Background

Locksley McKnight was born December 30, 1889 in Fredericton, New Brunswick to John and Katherine “Kate” McKnight. According to census records, Locksley had two brothers, Ivan and Hilton, as well as a sister, Imogene “Jean”. Family stories obtained through the University of New Brunswick reveal that Locksley’s early education came in local Fredericton schools and that he was well regarded in the city as one of the finest student athletes in the area. Although there are few details of his early childhood, as a young man he entered the University of New Brunswick in 1905, graduated in 1909, and later returned to the city in 1911 for additional coursework after being a principal at the Andover Grammar School. Prior to leaving for Alberta to work at the McCauley School in Edmonton, the Daily Gleaner spoke in the highest regards of Locksley, describing him as “one of the best athletes in the province” and a star football and basketball player at UNB and one of the best in Eastern Canada. He would continue to do well in Alberta as a teacher, principal, and athlete, later joining the 101st Edmonton Fusiliers prior to the war before formerly accepting a commission October 18, 1915 in Calgary. In a letter written home and published in the Daily Gleaner November 27 ,1915, Locksley writes: “They have us a great send-off at Edmonton – wonderful. Had a big shine at the school, presents from my class at the school, the teachers, ex-pupils, the boys at the house, our tennis clubs, the University of Alberta boys and some individual ones. Some of the presents were an engraved wrist watch, an autograph camera, a sword from the teachers, a complete shaving kit, a pair of field glasses, a silver and leather flask, a cane, a dance, dinners, etc. We were certainly well used”. At the time of his formal enlistment in Calgary, Lieutenant McKnight was twenty-five years old, unmarried, and described as having gray eyes and brown hair, while standing approximately five feet six inches tall. While it is unclear if he would find the time to return home to Fredericton prior to leaving, records suggest that the community was keenly aware of everything that was happening in his life.

Wartime Experience

On March 23, 1916, Locksley embarked from Halifax, Nova Scotia on the S.S. Baltic for England with the 56th Battalion, five months after enlisting in Alberta. According to his service record, he arrived a short time after and attended officer training over the next two months while in England. On June 17, 1916, Locksley left for France with the 49th Battalion just as the Battle of the Somme was beginning on the western front. Over the next two months, he was in charge of a bombing section of the 49th until the Battle of Courcellette that fall. According to his circumstances of death report, on the afternoon of September 16, 1916, Locksley was leading his unit over open ground to bring reinforcement for companies in the front-line trenches. As he proceeded forward, eye witness accounts recall seeing Lieutenant McKnight hit by sniper fire and fall to the ground. He would reportedly die instantly. Other accounts from a fellow-officer that afternoon, obtained through the University of New Brunswick, offers that "at the last moment, he, along with some other officers, was selected to remain behind as a reserve. Next afternoon, when they learned at headquarters that four out of five officers of "D" Company were wounded, and that I was the only officer left and had been slightly wounded, they sent Locksley and another officer to help me out. We were in a somewhat isolated position and they had to come across an open space for a short distance. They had just started, when a German machine gun opened on them, killing them both." News of Locksley’s death would reach home quickly as papers would report that both he and another Fredericton resident, Charles Hobkirk, would be killed the same day near Courcellette. Lieutenant Locksley McKnight was twenty-seven years old.

Lest We Forget

Lieutenant Locksley McKnight is honoured on the Vimy Memorial in Vimy, France. Despite being honoured on the memorial, records indicate that his body had been recovered and buried just west of Courcelette on map location “57d. R.29.a.50.15, Le Sars”. However, it is unclear why it was never removed and reburied in war cemeteries. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Locksley is one of approximately 11, 160 soldiers named on the memorial for all Canadians who fought in France and who have no known grave.