Leonard Carver - Lest We Forget

Leonard Carver was born November 25, 1886 at Whitehaven, Cumberland, England, the son of Elizabeth A. Carver. While in England he had some previous military experience with the 5th Cumberland Bordery. He was working as a carpenter in Rogers Pass when the war broke out. He was one of the first 69 men in this area to volunteer for the Canadian Army Contingent.

 Leonard Carver was accepted as part of the First Contingent of Canadian Volunteers and signed his attestation papers on September 24, 1914 at Valcartier, Quebec, the assembly point for Canada’s Army. He was 27 years old, single, 5’ 8” tall, with fair hair and blue eyes. He sailed with the First Contingent overseas in October 1914 and spent the winter training on the Salisbury Plains. This experience was, by all accounts, a wet, muddy and cold existence.

 Leonard Carver died on April 22, 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres, the baptism by fire of Canada’s Army. It was during this battle that chlorine gas was first used as a weapon of war against the Allied troops. He was 28 years old. At the time of his death he was a private in the 10th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Alberta) Regiment. His regimental number was 19842. His body was not found or identified and his name is memorialized on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial.

 Leonard Carver’s name is not listed on the Courthouse plaque nor on the Revelstoke Cenotaph. He is probably named on a cenotaph in Alberta. He is included in this memorial because he was working in the Revelstoke area at the time of his enlistment.