Private Albert Cecil Barber

Albert Barber was born in Leicester, England on January 8, 1886. He was the second eldest of nine children. He immigrated to Paris to work at Penmans, where he was employed as a shipping clerk in the sweater department. He and his wife, Sarah Ann, attended St James Anglican Church and enlisted in the 125^th Battalion at the age of 31 years of age. He was a member of the 9^th Platoon that embarked aboard the S.S Scandinavia on February 12, 1916. The 9^th and 10^th Platoons were the first contingent of soldiers from Paris, nearly 100 men, to go overseas.

He was transferred to the 60^th Battalion after arriving in England. He suffered a gunshot wound to his right leg on February 12, 1917. The cause of the wound is listed as accidental while he was doing duty in front line trenches. He was returning from a listening post in No Man’s Land when another Canadian soldier shot him in the leg.

He was taken first to the Casualty Station and then to #26 General Hospital in Etaple, then to the 2^nd Eastern General Hospital in Brighton, England on March 9. His final move was to The Granville Canadian Special Hospital (GCS) in Ramsgate, Kent, on April 16, 1917. The GCS was a major World War I medical facility operated by the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). It opened in 1915 inside the requisitioned Granville Hotel, a grand Victorian clifftop spa. The hospital was established to treat complex cases, specializing in nerve injuries, shell shock, and severe joint and bone trauma. It housed approximately 800 patients. The staff included pioneering medical specialists and nursing sisters, many of whom were recruited from the Winnipeg General Hospital. Due to the frequent bombing raids and shelling on the Kent coast, the hospital was later relocated to Buxton, Derbyshire, in 1917 to protect recovering patients.

It was here that Albert’s leg was amputated above the knee. He was discharged to Canada on June 10, 1917. Private Albert Cecil Barber was discharged from service on December 31, 1917 with a pension for his injury. He died in his home at 26 Elm Street on July 1, 1965.

It is important to note that two of Albert’s brothers also served in the First World War. His older brother Ernest also lived in Paris and also served in the Canadian military during the First World War. A younger brother, Joseph Barber, served in the British Army during WW1. He later immigrated to Paris like his older brothers. He had three sons who served during the Second World War. All of their biographies can be found on the Homes of Heroes website.