Alexander Cameron
Alexander Cameron was born 31 March 1878 in Lindsay ON to William and Abigail (Carr) Cameron. He was the second youngest of 6 children, and also the second youngest son. At some point after William’s death in 1891, right after the census was taken, the family moved to Toronto where Abigail is listed at 214 Close Avenue.
On 8 February 1916, Alex enlisted in Toronto with the 134th (48th Highlanders) Battalion, and was subsequently transferred to the 15th Battalion. His youngest brother, Samuel, also served, enlisting with the 221st Battalion in Winnipeg.
The Battle of Hill 70 was commonly described as a bloody affair on a treeless hill that had been decimated by years of warfare. The attack started at 4:25am with drums of oil being fired into the German positions, and the Canadian infantry running from shell hole to shell hole, through the smoke and up the hill. German infantry troops who were met by “fountains of earth sent up by the heavy shells” and “a hail of shrapnel and machine-gun bullets,” according to the history of the German 5th Foot Guard Regiment, who were annihilated in the battle. Fighting continued through 18 August 1917, with attacks and 21 German counterattacks. After 4 days of combat, about 9,000 Canadians were killed or wounded, with an estimated 25,000 Germans killed or wounded. On 16 August 1917, the day that Alex died of his wounds at No. 7 Casualty Clearing Station, of gunshots to his abdomen and thigh, the diary has a single entry: “the Battalion held the new line.”
Alexander Cameron is buried in Noeux-les-Mines Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. He was 39 years old.
