Material Type

Mixed Media

Date Range

1919

Physical Description

1 oversize colour certificate

Physical Condition

Excellent

History Biographical

Alfred Edward Bedwell was born in London, England in 1890. He emigrated to Canada in 1910 and worked in the lumber industry in Ontario before coming west to work in the coal mine at Coalhurst, Alberta. Mr. Bedwell enlisted in the 20th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery (CFA), on 23 November 1914. He went overseas with the unit and was wounded by shell fragments in 1915. Evacuated to England to recover from his wounds, Alfred Bedwell was promoted to Bombardier and returned to France in 1915. Injured in a poison gas attack in 1917, Bombardier Bedwell was sent back to Canada, to the Colonel Belcher Hospital in Calgary, in 1919. He was honourably discharged from the 20th Battery CFA on 16 April 1919. In October that year, Alfred Bedwell was given the honour of firing the salute during the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. During World War 1 Alfred Bedwell married his childhood sweetheart Mathilda King in London, England. She returned to Canada with him as a war bride in 1919. Mr. Bedwell was employed by the City of Lethbridge in the Power House until 1944, when he and Mathilda moved to Vancouver. He worked for the United Fisherman’s Cooperative as Chief Engineer until 1953, when he was admitted to Shaughnessy Military Hospital in Vancouver. Since 1917 Mr. Bedwell had received medical treatment for the damaging effects of the poison gas he was exposed to during World War 1. It was these effects that contributed to his death on 24 April 1955, after spending most of the last two years of his life in the Shaughnessy Military Hospital. Alfred Bedwell is buried in the Field of Honour, Mountainview Cemetery in Vancouver. Alfred and Mathilda Bedwell had five sons, three of whom served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during World War 2. Another son served in the Merchant Navy during World War 2, and later with the Canadian Army during the Korean Conflict. [Information supplied by Mr. Cyril Bedwell, a son of Alfred Bedwell.]

Scope and Content

Certificate of Appreciation to Alfred E. Bedwell for his service with the 20th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery (CFA), during World War 1. In the centre is an black and white oval photograph of Gunner Bedwell in uniform.

Access Restrictions

Public Access

Accession No.

19881053004

Collection

Archive

Less detail