Private Harold Adelbert Dean was born in New Brunswick on April 7, 1894, to parents Rufus Archibald and Sarah Eliza Dean.

Dean enlisted with the British Expeditionary Force in Vancouver, British Columbia, and shipped for England on January 15, 1916. He joined in the Mechanical Transport Army Service Corps, 648 Company, as a transport driver and sailed with them for Africa in early March. He spent the next two years in the East African Campaign in British and German East Africa, often based in or near Mombasa, Nairobi, or Dodoma.

He was hospitalized several times for malaria while in Africa and was eventually sent back to England to convalesce in May 1918. He spent the remainder of the war in England. He was demobilized back to Canada on the SS Scandinavian, departing from Liverpool on April 2, 1919.

External links:
Because he served as a member of the British Expeditionary Force, and not the Canadian Expeditionary Force, there is no Canadian service file available for Pte. Dean.
A article about Dean’s experiences in the East African Campaign was published in the Prince George Register on November 2021, and can be read here.