Private Wilfred Ernest Fakeley

Private Wilfred Ernest Fakeley, Army, Kindersley, Saskatchewan

Died: November 10, 1917

Commemorated at Poelcapelle British Cemetery, Belgium

Wilfrid Ernest Fakeley was born February 28, 1894 at Dover, Kent, England and immigrated to Canada with his family in September 1907, homesteading near Kindersley, Saskatchewan. Single and living at Kindersley, he worked as a drug clerk before enlisting at Kindersley April 7, 1916. Overseas with the 203rd Battalion in October 1916, Fakeley served as a Private with the Canadian Expeditionary Force attached to the 8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles) during the First World War. Landing in France in April 1917 with the 2nd Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division, the 8th Battalion fought along the Western Front in France and Belgium. On November 10, 1917, Private Wilfrid Ernest Fakeley died following an enemy shell explosion during an advance through the Cressy Farm near Passchendaele, Belgium. He is commemorated at the Poelcapelle British Cemetery, Belgium, on the Dover War Memorial, Kent, England and on the Manitoba Historical Society War Memorial, Manitoba. Son of John James and Catherine Louise (nee Hewlett) Fakeley of Kindersley (formerly of Dover); brother of Lillian, Herbert, Stephen, Catherine, Amy and John Fakeley; he was 23 years old.