Alfred Bailey

[Wayne Finch]

I'm posting this on behalf of my boss, Andy McCabe. I know it's a long shot, but does anyone have any information on Alfred Bailey, who served with the 2nd Canadian Princess Patricias please? Alternatively, does anyone know the best way of researching his WW1 activities? He did survive the war. Alfred was Andy's Grandfather.

Many thanks in anticipation

[GrandsonMichael]

Hi Wayne,

Tough one. If we are talking about WW1 the regiment was called 'Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry'. I checked the Nominal Roll and Record of Services (Ralph Hodder-Williams, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry 1914-1919) and there is no mention at all of a soldier by the name of Alfred Bailey. There are six men called Bailey mentioned. Do you have any further information at all?

Cheers,

Michael

[Wayne Finch]

Many thanks Michael. I'll check with my boss and see what more info he has.

[David_Underdown]

Attestation papers for Canadians are freely available online via the Library and Archives Canada website, so that's probably the best place to start, particularly if you can find out where he was living at the time and some idea of date and place of birth, which should help choose the right man if you find there's more than one with the same name.

[Wayne Finch]

Thank you David, I'll pass the advice on

[PPCLI]

Hi Wayne,

There is 824 Alfred Barrett Bailey, born 1 Dec 1888, Dover, England. His low number and early enlistment at Valcartier suggests him as a possible PPCLI man. The bit I don't get is the '2nd' PPCLI. Perhaps he didn't go over with the first contingent and so that is why Michael can't find him in the nominal roll?

(Please don't confuse my PPCLI username with any in-depth knowledge of the regiment - I only chose it because at the time when I registered on this forum, I was researching a PPCLI officer named on my village war memorial).

Cheers,

Stuart

[GrandsonMichael]

Hi Wayne,

There is 824 Alfred Barrett Bailey, born 1 Dec 1888, Dover, England. His low number and early enlistment at Valcartier suggests him as a possible PPCLI man. The bit I don't get is the '2nd' PPCLI. Perhaps he didn't go over with the first contingent and so that is why Michael can't find him in the nominal roll?

Stuart

Hi Stuart,

I wish it was that simple, but it is not just a Nominal Roll but also a Record of Services. In other words every soldier that served with the P.P.C.L.I. during the war is mentioned in this Roll. There is even a short list of soldiers who were transferred from the P.P.C.L.I. depot in England to join the regiment in the field but who do not appear on any Nominal Roll during the war. No mention of an Alfred Bailey here either. Sorry to say.

Cheers,

Michael