BAKER, Laura Mae
Age at Death: 27
Rank Private
Unit Canadian Women’s Army Corps
Service Number W22914
Place of Burial New Liskeard (Harley) Cemetery, ON
Date of Birth 1918.02.15
Place of Birth New Liskeard ON
Enlistment September 18, 1944, Toronto ON
Date of Death 1945.07.22
Daughter of Ernest and Florence Baker, of New Liskeard ON
Born in the Northern Ontario town of New Liskeard, Laura Mae Baker was the sixth of 11 children. After completing Grade 8, she dropped out of school due to “economic reasons.” She worked a variety of jobs ranging from farming to domestic work, sales and clerical work, and was also a machine operator for two years. She enlisted in the Army in September 1944; military records describe her as “an extremely satisfactory and dependable worker” and “an excellent type of girl.”
Private Baker was assigned as a clerk at the Medical Research Centre in the Toronto area. On the evening of July 22, 1945, she went swimming in Lake Ontario with colleagues. An inexperienced swimmer, she found herself struggling and called for help. Colleagues attempted to retrieve her, but it was too late; after several attempts to resuscitate her, she was declared dead of an accidental drowning.
