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Pte. Harold Charles Henry McKenna
Canadian Army Manitoba Regiment 43rd Battalion
from:Long Branch, Ontario, Canada
(d.25th Jan 1919)
Harold Mckenna ran away from home and enlisted in the Canadian Army at the age of 16. By the time his parents found him he had already completed his basic training so his parents let him stay with the understanding from the Commanding Officer of the 43rd Battalion that he would go to England with his unit but would not go to the Continent to fight.
Unfortunately, he did make it to the Continent and in mid October of 1918 he was shot through the right leg during the Second Battle of Cambrai. His leg was amputated below the right knee and he was eventually transported to the First Eastern General Hospital located in Cambridge. He died on 25th of January 1919 having just turned 18 years of age, and he is buried in the Cambridge City Cemetery. His parents received the news of his death just after burying three children who died during the flu epidemic in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
His younger brother Stewart Alexander Mckenna (Alex), who was 12 at the time of Harold's death, would visit his grave several times during WW2. Alex, who was a fire fighter, enlisted in the Corps of Canadian Overseas Fire Fighters and arrived in England in December 1942 and manned National Fire Service fire stations in Portsmouth and Southampton thus replacing fire fighters so that they could be used in other locations. Alex served in England until May of 1945. As the son of Alex Mckenna I grew up to become a fire fighter and served for 50 years in various positions in the Ontario Fire Service. My wife Louise and I travelled to England on vacation in 2012 and travelled to the city of Cambridge and the Cambridge City Cemetery were we visited my uncle's grave. It certainly was an emotional experience to see not only his grave but the graves of so many young men and women who died in two wars.
