Alexander Windram was born on February 21, 1881 in Eyemouth, Scotland. He immigrated to Canada in 1910 with his wife, Mary and young son, John, and began working as a steamfitter at Fraser Mills. While building their lives in the growing mill town, the family welcomed another son, Andrew, and a daughter, Elsie. The family had not long settled when the First World War broke out.

Windram enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on February 22, 1916. According to his Attestation Papers, Windram was five foot seven and a half inches tall, with blue eyes and brown hair and with tattoos on both forearms. He arrived in Liverpool on November 11, 1916 and was taken on strength into the 7th Battalion in January, 1917.

He fought at the Battle of Vimy Ridge and was killed on the first day of the Battle, April 9, 1917.