28th Battalion (Northwest) Canadian Infantry
Leonard Lambley was one of twelve children (three of whom died in infancy) born to William and Mary Eliza Lambley. The couple originated from Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire respectively but moved to the Tetbury area of Gloucestershire soon after their marriage in 1876. Mary died in 1903, leaving William to cope with the large family. It was perhaps for this reason that Leonard was encouraged to emigrate to Canada, aged 17, arriving on 20 August 1906.
Leonard had been born in Tetbury on 5 January 1890 and upon completing his education he worked as a farm labourer, before departing to Canada. For reasons perhaps connected with seeking work or adventure in 1910 he was in Tacoma, Washington, USA and signed a Declaration of Intention to become a US Citizen. In 1910 he enlisted in the United States Infantry and spent twelve months in San Diego, California and a further two years in the Philippines. However, in March 1914 he returned to Canada, via Emerson, Manitoba and headed for Kenora, Ontario where his elder brother Ernest was now living. Ernest had found employment with the Canadian Pacific Railway.
On 12 February 1915 Leonard enlisted into the Canadian Army at Portage-la-Praire, Manitoba and on 4 September 1915 sailed for Europe on the RMS Missanabie as part of the 2nd Reinforcing Draft of 45 Battalion, Canadian Infantry. He later transferred to 28th (Northwest) Battalion, which was mainly composed of recruits from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, which had first gone overseas in June 1915 and entered the Front Line in the following September.
The Kenora Miner & News of 29 April 1916 reported that brother Ernest had been informed that Leonard had been admitted to No 13 Stationery Hospital in Boulogne on 20 April 1916 suffering from a slight gunshot wound to his jaw. Evidently this had been sustained at St Eloi in Belgium, where fighting around craters located there took place between 27 March and 16 April 1916. This action involved 2nd Canadian Division of which 28th Battalion was a part (within 6th Infantry Brigade). After convalescing in England, Leonard returned to France in July, spending time with the 2nd Entrenching Battalion before re-joining the 28th Battalion in August.
It is believed that Leonard suffered a severe gunshot wound to his right leg and thigh, fracturing it in two places, during the action at Courcelette on 15 September 1916. He was admitted to No 1 Canadian Hospital at Etaples on 18 September and by 8 October he had been repatriated to England and ended up at the Second Southern General Hospital in Bristol. Unfortunately complications set in with his wound and he died there on 4 January 1917. The Kenora Miner & News of 6 January 1917 reported his death and stated that Leonard, like his brother, had previously been employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Leonard was brought back to his birth place of Tetbury for burial in Tetbury (St. Saviour) churchyard, where a CWGC headstone now marks his grave. He is commemorated on the War Memorial in the town and also in the First World War Book of Remembrance housed in the Peace Tower of the Canadian Parliament Building in Ottowa.
Researched by Graham Adams 6 March 2023 (revised)
(Acknowledgement to canadiangreatwarproject.com and kenoragreatwarproject.ca)