Video Transcription
When the popular Alfred James Corrick was wounded in the Battle of Valenciennes in France ten days before WWI ended, no one realized how serious his injury was. He was born in Sarnia, on July 12, 1884, the youngest son Robert Charles and Mary Corrick. Alfred was a skilled athlete and popular among a large circle of
friends in Sarnia. He went by “Alf” to his friends and family members. He took an active part in sports and was a fantastic baseball player. He was known as “Home Run Haggerty” for his batting skills. He was a member
of the local Maple Leafs indoor baseball team that won the Canadian championship.
In Europe, with the Canadian troops were thinning at an alarming rate and no end to the war in sight, the government instituted the Military Service Act in 1917. Shortly after, thirty-three-year-old Alfred Corrick was drafted under the Military Service Act of 1917. He was called to service on January 9, 1918 in London, Ontario,
reporting to the 1st Depot Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment.
On June 1, 1918, Private Corrick found himself in Europe and apart of the Canadian Infantry, 47th Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment.
During his time overseas, Alf Corrick often wrote many letters home to his mother and siblings. Below is a postcard that he wrote on June 10, 1918 to his sister Beatrice. On the back he wrote:
"Dear Sister,
Just a souvenir of France I got tonight having an easy time just now.
Yours lovingly, Alf"
The Hundred Days Campaign (August 8 – November 11, 1918 in France and Belgium) was the “beginning of the end” of the Great War. Canadians were called on again and again over the three-month period to lead the offensives against the toughest German defenses.
The series of victories repeatedly drove the Germans back, culminating in Germany’s unconditional surrender on November 11, but it came at a cost of almost 46,000 Canadians killed, wounded and missing. Alfred Corrick took part in all of the major offensives during this campaign.
On November 1, 1918, Private Alfred Corrick was wounded by enemy gunfire at Valenciennes. Ten later, on November 11, 1918, the Canadians liberated the city of Mons and World War I would end.
While recovering in hospital, Alf sent letters home to his friends in Sarnia, in which he reported that he was progressing well, however, complications arose, as he had symptoms of blood poisoning from the shrapnel wounds that required two more operations.
It was unexpected news in Sarnia when on January 13, 1919, one year after his send-off in Sarnia, and two months after the war’s end, Alfred Corrick died in a Military Hospital. Alfred Corrick was the last man with his name on the Sarnia cenotaph to lose his life in the Great War.
Contact Us
Subscribe to this page