LCol Alfred Blake Carey 1881 – 1922
LCol Carey graduated in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in the US. In 1898 he joined the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment and went with that unit to Puerto Rico during the Spanish American War. In 1899 he found himself in South Africa as a trooper in Rimington’s Guides, a British led cavalry reconnaissance unit numbering about 200. In 1913 he completed the Jordan River Hydro Dam north of Victoria, BC, Canada. In 1914 he enlisted as a sapper in the 67th Pioneer Battalion – the engineer unit of the 11th Canadian Infantry Brigade of which 54th Bn was a part. He saw action in Passendale and the Somme and then transferred to the infantry where he became Battalion Commander of the 102nd (North British Columbians) Infantry Battalion, leading it through the Vimy Ridge battle. In May 1917 he took over 54th Bn. He met his wife in Belgium and married at the end of the War, settling in Vancouver in 1919. There he became deputy port customs collector and was an energetic and popular manager when he wasn’t chasing rum runners operating out of US ports. He died unexpectedly of complications from war injuries on March 29, 1922. His wife later returned to Belgium.
(from the Vancouver Sun and Province for 29 and 30 Mar 1922)
News clips from when he died – all from the Vancouver Province – references are in the file names
