Alec Addington Ballachey, Sr. grew up in Brantford, Ontario, and received his law degree from Osgoode Hall in 1904. He ventured west and initially set up shop in Fort Macleod. In 1905 he moved to High River. Alec Sr. met his wife, Genevieve McDonell, and they were married in 1906. Her sister, Mary McDonell Clark, is the grandmother of former Prime Minister, Joe Clark.
Alec Addington Ballachey, Jr. was born in High River, Alberta, on June 26, 1911. An interesting note, Alex Jr.’s Grandmother was the sister-in-law of Alexander Graham Bell, the Scottish-born inventor credited with patenting the first telephone.
Alec Jr, like his father, aspired to a career in law. He graduated from the University of Alberta with an LL.B on May 15, 1935 and was admitted to the Bar on June 15, 1936. He joined the Macleod Redman law firm, which eventually merged with Ballachey Sr.’s firm in 1940.
After Canada’s declaration of war on Nazi Germany on September 9, 1939, there was a patriotic fervour across all walks of life, including in the legal profession. Many lawyers, and those who would eventually become lawyers in the post-war period, heeded the call to war on behalf of the Commonwealth.
In 1940, Alec Jr. took leave from his law career and enlisted with the Calgary Highlanders at the rank of Lieutenant. The archival record for his time in the military is sparse, but, having reached the rank of Major, it can be assumed that he served in various capacities throughout the European theatre.
On June 6, 1944, Canadian forces landed at Juno Beach with more than 14,000 soldiers, 110 warships, 10,000 sailors, and 15 fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons. D-Day led to the liberation of France and the beginning of the end of the collapse of Germany.
It is unclear if Alec Jr. landed at Juno Beach on June 6 as part of Operation Overlord. However, he was certainly a part of the military operations that followed. The Battle of Normandy did not end until August 21, 1944, and included Operation Dragoon and Operation Tractable, where the Canadian army encircled 150,000 German soldiers at Falaise, France. At the time of his death on August 15, 1944, near Estrees-La Campange, Major Ballachey was serving with the 14th Canadian Hussars, RCAC, 8th Reconnaissance Regiment.
He is buried in the Canadian War Cemetery at Bretteville-Sur-Laize in Calvados, France.
Alec Jr.’s brother, John, enlisted in the RCAF and was a Mosquito pilot and flying instructor during the Second World War with the No. 107 Squadron. He flew during the Battle of Arnhem and D-Day and retired in 1945 as a Flight Lieutenant. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, John Ballachey received a law degree from the University of Alberta. He practiced for two years with Burnet and Company, the firm Alec Sr. co-founded, in High River. John returned to the petroleum industry, a job he had before enlisting, where he spent five decades until his retirement. John Ballachey passed away on January 1, 2012, at the age of 93.
