Private Harry Bell Foley - Lt. Alfred Charles Bursey - Lt. Edwin Austin Abbey

Private Harry Bell Foley

Private Harry Bell Foley, born February 16th, 1892, was the son of Hugh James Foley (1857-1912) and Mary Belle Brooks Foley (1868-1947), and was born and raised in O'Leary, Prince Edward Island.  Pte. Foley would have been my Great-great-great Uncle on my mother's side.

On the date of May 27^th, 1916 Pte. Foley enlisted into the Canadian army in Red Deer, Alberta.  He was in the “C” Company, No. Nine Platoon, 50^thBattalion, Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regiment).  After two years of service, Pte. Foley was killed in action at the age of 26, on August 11th, 1918.

Pte. Alfred Charles Bursey

Pte. Alfred Charles Bursey, born in 1882, was a soldier in the Western Ontario Regiment.  He died at the age of 35 on April 9th, 1917 during the Vimy Ridge Battle.  Bursey was the son of Eli and L.M. Bursey, of Hackney Wick, London, England, and husband of Lottie Bursey, of Galt, Ontario.  His name is now engraved in remembrance on the Vimy Memorial.

Lt. Edwin Austin Abbey

   Lt. Edwin Austin Abbey was born in Kilmalcom, Scotland, later immigrating with his family to Pennsylvania, USA and becoming a civil engineer.  In the summer of 1915, Edwin moved to Ontario, superintending the construction of the Shaw’s Creek bridge.  Shortly after on October 2^nd, Lt. Austin became a soldier with the 2nd Pioneer Batallion and was sent overseas in early December.

     Arriving in Flanders on March 8th, 1916, as a serving Lance Corporal, Lt. Austin was wounded by shrapnel in the shoulder from a close bursting German shell on April 23^rd.  After staying in England for several months Austin was assigned to “D” Company of the 4^th Canadian Mounted Rifles.

        On April 10th, 1917, the 4th CMR were moving forward in an attack at Petit Vimy, on Vimy Ridge, when close to the cable house, Lt. Edwin Austin Abbey was struck down by a sniper's bullet.  He is now buried in Thelus Cemetery.


- Alya Ahmed-Praught