Deseronto Archives

On this day in 1915, Vincent Carnahan enlisted in Belleville. He was born in Deseronto on December 11th, 1897, the son of William Henry Carnahan and Sarah (née Doran). He was described on his attestation paper as five feet five inches tall, with a dark complexion, hazel eyes and dark brown hair. He joined the 34th Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery with the regimental number 300341.

Carnahan’s service record shows that he arrived in England on the SS Missinabie on December 29th, 1915. He joined the 3rd Division’s Trench Mortar Battery on the Western Front on April 27th, 1916. On June 3rd he was reported missing after an attack at the Battle of Mount Sorrel near Ypres in Belgium. He had been injured when his trench mortar had been destroyed, dislocating his left ankle and damaging his knee. He was then taken prisoner and on July 12th he was reported to be in a prisoner of war camp at Duisburg. On October 3rd he was transferred to another camp at Friedrichsfeld.

After 23 months as a POW, Vincent was repatriated to England in May 1918 and admitted to hospital. He was unable to straighten his left leg as a result of damage to his hamstring. He spent several months in various hospitals in England and in the summer of 1918 he got married to Violet Packer in Lambeth, England. Carnahan was sent back to Canada in October 1918 for further treatment and was discharged as medically unfit for further service on April 2nd, 1919 in Kingston. Violet travelled from Liverpool to Canada on the SS Grampian in June 1919, listed as a military dependent.

Vincent left Canada for the United States on March 24th, 1920, arriving in Detroit. He was not travelling with Violet, and it is not clear what happened to her after the war.