Bert Lavender was born on December 31st, 1894 to Charles and Mary Lavender in Sussex, England. In 1905 Charles and Mary moved their six children and Charles’ brother to Canada. They arrived on board the SS Lake Champlain and settled in Prince Edward County, Ontario. There the men of the family, including Bert, worked as farmers to support the family. Bert had just begun working as a carpenter when war broke out in 1914.
Bert and his brother John, both with experience in both the military and militia (though no files are available) volunteered to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Bert fought as a Private for the 2nd Battalion in Belgium. He was killed in action on April 22nd, 1915 at St. Julien during the Second Battle of Ypres at 20 years old. Bert’s brother John survived the war and returned home to the Waterloo region. John married a young woman named Alice who moved to Canada from England in 1918. Together John and Alice had five children and eventually moved to Rhode Island where John worked as a mechanic. Private Bert Lavender is buried at Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery in Belgium.
Service number: 8224
“Canadian Virtual War Memorial: Bert Lavender,” Veterans Affairs Canada, accessed March 21, 2015,
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/138423?Bert%20Lavender