838492 Pte. Albert Victor Catton was born to Albert and Martha Catton on April 24th, 1898, in Winchester, Ontario. The Catton's, a family of eight, moved to Durham, Ont., at some point prior to 1911, where Albert' father was a manager at a local factory.
Victor (as he was known) was attending school when hostilities broke out. Attesting to the 147th Battalion on January 6th, 1916, agaed 17, he was assigned to "C" Company under the command of Captain Dobie.
Billeted locally over the remainder of the winter, the 147th Battalion mobilized in Owen Sound in the spring of 1916 and left for training at Camp Niagara. As the conditions in the Camp were wanting the unit moved to the new training facility of Camp Borden in late June. During his training in Camp Borden Victor would go "Absent without leave" on two separate occasions and be docked a day's pay for each offence.
In September 1916 the unit received their orders to proceed overseas, but due to an outbreak of diphtheria they were detained in Amherst, Nova Scotia, for over a month. The unit finally sailed for Great Britain on November 14th, 1916, on the S.S. Olympic.
On January 1st, 1917, the 147th Battalion ceased to exist when it became the nucleus for the 8th Reserve Battalion. On February 17th, 1917, Victor was taken on strength of the 4th C.M.R. and served with the unit through the Battle of Arras that saw the Canadian Corps storm Vimy Ridge. Victor was wounded in the right leg on April 11th, 1917, just as the battle for the ridge was coming to an end. The wound was severe enough to take Victor out of the front lines for the remainder of the war.
While recovering from his wound in England, Victor would be transferred around various Reserve Battalions and be hospitalized on a couple of occasions with diphtheria, as well as a case of mumps.
Sailing home on the Empress of Britain, Victor would be struck off strength of the 4th C.M.R. on March 28th, 1919.
Private Albert Victor Catton passed away in 1962 and lies at rest in Queen's Lawn Cemetery, located in the Town of Grimsby, Ontrario.
Biography credit: George Auer