| Rank | Private |
| Unit # | RCASC |
| Resident | Ridgetown, ON |
Suffered a broken back when the truck he was riding in, driven by Pte. Fred Kerr RCASC, hit a land mine who like Pte. Kerr had also served in the Great War. Both Shamley and Kerr were veterans of the Great War and both were on the first convoy to sail for England in WWII. Pte. Shamley served in the 18th Battalion in WWI as did Kerr. Pte. F. A. Kerr was a former fire fighter in London, ON.
Pte. Shamley was sleeping ‘more or less comfortably in the back of a truck on the way to the fighting front in Italy. When the truck a land mine he had to be pulled from the wreckage and had suffered a broken back. Neither of the two drivers in the front of the truck were injured. According to Sgt. Alex Blackburn of Dresden who was riding in the same truck, “Kerr was thrown about twenty feet in the air. Fred suffered a broken leg, arm and finger in addition to numerous lacerations and was still carrying small parts of the land mine in his body”. Also in the truck at the time of the explosion was Pte. C. H. Shamley of Ridgetown who suffered a back injury, he also returned to London with Fred Kerr. CDN 8/01/44 In a ‘letter home from Sgt. Irvine Law to his sister Myrttle mentions Red Blackburn: “Red Blackburn and Fred Kerr, who are in the same unit as I am , were in a lorry that ran over a land mine. Fred was driving and he seemed to get the worst part of the blast.” DT 16/12/43
After three months his back was still in a plaster cast and for some time to come. It was reported that Pte. Shamley was aboard the hospital train which left Halifax 5 Jan., 1944 enroute to Chatham. This was part of the second large contingent of wounded men brought to Canada abroad the hospital ship Lady Nelson. CDN 6/01/44.
Both Shamley and Kerr were veterans of the Great War and both were on the first convoy to sail for England in WWII. Pte. Shamley served in the 18th Battalion in WWI as did Kerr. Pte. F. A. Kerr was a former fire fighter in London, ON.
Pte. Shamley was sleeping ‘more or less’ comfortably in the back of a truck on the way to the fighting front in Italy. When the truck a land mine he had to be pulled from the wreckage and had suffered a broken back. Neither of the two drivers in the front of the truck were injured.
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