Alexander Atkinson was born in Togo, Saskatchewan, one of two boys Albert and Margaret Atkinson. He went to school in Naylor, SK, completing Grade VIII. His mother died when he was ten and he was essentially on his own from age 14 years.
Alexander enlisted in Edmonton, Alberta on 23 June 1940. He had been managing a fur farm in Grande Prairie, AB, a job he hoped to return to after the war. He also had skills and experience as a concreter, carpenter and machinist. He served with the Edmonton Regiment and completed his training in Calgary and Camrose, Alberta. While in Calgary, he was qualified as a Tradesman Group ‘C’ and later as a Carpenter & Joiner, Group ‘B’ after finishing trades school courses in Calgary.
In June 1941, he was transferred to A6 Royal Canadian Engineers Training Centre in Dundurn, Saskatchewan at the rank of Sapper. He was appointed Lance-Corporal in October and took leave in December of that year to marry Abbie Alice Atkinson in Saskatoon. On 1 January 1942, he was formally transferred from the Edmonton Regiment to the RCE.
In May 1942, A6 CETC was moved to Camp Chilliwack, BC. He was promoted to Acting Corporal shortly after arriving in BC. His daughter, Constance Marie, was born in Saskatoon that June. More good fortune followed when Alex was promoted to Acting Sergenat in August 1942 and his wife and daughter moved to Cultus Lake in October. He was shipped out the following spring and arrived in England on 5 April 1943. A/Sgt Atkinson’s first posting was to the Engineer Reinforcement Unit. In October 1943, Alex reverted to his permanent rank of corporal and was assigned to the 31st Field Company. His family moved to Brandon, Manitoba about that same time.
On 7 June 1944, the company was informed of the Normandy invasion. They immediately set out waterproofing vehicles, kit and equipment, keen to go. However, their optimism was premature. It was a month later on 7 July when they were in France as part of 2nd Canadian Army Troops in support of II Canadian Corps. They went work quickly in Normandy taking on tasks of route construction & maintenance, bridging, minefield clearance, water supply and defence works construction. A notable accomplishment was the construction of the Churchill Bridge over the River Orne in the city of Caen. (See Sapper Gallantry on the Orne). They took part in the battles of Bouguebus Ridge, Verrieres Ridge and Calais.
The company was involved in the Battle of the Scheldt almost from the start. In the second week of October, they took charge the assault initial bridges over the Leopold Canal initially put up by sappers of the 3rd and 4th Divisions. They built routes on both sides of the canal to support the 3rd Division’s operations in the Breskens Pocket. More than once they came under fire and suffered casualties. A few weeks later, they assisted in the amphibious attack from the south side of the Scheldt onto South Beveland Island in support of the British 52nd (Lowland) Division’s assault over the Scheldt. This operation was launched to support the 2nd Canadian Division fighting its way out of the Beveland Isthmus. They built entry and exit ramps for amphibious vehicles as well as a Bailey pontoon ferry to take supplies and armoured vehicles across the 7-mile gap.
On 31 October, the company set out on an 80-mile route from the south bank to the Beveland Isthmus. Their tasks were to open and maintain the routes across the isthmus. This included maintaining two Bailey bridges at eastern end of the Isthmus, repairing roads, filling craters, and clearing the verges of the many mines left behind. It was during this latter task on the morning of 1 November 1944 that Corporal Alexander Atkinson was killed while attempting to lift a booby-trapped mine. He is buried in the Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery.
Return to Part 5: Tributes to the Fallen Sappers of the Scheldt