My husband's 1c1r, Albert James Slatter (1893-1974), was born on this day 132 years ago: February 16, 1893, in Cork, Ireland.
Albert's father Albert William Slatter was a military musician from London, married to Eleanor Marion Wilkinson. His father was stationed in Ireland, with family, when their first son was born. After moving around England for a time, the Slatter family resettled in Canada.
Albert in the CEF, 3d Canadian Battalion
Albert worked as a clerk and was serving in a Canadian Militia unit when World War I began. At age 21, he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on September 22, 1914, joining the Queens Own Rifles Regiment, 3d Canadian Battalion.
Sent overseas, Albert fought in France and Belgium in the spring of 1915. He was captured by German forces at Ypres, the first major battle involving Canadian troops. Originally, he was reported as missing in action but later was spotted on a German list of prisoners of war imprisoned in Holland. Canadian POWs in Holland faced unusually harsh conditions and unfortunately Sgt. Slatter remained a prisoner for more than three long years.
Repatriated and looking ahead
Finally repatriated and returned to Canada in January of 1919, Albert worked as a draftsman. In the summer of 1920 he crossed the border to Buffalo, New York, where his sister lived. He met and married Dorothy Bayliss (1898-1981) and they began a family in Buffalo, where Albert was now a mechanical engineer. By 1929, he had become a naturalized US citizen.
Albert rose through the ranks of the tire company where he worked and ultimately became general manager of the Armstrong Tire & Rubber plant in Natchez, Mississippi. He died of respiratory failure and lung disease in 1974.
Today I want to salute Albert's military service and his amazing fortitude in surviving his POW experience.
