Samuel Fleming was the youngest son of John Wilson Fleming and Annie Fleming. John Fleming married Annie Berkeley in the district of Cookstown on 15th July 1875.
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Samuel Alexander Fleming was born on 20th November 1894. His attestation papers say 1893, GRONI say 1894. His older brother was born in June 1893. He was the youngest of at least nine children.
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Family: John Wilson Fleming, Annie Halliday Fleming, Isabella Halliday Fleming (born 26th October 1876), Eliza Lizzie A Fleming (born 13th October 1878), Annie H B Fleming (born 25th May 1880), Mary Fleming (born 14th July 1882)(tbc), John W Fleming (born 30th May 1884), James Fleming (born 8th August 1886), Margaret Fleming (born 17th November 1888), William Fleming (born 22nd November 1891, died 6th January 1892), Joseph Fleming (born 11th June 1893), Samuel Alexander Fleming (born 20th November 1894).
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The 1901 census lists Samuel Alexander as age 6, living with the family at house 43 in Chapel Street, Cookstown. His father was an accountant.
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John Wilson Fleming was Clerk of Petty Sessions. He was also secretary of the Gas & Light Company and the Lime Company in Cookstown.
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It seems his father died on 24th February 1905 in Cookstown, aged 57. Samuel would have been about 11 years old.
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Samuel Alexander Fleming was educated at Campbell College, Belfast, between September 1909 and December 1910.
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The 1911 census does not list Samuel as living with the family at house 31 in James's Street, Cookstown. His mother was a widow.
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As a young man he emigrated to Canada, where he settled close to Calgary and worked at the Canadian Bank of Commerce.
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Samuel Fleming enlisted at Calgary on 26th August 1915. He gave his next of kin as his brother, John Wilson Fleming, who was living in Cookstown.
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Samuel was six feet two inches tall, above average for an infantry soldier. He was described on his attestation papers as having blue eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion.
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On 8th July 1916, Private Fleming arrived in England with is unit on board S.S. Olympic. From there they went to Shorncliffe.
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On 28th September Private Fleming went to France.
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On the opening day of the Battle of Arras, on 9th April 1917, the four divisions of Canadian Corps, fighting side by side for the first time, scored a huge tactical victory in the capture of the 60 metre high Vimy Ridge.
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Private Samuel Alexander Fleming was serving with the 10th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry when he was killed in action at the Battle of Arras on Vimy Ridge on 9th April 1917.
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From the Belfast Newsletter dated 21st April 1917:
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Private S A Fleming, Canadian Contingent, Cookstown, killed.
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From the Belfast Newsletter dated 24th April 1917:
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Private Samuel Alexander Fleming, Canadian Forces, youngest son of the late Mr John W Fleming, Cookstown, killed in action on 9th April.
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Private Samuel A Fleming has no known grave and is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, France.
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Last Will and Testament dated 25th September 1916
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In the event of my death, I give the whole of my property and effects to my brother, John Wilson Fleming, Loy Hill, Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland. Private S A Fleming, 10th Battalion, Canada.
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After the war the ridge was chosen as the site to commemorate those Canadians who served and died in France. The Memorial bears the names of 60,000 men who died on the Western Front and 11,000 who perished in the taking of Vimy Ridge. The Impressive Vimy Memorial overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about 5 miles north-east of Arras.
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In 1922, documentation lists his mother, Mrs Annie H Fleming, as living in the district of Anybun, Omagh, County Tyrone.
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Samuel Alexander Fleming is commemorated on Cookstown Cenotaph and First Presbyterian Roll of Honour, Cookstown.
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The CWGC record Private Samuel Alexander Fleming as the son of John Wilson Fleming and Annie Fleming of Cookstown, Ulster, Ireland.
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