Bradshaw, Charles Henry

Charles Henry Bradshaw was born on 20 March 1867 in Saint Thomas, Ontario, to Joseph and Mary Bradshaw. By 1901 the family had moved to Nelson, British Columbia, and consisted of two children. His father worked for Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) as a conductor. In 1911 they were living on Silvia Street in Nelson and had added 4 more boys to the family. At the outbreak of war, Charles was still in school.

He attested for the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) at Vernon Camp, Vernon, British Columbia, on 15 September 1915, giving his occupation as ‘student’. He was assigned to the 54th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Kootenay). Bradshaw sailed with its first draft on 22 November aboard SS Saxonia, arriving in the United Kingdom on 2 December 1915. By 14 August 1916 the battalion was in France where it fought in the 11 Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 4th Division. It had arrived in time for the Canadian operations on the Somme. By 11 October 1916 the unit was at Albert, France where it was ordered up to Courcelette. On 22 October it was ordered to relieve the 102nd Canadian Infantry Battalion on the front line there, a maneuver completed by midnight on the 23rd. Despite previous heavy shelling, the unit’s War Diary indicates that the activity on the 24th was “quiet” with only 17 other ranks wounded. One of those was Private Bradshaw who received a gunshot wound to his right chest which also penetrated his right arm. He was evacuated to the British hospital at Étaples and from there to the Australian Army hospital in Brighton on 10 November 1916. While his wounds cleared up he continued to experience of pain and shortness of breath and was classified as fit for sedentary duties only. He spent much of 1917 with the British Columbia Reserve Depot, with a short period at the Canadian Training School, apparently learning stenography. He was returned to Canada, leaving February 1918, and was discharged by the 11th Canadian Garrison Regiment on 24 July 1918 as medically unfit.

He returned to his parent’s address in Nelson and lived in the area for the rest of his life. He married Brenda Irene Humphries in August 1923 and the 1935 Voter’s Lists note the couple living in Kootenay, where he listed his occupation as an operator. He died in Trail, British Columbia, and is buried there in the Mountain View Cemetery.