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Private Arthur Bailey Aitken

Portrait of a soldier. He wears a wedge hat with badge, highlander motif and ribbons at the back.

Private A.B. Aitken
1918. The Christmas Echo: Honour Roll Number. LLSC.

Aitken Family Grave, London, ON 2017 Photograph by Grace Evers.

Aitken Family Grave, London, ON
Photographed by Grace Evers, 2017.

CEF no. 1045832

Born in London, ON, Aitken was working as a labourer when he joined the 241st Canadian Infantry Battalion, the Canadian Scottish Borderers, on 23 March 1917, just before his eighteenth birthday. Aitken attested that he had previously served a year in the 7th Fusiliers Regiment. His father, John Aitken, was the fire chief of the London Fire Department. Private Aitken’s brother, Corporal Herman Aitken, had been killed in action in May 1917. As an under-aged soldier, Pte. Aitken was attached to the Young Soldiers Battalion at Bexhill until he was old enough to serve in combat. Pte. Aitken finally arrived in France on 20 August 1918 as part of the 15th Btn and entered the frontlines on 7 September. He was killed in action on 27 September 1918, at the age of nineteen.

He is commemorated on page 358 of the First World War Book of Remembrance (Memorial Chamber, Peace Tower, Parliament Hill).

Grave: Chapel Corner Cemetery, France.

Commemorated on: family grave, Woodland Cemetery, London, ON.