Frederick Adolph Skead
Private, Essex Scottish Regiment
Royal Canadian Infantry Corps
Kenora, Ontario, H-22201
Frederick Adolph Skead was born on December 8, 1924, near the town of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. He was the son of Adolphus and Angelique Skead, who were married on June 1, 1921. They had nine children including Frederick, Joseph, Louis, John, Ambrose and Stephen as well as sisters Celine, Mabel and Mary Jane.
Frederick Adolph Skead was an Indigenous person, a member of the Saulteaux First Nation. He had attended the St. Mary’s Indian Residential School where he completed Grade five and part of the sixth grade. He was a Roman Catholic. He spoke English and Saulteaux languages.
Skead had three occupations before entering the Canadian military. At first, he was a commercial fisher for two years, then he was a bush worker for two years, between 1940 and 1942 and later working in mining. His job for two years before enlisted was as a miner at the Madsen Red Lake Gold Mines in Red Lake, Ontario. According to his military records, he had planned to return to mining after the war because he liked this occupation best.
Frederick Adolph Skead enlisted in the army on February 22, 1944 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Skead was described in his military personnel assessment report as a lightly built young man, He had a height of five foot 11 inches and weighed 138 pounds. He had brown eyes and brown hair.
The military interviewer reported that “he does considerable hunting and is a good shot with a rifle.” Socially, he “gets along well with people” and has a “good record of conduct.” Skead had “no hobbies but goes to town (Kenora) to attend movies, etc.”
His infantry training began initially in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but he was transferred to the Canadian Army Corps’ Training Centre in Camp Borden, Ontario and later to Aldershot, Nova Scotia. In October, 1944, Trooper Skead went overseas to the United Kingdom arriving on October 21. Then one month after he left Canada, Skead was sent to NorthWest Europe on November 11, 1944. He was transferred from the infantry reinforcement unit to the infantry unit, the Essex Scottish Regiment, as a Private.
After three months of combat, Private Skead was killed during a major assault along the Goch-Calcar Road west of Louisendorf, near Udem, Germany. He was among 43 Essex Scottish soldiers killed in that location.
The Canadian army first reported that Frederick Adolph Skead was missing in action but then later it was confirmed that he lost life on February 19, 1945 and was buried in a temporary cemetery at Louisendorf, Germany. He was only 21 years of age.
After the Second World War ended, his remains were moved to be buried at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, grave reference XXII. A. 13.
The inscription on his headstone states:
“He died that we might live.”
He was awarded these campaign medals:
- 1939-1945 Star
- France-Germany Star
- War Medal
- Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Clasp
Mohamed Osman, student from All Saints H.S., Kanata, Canada for Faces to Graves.
Biography made available for Faces to Graves courtesy of Vanessa Kirtz, teacher at All Saints H.S.
Sources:
- Library and Archives Canada, WWII Service Files of War Dead, 1939-1947 * Veterans Affairs Canada, The Canadian Virtual War Memorial
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Casualty file
- For information on the battle, see WW2talk.com discussion of that operation.