Background
John H. Leadbetter was born May 8, 1883 in Middlesex, London England to
John Sr. and Julia Leadbetter. Although little is known of his early
experiences growing up in England prior to the war, at some point he met a
young woman named Jennie May Edwards, also from England. The two would
marry and eventually make their way to Canada where they would begin
raising a family. John’s records reveal that he had extensive military
experience, having served in the Boer War at a young age with the British
Imperial Army, Royal Canadian Regiment, the Mounted Rifles, and later with
the 71st Regiment beginning June 10, 1908. According to the Daily Gleaner,
Leadbetter was one of the most “prominent non-commissioned officers of the
RCR in Fredericton before the war”. He and his wife would have four
children together before John left Canada with the RCR, in August of 1914,
for Bermuda where he served garrison duty until the formal outbreak of the
war was declared in Canada. John would eventually return from Bermuda to
New Brunswick, as records indicate he would formally enlist for overseas
service with the RCR in Fredericton August 22, 1915. Records also suggest
that he spent a brief period of time at the Wellington Barracks in Halifax,
Nova Scotia in 1915 just before leaving to go overseas with the RCR.
At the time of his formal enlistment, he was thirty-two years old and was
described as having brown eyes, brown hair, a medium complexion, while also
standing approximately five feet eight inches tall. In late summer, 1915,
Sergeant John Leadbetter would leave his wife and four children to go
overseas with his battalion. It would be little over two years before his
family would see him again.
Wartime Experience
After arriving in England with the Royal Canadian Regiment, having already
had extensive military training and experience, Sergeant Leadbetter would
immediately leave for Boulogne, France November 2, 1915. Over the next few
months, local newspapers would report John fighting in various engagements
with his unit over the winter of 1915-1916 with few difficulties in
northern France and Flanders. On March 13, 1916, John would receive
important news from Canada; the birth of his son, Arthur Wilfred.
Unfortunately, this happy news would be short-lived. Three months after the
birth of his son, John would be in Belgium with the RCR during the Third
Battle of Ypres and would receive serious gunshot wounds to his face, arms,
and chest, and become buried alive for several hours as a result of an
exploding shell. A trying time for both John and Jennie, after giving
birth, documents suggest that Jennie would undergoing treatment and surgery
in a Saint John hospital for an undisclosed ailment. In Europe, medical
records would reveal that while his wife was undergoing surgery in Canada,
by early summer John was admitted to hospital and would begin treatment to
address the pulmonary tuberculosis he had developed in his right lung.
According to medical reports, it is likely that this condition worsened as
a result of having his chest “severely crushed” and by being in close
proximity to poisonous gas that had been used in the Ypres Salient.
Nearly a year would go by before Sergeant Leadbetter could be discharged
and sent home to New Brunswick. While he would receive treatment at various
hospitals in England during this time, little could be done to reverse the
development of tuberculosis that had spread as a result of the exposure of
his injured chest. On July 21, 1917, John would embark from Liverpool,
England for Halifax, Canada aboard the H.S. Letitia, where he would arrive
and then be transported to his family home at 324 Campbell Street on the
north side of Fredericton. While seeing his family for the first time in
years would be welcomed, John’s condition would worsen less than a year
after arriving home. Medical reports would reveal that by August 1918
John’s health had weakened, he had lost weight, was suffering from
shortness of breath, and was becoming mal-nourished because of his illness.
While receiving treatment at the Park’s Barracks Hospital over the winter
of 1918-1919, John’s tuberculosis would get progressively worse and on
March 3, 1919 he would pass away leaving behind his wife and five children.
According to the Daily Gleaner, his funeral took place the following
afternoon at his home, conducted by Rev. Dean Neales, and internment was
made at the Fredericton Rural Cemetery with full military honours for
service. Sergeant John H. Leadbetter was 35 years old.
Lest We Forget
Sergeant John H. Leadbetter is buried at the Fredericton Rural Cemetery,
located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, on the Woodstock Road.