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Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Name:
Francis Leslie Mulcahy
Rank:
Private
Service Number:
F/52666
Service:
North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment,
Royal Canadian Infantry Corps
Date of Birth:
January 7, 1924
Place of Birth:
Halifax. Nova Scotia
Date of Enlistment:
July 12, 1943
Place of Enlistment:
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Address at Enlistment:
5 Morris St, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Age at Enlistment:
19
Height:
5, 9 ¼ inches
Complexion:
Medium
Eye Colour:
Blue
Hair Colour:
Brown
Occupation:
Plumbers Helper
Marital Status:
Single
Religion:
Roman Catholic
Next of Kin:
Daniel Mulcahy (Father)
Date of Death:
April 24, 1945
Age:
21
Cemetery:
Holten Canadian War Cemetery, Netherlands
Grave:
XII. D. 16.
Commemorated on Page 548 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance
Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on November 17
Francis Leslie Mulcahy was the son of Daniel Leo Mulcahy (1886-1945) and Mary Agnes (Hutton) Mulcahy (b.
1893) of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the brother of Erin Patrick Mulcahy (b. 1912), Michael Edward Mulcahy (b.
1914), Thomas Daniel Mulcahy (1916-1997), John Edward Mulcahy (1919-1996) and twin brother of Mary Rita
(Mulcahy) Gray (1924-2011).
After the war Francis hoped to finish his training as a plumber and become a motor mechanic.
Francis enlisted in Halifax in July 1943 and was soon transferred to the A4 Canadian Army Training Centre in
Brandon, Manitoba on August 4th. During training there as a Gunner, he was assigned to the Royal Canadian
Artillery Anti-Tank on October 18th. On January 17, 1944, he left Manitoba and transferred to Debert, Nova
Scotia, where he joined the No. 1 Training Brigade.
He departed Canada at the end of March 1944, disembarking in the United Kingdom on April 2, 1944.
He transferred to France from the UK on June 22, 1944.
Francis was wounded August 8, 1944, when the US Army’s 8th Air Force dropped bombs on Canadian, British,
and Polish troops, short of the targeted German positions at Bretteville-sur-Laize during Operation Totalize.
He was transferred to the No. 24 Canadian General Hospital on August 11th. He recovered from his wounds in
the UK and was discharged from the No. 4 Canadian General Hospital on November 7th.
Francis embarked again in the UK on December 28, 1944, disembarking in Northwest Europe the next day on
December 29th.
Francis was wounded a second time on February 26, 1945. The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment was
deployed at the Battle of Keppeln in Operation Blockbuster. The attack
was launched at 09:00, the North Shore regiment being flanked by two other regiments, but without tank
support. The Germans heavily defended Keppeln. They waited with a counterattack until the Canadians had
approached the village at more than a hundred meters. The Canadians made three attempts to penetrate the
village but due to the massive resistance from the German side, they had to withdraw. The army command
realized that without tank support, the North Shore Regiment had no chance of capturing Keppeln.
Francis transferred to the No. 10 Canadian General Hospital on February 27, 1945, to the No. 23 British
General Hospital on March 1, 1945, and discharged from hospital 9 days later March 10th.
Private Francis Leslie Mulcahy was killed in action April 24, 1945. He was
initially interred in a battlefield cemetery in front of a school near the
town of Stapelmoor, Germany, and when cemeteries were consolidated
post-war, he was reinterred at the Holten Canadian War Cemetery in the
Netherlands. His family chose the inscription, “Let perpetual light shine
upon him. May He Rest in Peace. Amen.”
There is an annual tradition at the Holten Canadian War Cemetery where
candles are placed on the graves of fallen soldiers. Every Christmas Eve,
hundreds of children in the Netherlands gather at war cemeteries,
including Holten, to honor more than 2000 Canadian soldiers who lost
their lives during WWII.
Francis Leslie Mulcahy
Sources:
Library and Archives Canada
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
findagrave
(background photo: Holten Cemetery at Christmas)
(photo and new clips courtesy Mary Ann Robinson,
(Mary Rita’s daughter) great niece of Francis.