Military service
Burial/memorial information
Digital gallery of Private John Fleming
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Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
His name as it is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial (2010). 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 John Fleming
Canada's Vimy Memorial, located approximately 8 kilometres to the north-east of Arras, France. May the sacrifice of so many never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
Official Army photo of Private John Fleming.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
John Fleming leaving Alberta for war.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
The last picture the family has of our grandfather (John Fleming) before he left Coronation, Alberta for World War I. He is holding his youngest child, John, and sadly, is standing in a poppy field.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
John Fleming with his wife Mabel Rebecca (Haney), daughters Myrtle Isabelle (b. 1911) and Achsah May (b. 1913), and son John Sanford (b. 1915). The children were six, four and two years of age, respectively, when their father left for war.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
Our grandfather (youngest son of an Ontario farming family) moved west to farm in Haneyville, Alberta, where he met and married our grandmother, Mabel Rebecca Haney.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
When the railway was built and missed Haneyville, many of the buildings were moved to Coronation, Alberta. Mabel's father's store, (E.R. Haney's Big Store) was one of them. Our grandfather, Pte. John Fleming (in centre with moustache), is seen in this photo behind the counter of the store.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
John Fleming of Coronation, Alberta.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
The 187th Overseas Battalion of
the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1916.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
Close-up of John Fleming (centre, top row) in the 187th Overseas Battalion of
the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1916.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
One of the last two picture the family took of our grandfather. Prophetically, he is standing in an Alberta poppy field.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
Mabel Fleming in Coronation, Alberta with (left to right) children John, Achsah and Myrtle.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
John's wife Mabel Fleming in New Westminster, BC with (left to right) children Myrtle, John and Achsah. Mabel moved the children west to BC in 1920. Her husband was listed as missing in action on August 23, 1917, and was presumed to have died. For years after his presumed death, Mabel received calls from veterans hospitals asking if she could identify any of the shell shocked, nameless veterans as her husband. She never found her husband, John, and she never remarried.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
Left to right, Achsah, John, Mabel and Myrtle Fleming in New Westminster, BC.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
John and Mabel's son-in-law, Royle Smythe (left), and son John Fleming (right) both served in WWII. Lieutenant John Fleming initially was in the Westminster Regiment, but was transferred to the North Nova Scotia Highlanders on D Day + 3. He spent the remainder of World War II with the North Novas and received a battlefield promotion to Captain.
Sergeant Royle Smythe (married to Achsah Fleming) transferred from the Army to the Air Force in 1940 and was stationed as an air force mechanic in training centres in Canada before serving overseas in India and Burma with the 435(or6?) Squadron.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
Private John Fleming with his parents and siblings as a boy in Ontario. (He is on the right in the top row.) The third son of a farming family, as an adult he moved west to Haneyville, Alberta to farm.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
The text of a letter written by Pte. A.V. Jackson to John Fleming's sister after his presumed death. Part of the letter was published in a local Ontario newspaper.
Digital gallery of
Private John Fleming
Second Installment - The text of a letter written by Pte. A.V. Jackson to John Fleming's sister after his presumed death. Part of the letter was published in a local Ontario newspaper.
Image gallery
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His name as it is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial (2010). 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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Canada's Vimy Memorial, located approximately 8 kilometres to the north-east of Arras, France. May the sacrifice of so many never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)
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Official Army photo of Private John Fleming.
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John Fleming leaving Alberta for war.
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The last picture the family has of our grandfather (John Fleming) before he left Coronation, Alberta for World War I. He is holding his youngest child, John, and sadly, is standing in a poppy field.
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John Fleming with his wife Mabel Rebecca (Haney), daughters Myrtle Isabelle (b. 1911) and Achsah May (b. 1913), and son John Sanford (b. 1915). The children were six, four and two years of age, respectively, when their father left for war.
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Our grandfather (youngest son of an Ontario farming family) moved west to farm in Haneyville, Alberta, where he met and married our grandmother, Mabel Rebecca Haney.
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When the railway was built and missed Haneyville, many of the buildings were moved to Coronation, Alberta. Mabel's father's store, (E.R. Haney's Big Store) was one of them. Our grandfather, Pte. John Fleming (in centre with moustache), is seen in this photo behind the counter of the store.
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John Fleming of Coronation, Alberta.
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The 187th Overseas Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1916.
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Close-up of John Fleming (centre, top row) in the 187th Overseas Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1916.
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One of the last two picture the family took of our grandfather. Prophetically, he is standing in an Alberta poppy field.
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Mabel Fleming in Coronation, Alberta with (left to right) children John, Achsah and Myrtle.
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John's wife Mabel Fleming in New Westminster, BC with (left to right) children Myrtle, John and Achsah. Mabel moved the children west to BC in 1920. Her husband was listed as missing in action on August 23, 1917, and was presumed to have died. For years after his presumed death, Mabel received calls from veterans hospitals asking if she could identify any of the shell shocked, nameless veterans as her husband. She never found her husband, John, and she never remarried.
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Left to right, Achsah, John, Mabel and Myrtle Fleming in New Westminster, BC.
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John and Mabel's son-in-law, Royle Smythe (left), and son John Fleming (right) both served in WWII. Lieutenant John Fleming initially was in the Westminster Regiment, but was transferred to the North Nova Scotia Highlanders on D Day + 3. He spent the remainder of World War II with the North Novas and received a battlefield promotion to Captain. Sergeant Royle Smythe (married to Achsah Fleming) transferred from the Army to the Air Force in 1940 and was stationed as an air force mechanic in training centres in Canada before serving overseas in India and Burma with the 435(or6?) Squadron.
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Private John Fleming with his parents and siblings as a boy in Ontario. (He is on the right in the top row.) The third son of a farming family, as an adult he moved west to Haneyville, Alberta to farm.
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The text of a letter written by Pte. A.V. Jackson to John Fleming's sister after his presumed death. Part of the letter was published in a local Ontario newspaper.
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Second Installment - The text of a letter written by Pte. A.V. Jackson to John Fleming's sister after his presumed death. Part of the letter was published in a local Ontario newspaper.
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 237 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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