Name: Leigh MacKay Rank: Gunner Service Number: F/79602 Service: 11 Army Field Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery Date of Birth: February 7, 1927 Place of Birth: Kensington, Prince Edward Island Date of Enlistment: November 28, 1941 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Woodside, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 14 Height: 5 feet, 6 inches Complexion: Medium Eye colour: Brown Hair colour: Brown Occupation: Farmhand Martial Status: Single Religion: Presbyterian Next of Kin: Sutherland MacKay (Father) Stanley Bridge, PEI Date of Death: December 11, 1943 Age: 16 Cemetery: Agira Canadian War Cemetery, Sicily Grave: D. F. 459. Commemorated on Page 184 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Peace Tower in Ottawa on April 15 Leigh MacKay was the son of John Sutherland MacKay (1884-1956) and Myrtle (Cole) MacKay (1892-1960). Three brothers also served overseas during WWII: Donald MacKay (1919-1987), Kenneth MacKay (1922- 2012), and Wendell Mackay (1924-1994). The official military records list his date of birth as November 24, 1923, his age at enlistment as 18. Leigh enlisted in Halifax and trained in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, in Petawawa and Kingston, Ontario. On December 14, 1942, he embarked for the United Kingdom disembarking on December 19, 1942. In the UK he was taken on strength with the 11 Army Field Regiment on January 28, 1943. On October 24, 1943, he embarked for Sicily, disembarking there on November 8, 1943. While in Sicily, Gunner Leigh MacKay died the result of poliomyelitis on December 12, 1943, He was initially buried in the New British Cemetery, Catania, Sicily and reburied in the Agira Canadian War Cemetery, Sicily, in December 1946. From the research of Wartime Heritage, Gunner Leigh MacKay is the youngest Canadian enlisting in Nova Scotia at the age of 14 with the Canadian Army who became a casualty of World War II.

Sources: Library and Archives Canada Canadian Virtual War Memorial Commonwealth War Graves Commission findagrave