Pte. Henry Joseph Kelly 5th C.M.R Jan. 16 1916

Peterborough Evening Examiner, June 08 1916. p.5 

 

Pte. Henry Joseph Kelly 110290

 

Henry Kelly was born June 20^th 1888 to John and Emma Kelly in Dummer Township, Ontario.  The Kelly’s were farmers of Roman Catholic and Scotch heritage.  Into his early twenties, Henry left the family farm and went to work as a bank clerk, probably in Toronto.

On January 14^th, 1915, Henry enlisted in the 8^th Mounted Rifles in Toronto.  He was 26 years, 7 months old and stood 5 foot 9 inches tall.  He had a medium complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.  He underwent his medical examination in Orillia, Ontario on February 14th^th and was deemed fit for service.

Kelly would have joined a handful of other Dummer men in the 8^th Canadian Mounted Rifles, and like them soon found himself in England in the training camps of Shornecliffe.   The 8^th C.M.R. was later broken up and its men dispersed into other Mounted Rifle Battalions.  Pte. Kelly was eventually re-assigned into the 5^th C.M.R.   

Kelly would have received his first taste of the trenches  in the Plogstreert-Messienes sector.  Though “Plugstreet” as it was called by Commonwealth troops, this was a relatively “quiet” sector, The War Diaries (official daily reports written by commanding officers) for the 5^th C.M.R. show that a majority of time was spent repairing and strengthening the trench system. This monotonous, but important work was accompanied with infrequent scouting and patrol parties into No Man’s Land.   During this time in the trenches the battalion took daily causalities from  enemy artillery and snipers.

By the end of March, the now “experienced”, troops of the 5^th Mounted Rifles entered the Ypres Salient, a dangerous bulge of trenches in the Allied lines.  Pte. Kelly would have experienced a continuous regimen of 6 day cycles in and out of the trenches.  During times in the Ypres trenches the men were under fairly continuous danger from enemy shelling, sniping and bombing raids.   Throughout the period of April and May 1916, Pte. Kelly would have seen many of his fellow troopers suffer wounds and death merely holding the front lines in what was known as “trench wastage”

The most severe test of Pte. Kelly’s wartime experience would have come on June 2^nd-3^rd 1916.  On the morning of the 2^nd, the 5^th C.M.R. were holding reserve trenches (approx 1 km behind the front line) in the area of Maple Copse.  At about 8:30 a.m. the front line of Canadian trenches in front of the 5^th C.M.R., was obliterated by a massive enemy bombardment and detonation of 4 mines.  The men of the 5^th C.M.R also received their share of the misery as the bombardment found their positions.  The shells that exploded amid the trees of Maple Copse sent flying through the air, thousands of deadly splinters able that easily could end a man’s life.  The 5^th Mound Rifles held their positions into the night, as the Germans in front of them dug into the high ground of Observatory Ridge in front of them. 

Pte. Kelly was killed the next day holding a trench named “Warrington Avenue” in front of Maple Copse.  According to the Casualty Report, he was hit by enemy shrapnel in the head and right eye, causing considerable damage to both bone and brain.  The report goes on to say that he was given first aid, and taken to a dressing station and then subsequently to No. 13 Stationary Hospital, where he died three days later.  He was never conscious from the time he was wounded. 

Private Henry Kelly is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France.  He is also commemorated on the Dummer Township Cenotaph in Warsaw Ontario.

 

Sources:

Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa Ontario; War Diary, 5^th Canadian Mounted Rifles, 02-03 June 1916.

Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa. "Soldiers of the First World War (1914-1918)." Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4930 - 35.,

Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; War Graves Registers: Circumstances of Death; Record Group Number: RG 150, 1992-93/314; Volume Number: 200.

War Graves Registry: Circumstances of Death Records. Record Group 150, 1992–1993/314, Boxes 145–238. Library and Archives Canada. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

War Graves Ledger Books. RG 150, 1992-93/314, vols. 239–302. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.