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 (Hatton) Mulcahy (b. 1893) of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the brother of Erin Patrick Mulcahy (1912-1983), Michael Edward Mulcahy (1914-1985), 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.

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) niece of Francis.