CEF Soldier Detail

Private Austin Cunningham
Died: March 21, 1917

Regimental Number:
132506
Survived War:
 No
Force:
 Army
Regiment:
 Canadian Infantry
Battalion:
 73rd Battalion
Company:
 "D" Company, No 13 Platoon
Place of Birth:
Huntingdon, Quebec
Country:
 Canada
Next of Kin:
Isabel Cunningham, Mother, Huntingdon, Quebec
Address at Enlistment:
Date of Birth:
December 14, 1894
Trade or Calling:
Plasterer
Marital Status:
 Single
Prior Military Experience:
No
Place of Enlistment:
 Montreal, Quebec
Date of Enlistment:
September 15, 1915
Age at enlistment:
20
Height:
 6 Feet Inches
Chest:
 35 Inches
Expansion:
 2 Inches
Religion:
 Methodist
Enlisted or Conscripted:
 Enlisted
Saw service in:
Europe    
Cause of Death:
Died of Wounds
Battle Died/Wounded:
Near Arras
Date of Death:
March 21, 1917
Age at Death:
22
Buried at:
 Etaples Military Cemetery, France
Plot:
 XXII. B. I.
Commemorated:
 Huntingdon, Quebec
 
Prisoner of war:
No
Interned:
Gender:
 Male
Ethnic Origin:
Caucasian
LAC Reference: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 2215-20
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Research Notes
From the Huntingdon Gleaner Austin's father, Alexander S. Cunningham, lived on a farm at the rear of this village, and for several years was a member of Godmanchester council, and served more than one term as mayor. Austin, whose death has come as such an affliction to his widowed mother and her family, was in his twenty third year. He was among the first to enlist on war being declared and went overseas with the first contingent in the Royal highlanders. He was a plasteror by trade and his comrades testify to his many good qualities.
Rank Regiment Unit Company
Private Canadian Infantry 73rd Battalion "D" Company, No 13 Platoon
The son of Alexander and Isabella Cunningham, of Huntingdon, Quebec, Robert Austin Cunningham, died of wound's received in France, aged 23 years. Early in March a message was received by his mother, that her son Austin had been wounded, likely while in the line on 1 March. The Canadian troops had launched a gas attack against the Germans on the 1st, then followed up with an attack against the German trenches across Zouave Valley, near Arras in Northern France. This was done under heavy fire and the Royal Highlanders endured 161 casualities. Isabella Cunningham received a second message stating that Austin was seriously ill, followed by a third that he had died, in the hospital at Etaples France. Austin's father, Alexander S. Cunningham, lived on a farm at the rear of Huntingdon, was a member of Godmanchester council, and served more than one term as mayor.