Nanaimo War Memorial, British Columbia

Jean Longstaff has submitted the following:-

Born on 15th June 1888 and baptised a week later at St. Joseph’s RC Church, Gateshead, at the time of the 1901 census Michael and his two older brothers were living with their maternal aunt and uncle, Thomas and Bridget Grey in Stanley. Ten years later his oldest brother Peter had married and was living in East Stanley, and when the census was taken he and Thomas were visiting the house of Robert Pallister, also in East Stanley, a man with whom Michael would travel to Canada the following year. They arrived on 24th August 1912 having sailed from Liverpool on board the SS Megantic, and both made for Nanaimo, British Columbia and jobs as miners.

On 15th January 1916 Michael enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Nanaimo and this ruddy complexioned miner became Private 181027 of the 88th Battalion, which sailed for England on 8th June under the command of Lieut-Col. H. J. R. Cullin. On arrival in England Michael was transferred to the Canadian Engineers Training Depot at Shorncliffe, Sussex. Prior to his posting to France Michael made out his will leaving “all money and effects to my sister-in-law Mrs Peter Caveney with the exception of one trunk full of clothes and personal effects now in the care of Mr R.J. Pallister. This I bequeath to him”.

By 8th December Private 181027 was in France with the 2nd Tunnelling Company, where, as part of the preparations for the Battle of Messines in June 1917, the Company began work on deep dugouts in the Ypres Salient. Promoted to acting Lance Corporal at the end of July by September the Company were working on the Ypres Bluff dugouts and maintaining the roads when Michael Caveney was killed whilst trying to save the lives of others. His commanding officer wrote in a letter to Robert Pallister “I am please to refer to his memory as that of the highest class of British soldier on whom the issues of the whole war have depended. The corporal died so that he may save others ... he collected all the men together and saw that they took protection in the tunnels, he was the last to enter when a heavy shell fell close to the entrance and he was killed instantly”.

Michael Caveney is remembered in Stanley on S135.04, where he and his brothers are listed as Kaveney.

In Canada he is remembered on their Virtual War Memorial and in their Book of Remembrance and on the Nanaimo War Memorial, British Columbia.

Canadian Book of Remembrance
Canadian Virtual Memorial
The CWGC entry for Lance Corporal Caveney