England to New York
between October 21 - 28th, 1918.
Edith and Albert had
2 sons and 4 daughters while living in Paris.
In June 1940, their
eldest son Thomas enlisted in the Canadian army at Galt, Ontario and he went
overseas to England with the Highland Light Infantry of Canada. Thomas died of
wounds in June 1944 and is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery in Woking, Surrey,
England.
Edith Dore was the
president of the Silver Cross Mothers in Paris, Ontario in 1958.
Albert died in 1954 and Edith in 1972. They are buried in the local
cemetery in Paris.
Sources:
Bennett, S. G.
The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles, 1914-1919, Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/mountedrifles00bennuoft/page/4/mode/1up
(accessed October 4, 2020)
Albert William Dore MM, Great War Centenary Association website, Brant County, Ontario http://www.doingourbit.ca/profile/albert-dore-mm?page=4 (accessed October 4, 2020)
Albert William
Dore, 4th CMR website http://www.4cmr.com/dore.htm (accessed August 4, 2020)
Albert William
Dore, Personnel Records of the First World War, Regimental No 109312, RG 150, Accession
1992-93/166, Box 2604 – 2, Library and Archives Canada. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=360825
(accessed August 1, 2020)
Thomas William Dore, Service No A/37579, Canadian Virtual War Memorial (CVWM) https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2762464?Thomas%20William%20Dore (accessed August 1, 2020)
Chilliwack
Progress, August 27, 1958, 20 https://theprogress.newspapers.com/ (accessed August 4, 2020)
London Gazette,
29805, page 10488, 27 October 1916 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/awards-and-accreditation (accessed August 4, 2020)
(c) Annette Fulford, March 2021
