He Was a Young Lad Frightened and About To Go “Over the Top”: A Simple Biography of Private A.E. Blue

Sometimes the simplest information about a soldier can yield facts and insight into the life of that soldier, and by extension, the lives of his comrades-in-arms.

Private Alexander Edward Blue. reg. no. 54004 has information at the Bruce Remembers site which is an absolute wealth of information from which aspects of his life can be gleaned. This first look into his service with the 18th Battalion is part of a series gleaned by the information posted at the Bruce Remembers site.

Below is a contribution for Branch 183 of the Royal Canadian Legion, Kincardine, Ontario. It is a hand-written remembrance of one of Private Blue’s children.

Transcription: If you review the transcription and the document’s notes we get a larger picture of Private Blue’s service when this document is aligned and examined with his service records.

Alexander Edward Blue b. Paisley, Ont.
b. Nov. 23, 1886[i]
d. June 2, 1958
s/o Alexander Hamilton Blue b. 1853
+ h/w Elizabeth Reid b 1860 d. 1886
Alex H. Blue – native of Colonsay, Scot.

Enlisted Oct 28, 1914 – Walkerton
– Ambulance driver

Wounded a Ypres

Re-enlisted and stayed til war ended.[ii]

1. At the time of Grandfather’s death, a gentleman from Cape Croker[iii] came to the funeral home to pay his respects. He told Mom[iv] that he was just a young lad of 15, and frightened to go “over the top” in the morning. Grandpa told the lad to stay with him & he would take him over the top into battle. They both survived. He and Grandpa met a few times in Wiarton Hotel[v] for a beer, but we didn’t know the reason for their friendship until Gr.’s death.
2. On the way to England, the seas were very rough, the horses were in the hold[vi]. Grandpa went down and stayed with the horses, who he called his “boys”. He was a great lover of horses[vii].

Source: Biography, courtesy of Royal Canadian Legion #183 via Bruce Remembers

[i] Note that attestation papers show his date of birth Nov. 23, 1887.

[ii] Pte. Blue was wounded June 29^th, 1916 he was wounded by a gunshot wound to the chest attributed to a sniper. He then was treated and was re-assigned to the 18^th Battalion after recuperating on September 5, 1918.

[iii] Cape Croker was a location from which many native Canadians enlisted in the C.E.F. The identity of this soldier is unknown.

[iv] This is most probably Mrs. Alice L. Blue. Pte. Blue assigned his pay originally to his father, A. Blue sr. but there is a notation in red pen indicating that the pay be assigned to Mrs. Alice L. Blue, 2 Lorne Villas, Napier Road, Ashford, Middlesex, England. Pte. Blue was not married at the time of his enlistment but change of assignment to his wife became effective May 1^st, 1917. There is no record of permission to become married in his service record. Private Blue’s attestation papers and other records show him as single at his enlistment.

[v] Wiarton, Ontario is approximately 25 kilometers from Cape Croker and 63 kilometers from Paisley, Ontario.

[vi] This voyage would have been on the S.S. Grampian, which was used to transport the entire Battalion between Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool, England from April, 17, 1915 until their eventual arrival at West Sandling Camp on April 29^th, 1915.

[vii] If he was an ambulance driver this may be part of the reason for his attachment to the horses.

Time and distance leads to differences in the memory of the family involved. Small details are in variance from the records because of memory, interpretation, and the passage of time. This biography fills out Private Blue’s war experience and shows, through his comrade’s effort to attend the funeral visitation and share that personal experience to a family member. The act of Private Blue giving encouragement to the man from Cape Croker as they prepared to go into battle was something that bound them together and led to their meeting and sharing “a beer” after the war was over. That moment bound those men together and the young man from Cape Croker wanted someone in the family to know how important Private Blue was to him during his time in the trenches. That man will probably remain nameless and unknown save for the efforts of a proud family member with their recording of what they remembered of their father.