Conlon Arthur Leonard 21999

Arthur Leonard Conlon 21999

Arthur Leonard Conlon was born on September 19, 1895 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England.  His parents were Edward Conlon and Rose Long.  Arthur’s father seems to have died three years later and left Rose to raise three young children, Elizabeth Rose, John and Arthur, on her own.

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Arthur immigrated to Canada in 1903, according to a 1921 census, and was most likely a Home Child given his young age.  It is highly probable that he lived in Dummer Township, but it is not clear as to when.  It is known from a 1911 census that at that time, he was working as a farm labourer for a family in Chinguacousy Township in Peel District (near modern day Brampton).  

An article published in the Peterborough Examiner described that Conlon (misspelled Condon in the paper) had enlisted in Saskatoon with the 7^th Battalion, and “had been in the West for some time.”  Conlon actually enlisted with the 11^th Battalion in Saskatoon, and went to Valcartier Camp for training.  There, he re-signed attestation papers on September 23^rd 1914, and was taken on to H Company of the 7^th Battalion, which had been raised in British Columbia. He listed his occupation as clerk, and indicated that he currently belonged to an active militia.  He listed his mother, Rose Conlon, as his next of kin and indicated that she lived in Warsaw, Ontario at that time.  He was 18 years old, stood 5 foot 4 inches tall, and weighed 130 pounds. He had a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. His religion was Baptist.

The 7^th Battalion arrived in England on the 14^th of October 1914 aboard the Virginian.  When the 7^th Battalion went to France, Conlon did not follow them, but was rather stationed at the Infantry Base Depot at Tidworth, England.  The 7^th Battalion was destined to be in the forefront of the gas attack launched on Allied position in Ypres on April 21^st 1915, and suffered severe casualties.  These circumstances would explain why Conlon embarked for France on April 21 1915 to re-enforce his shattered battalion.  Pte. Conlon arrived in France and joined what remained of the 7^th Battalion 8 days later on April 29^th in the support trenches of Brielen behind Ypres.  Though they did not take part in any more assaults they were shelled in their positions quite heavily.  They stood by anxiously for six more days until they were piped out of their trenches to the rest billets in Bailleul.  Here the battalion reorganized, rested and retrained 9 days until May 14^th.  It is at this time that Pte. Conlon is reported missing in his service records.  It is unclear as to the exact date that he went missing, as the battalion took the first couple of weeks after the Ypres battle to sort out the whereabouts of all its missing, wounded and dead.  It is highly probable that he went missing sometime in his first few days (April 29-May 05) of arriving in the Ypres sector.  The highly disorganized nature of the battle with battle lines and troops constantly shifting about made it very difficult to locate both enemy and friendly trench lines.  In many accounts soldiers often got lost and walked unknowingly into enemy trenches when moving about in the lines. 

Peterborough Evening Examiner May 15 1915

The Peterborough Evening Examiner, in an article dated May 17, 1915, announced that Rose Conlon, Arthur’s mother, was had been notified that he had been reported as missing.

The next news heard of Arthur Conlon was on June 21 1915, he was officially a Prisoner of War in Giessen, Germany.  He would remain in prisoner of war camps for the duration of the war.  He was transferred between several POW camps during his time: to Gefangenenlager on March 28 1916, to Saltau, Hanover on January 09 1917, to Hamelin on July 06 1917.

Pte. Conlon was repatriated to England after the Armistice.  He was taken on at the British base in Ripon, Seaford on January 06 1919.  He was admitted to No.11 Canadian Hospital at Moore barracks in Shorncliffe England on February 03 1919 and treated for a venereal disease. He was released 2 months later on April 1^st being cured as free from V.D. by hospital officials. He went to Kimmel Park, Seaford England to the Company Depot to await return to Canada. He embarked for Canada aboard the S.S. Saturnia May 11, 1919.  Upon arriving in Canada he made his way to Toronto where he was officially discharged from the military on May 23, 1919.

By 1921, Arthur Conlon returned to Saskatchewan and was working as a farm labourer in Aberdeen.  He died September 23, 1952 and is buried in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan.

Sources:

Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current. Database on-line: http:www.findagrave.com .

Library and Archives Canada. “Soldiers of the First World War (1914-1918).”record group. 150, Accession 1992-93/166. Box 4930-35. Library and archives Canada, Ottawa.

Library and Archives Canada online: (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), Census of 1911. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 2007.

Library and Archives Canada online: (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 2013. Reference Number: RG31; Folder Number: 161; Census Place: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Page Number: 3.