Currier, Lewis Alexander

Lewis (sometimes recorded as Louis) Alexander Currier was born in Carleton, Ontario, on 20 July 1876. He was the second of the six children of Lewis D. Currier, an engineer, and Sarah Currier.

In 1899, Currier married Laura Brown. According to census records, by 1911, they had two daughters, Lola (11 years old) and Erylin (7 years old).

An upholsterer, Currier joined the 21st Canadian Infantry Battalion (Eastern Ontario) in Kingston, Ontario, on 6 November 1914. He and his unit sailed to England on SS Metagama on 6 May 1915, embarking in Montréal, Quebec. The ship arrived in Plymouth on 15 May 1915. The 21st Battalion then travelled by train to West Sandling Camp, part of the Canadian military complex at Folkestone, Kent, where it commenced training as a unit of the newly formed 2nd Canadian Division.

In September 1915, the 21st Battalion was shipped to France, disembarking in Boulogne on 14 September. On 18 January 1916, Currier was hospitalized with influenza, returning to duty nine days later. On 27 March 1916, he was attached to the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade headquarters as a horse groom. This posting meant that he missed the 21st Battalion’s (and, indeed, the 2nd Canadian Division’s) first major engagement, the Battle of St. Eloi (27 March to 16 April 1916). Currier died of acute gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining) in Bully-Grenay, France, on 2 January 1917.

Lewis Alexander Currier is buried in Fosse No. 10 Communal Cemetery Extension, Sains-en-Gohelle, France.