Regimental Number: 782143
Rank: Sergeant
Branch: 28th Battalion; 15th Battalion
Aylward was born in Lucknow, Ontario on August 1, 1889. He enlisted in the Canadian army in February of 1916. Aylward received shrapnel wounds to his right thigh in April of 1917. In early 1918 he went to Canada on furlough; in July he was declared to have been absent for over a month and labeled a deserter. However, Aylward was taken back on strength in August of 1918. He was married to Frances Germaine but the couple were divorced after the war. Following discharge in 1919, Aylward came to the Blueberry Mountain district and filed on NW 9-80-8-W6. On April 12, 1920, Aylward married Mary Meadowcraft in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. They came back to Blueberry Mountain to raise their family. Aylward served in the Veteran’s Guard during the Second World War. After his discharge, he sold the farm and he and Mary moved to Bow City. Aylward died on April 11, 1973 in Calgary.
Sources: The Big Bend p. 56; Chepi Sepe p. 447, 469