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Frank Cockerill
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Military officer, businessman.
Born at Lincoln, England on 20 May 1885, son of Matthew Cockerill (1837-1891) and Sarah Anne Pye (1844-1893), he served for four years in the Imperial Yeomanry. In 1907, he followed his elder half-brother to Canada and operated general stores at Gunton and Sanford. Prior to the First World War, he served as a member of the 34th Fort Garry Horse of the part-time militia.
During the First World War, he served overseas with the 6th (Fort Garry) Battalion with the rank of Sergeant. On 9 June 1915, he transferred to the Royal Canadian Dragoons for service in France. In December 1916 he went back to England and then to Canada after being granted three months compassionate leave. He was discharged from the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in June 1917 and rejoined the 34th Fort Garry Horse in Winnipeg, serving full-time training reinforcements to be sent to the Fort Garry Horse overseas.
When the Fort Garry Horse was re-formed after the war, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant, and undertook to recruit "B" Squadron of the Fort Garry Horse in the Gunton, Teulon, and Stonewall area. He was promoted to Captain and by the time the Second World War began, he was a Major and commander of "A" Squadron of the regiment. He was also active with the Veterans Guards of Canada.
In recognition of his service, he received a 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Allied Victory Medal, King George V Jubilee Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and 1939-1945 War Medal.
On 10 April 1917, he married Arabella Violet Pearl Bowman (1887-1962) and they had five children.
He died at the Deer Lodge Hospital on 12 February and was buried in the Victoria United Cemetery.
Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
Marriage registration [Frank Cockerill, Violet Pearl Bowman], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Re-Echoes From Rockwood collected and compiled by R. A. Quickfall and edited by Edgar Stanford “Ed” Russenholt, 1965, page 102.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 13 February 1974, page 36.
They Came For The Future by Teulon & District History Book Committee, 1983, page 305.
The Fort Garry Horse Museum & Archives.
This page was prepared by Milan Lukes.
Page revised: 3 January 2026
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