Military service
Burial/memorial information
Son of Felix and Catherine Barkley, of Vars, Ontario. He was a farmer. On enlistment, he was assigned to the 207 Battalion, was transferred overseas and assigned to the 7th Reserve Batalion at Seaford, England, followed by the 156th Battalion at Whitley, England
Digital gallery of Private Matthew Barkley
Digital gallery of
Private Matthew Barkley
Vars Cenotaph, Ontario
Digital gallery of
Private Matthew Barkley
Digital gallery of
Private Matthew Barkley
Attestation Paper
Source Library and Archives Canada Soldiers of the First World War
Digital gallery of
Private Matthew Barkley
Attestation Paper
Source Library and Archives Canada Soldiers of the First World War
Digital gallery of
Private Matthew Barkley
His name as it is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial. Over 11,000 fallen Canadians having no known place of burial in France, are honoured on this Memorial. May they never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)
Digital gallery of
Private Matthew Barkley
Built in 1904 in Vars, the Knox Presbyterian Church building served at different times as both a United Church and Presbyterian Church. Closed in 1980, the church building and its artefacts were relocated to the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum.
IN MEMORIAM
1914-1918
MATTHEW BARKLEY
ROBERT McELROY
WESLEY SIMPSON
CHARLES WARD
THEY GAVE THEIR LIVES
Digital gallery of
Private Matthew Barkley
Memorial – Plaque on Vars ON cenotaph.
Digital gallery of
Private Matthew Barkley
From the Ottawa Citizen newspaper c.1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Private Matthew Barkley
From the Ottawa Citizen newspaper c.1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Image gallery
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Vars Cenotaph, Ontario
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Attestation Paper Source Library and Archives Canada Soldiers of the First World War
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Attestation Paper Source Library and Archives Canada Soldiers of the First World War
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His name as it is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial. Over 11,000 fallen Canadians having no known place of burial in France, are honoured on this Memorial. May they never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)
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Built in 1904 in Vars, the Knox Presbyterian Church building served at different times as both a United Church and Presbyterian Church. Closed in 1980, the church building and its artefacts were relocated to the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum. IN MEMORIAM 1914-1918 MATTHEW BARKLEY ROBERT McELROY WESLEY SIMPSON CHARLES WARD THEY GAVE THEIR LIVES
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Memorial – Plaque on Vars ON cenotaph.
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From the Ottawa Citizen newspaper c.1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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From the Ottawa Citizen newspaper c.1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 364 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.
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VIMY MEMORIAL Pas de Calais, France
Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Vimy Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted from this road to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well signposted. At the base of the memorial, these words appear in French and in English:
Inscribed on the ramparts of the Vimy Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as 'missing, presumed dead' in France.
A plaque at the entrance to the memorial states that the land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares in extent, was 'the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada'. Construction of the massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, the monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII.
The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Wooded parklands surround the grassy slopes of the approaches around the Vimy Memorial. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made.
On April 3, 2003, the Government of Canada designated April 9th of each year as a national day of remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The Poppy Design is a trademark of The Royal Canadian Legion (Dominion Command) and is used with permission. Click here to learn more about the poppy.
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