Name: Rank: Service Number: Service: Date of Birth: Place of Birth: Date of Death: Age at Death: Cemetery: Reference:

Sources Dave Gilhen, Halifax, NS Veterans Affairs Canada

Thomas McCarthy Private 3530871 British Army Manchester Regiment, 2nd Battalion April 19, 1916 Halifax County, NS May 21, 1940 25 Dunkirk Town Cemetery, France Plot 2 Row 7 Grave 2 Commemorated on Page 16 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on January 17 Thomas was the son of Denis (1885-1956) Edith (Hammonds) McCarthy (1890-1965), of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. His father was born in Christchurch, Hampshire, England; his mother in Sydenham, Kent, England. His brother Denis McCarthy (1920-1985) served in the Royal Canadian Artillery during the Second World War. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists the death date of Thomas as May 21, 1940. In the condolence letter received by the family, 'A' Company Commanding Officer of Thomas wrote that he and a British soldier named Private Martin Rothwell (Service No. 782730) were killed together. Rothwell is honoured on the Dunkirk Memorial however, and his date of death is listed as May 13, 1940, eight days prior to Thomas’ recorded date of death. Excerpts from the condolence letter to Tom's parents in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia from his 'A' Company 2nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment Commanding Officer Captain Rex King-Clark: “I was his Company Commander in France since the beginning of the war, and I cannot tell you how high an opinion I had of your son both as a soldier and as a man [...] He was the company anti-aircraft gunner and his keenness in his weapon and the interest he took in his job was a fine example to all the other members of the company [...] I was a very few yards from him when he was killed and it may be some small consolation to you to know that his death was instantaneous and that he can have suffered no pain [...] We have a fine spirit in ‘A’ Company. I know your son had more than a small part in its constitution [...] His partner in the anti-aircraft job was killed at the same time. His name was Rothwell [Martin Rothwell] & the two of them were fine friends.”

Brother Dennis