Arthur Nelson Ware was born on 4 July 1897, in Millarville, Foothills No. 31, Alberta, Canada to parents John Ware and Mildred Jane (Lewis) Ware. He had 5 siblings, Amanda Janet (Nettie) who was born in 1893, Robert Lewis who was born in 1894, Twins William Henry and Mildred Jane who were born in 1898 and one other child that died in infancy. Both his parents died in 1905 and he and his siblings moved in with their grandparents Charlotte and Daniel Lewis.
On November 25th, 1916 Arthur enlisted as part of Canada’s segregated No. 2 Construction Battalion at Calgary , Alberta. He listed his employment as a “Common Labourer” and that he was living with his grandmother. His attestation paper listed him as “Coloured” and his religion as “Methodist”. His regimental # was 931657.
Arthur traveled from Calgary to Windsor, Ontario where he received a New Testament bible from the Y.M.C.A. then headed to Nova Scotia where he sailed with the rest of the Battalion to England on March 28, 1917.
Arthur served overseas in England and France, returning to Canada in January, 1919. He became ill and was hospitalized in Canada. He was discharged on May 1919
After the war, he got a job as a sleeping car porter and moved to Vancouver,
Arthur died on 6 June 1989, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at the age of 91, and was buried in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia.. He is buried in the Normandy section of Forest Lawn Cemetery in Burnaby, BC.
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