Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthAugust 31, 1891
Place of BirthNorth Bay, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMrs Mitchell, 2247 Garnet St, Regina, Saskatchewan
Trade / CallingFarmer
ReligionRoman Catholic
Service Details
Regimental Number115483
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion4th Divisional Signal Company
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Engineers
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Date of EnlistmentMay 22, 1915
Age at Enlistment23
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJuly 20, 1963
Age at Death72
Buried AtAssumption Roman Catholic Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
PlotGarden of Gethsemane Lot 66 Grave 7

Delaney, Daniel Percy

Born on 31 August 1891 in North Bay, Ontario, Daniel Percy Delaney was the son of John James and Mary Ellen (née Doyle) Delaney. His siblings were Bridget, Ida, May, John James, Lettie, Queeny, Gertrude, George, and Annie. For the 1891 Canada census the family was living in North Bay, Ontario with the father’s occupation given as labourer and the family considered themselves as Irish Roman Catholic in origin. By 1901 the family had relocated to Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) where Daniel’s father had found employment as a fireman with the Canadian Pacific Railway. Still living with the family were Ida, May, John, Lettie, Queenie, George, Gertrude, Annie, and Percy  as well as lodgers John McLeod, John Holmes, and Michael Ritchie. By the 1911 Canada Census his father and brother John James were living with his sister Ida (Delaney) Morden and family in Keewatin on Front Street. It is possible that Daniel, with his mother and some of his siblings, were in Fort Frances.

Daniel Percy Delaney enlisted on 22 May 1915 with the 10th Regiment Canadian Mounted Rifles in Regina, Saskatchewan, occupation given as farmer. The following May of 1916 he embarked from Halifax for overseas with the 4th Divisional Cavalry Squadron aboard the Olympic, arriving in England on the 7th. In August Daniel was transferred to the 4th Canadian Divisional Signal Company, Canadian Engineers, arriving in France on the 8th.

‘Divisional signal companies consisted of a headquarters section, a wireless section and two cable sections. The companies provided telephone and wireless service (including policing and interception) and visual signalling. Each had motorcycle dispatch riders, a pigeon service and personnel for airline and cable construction, electric light and battery charging. They also operated repair shops for mechanical transport and for telephone, telegraph and wireless instruments.  The Signal Service of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces came under the command of the Canadian Engineers.’  (Library and Archives Canada)

In late June of 1917 Daniel was granted a ten day leave to Paris. From September to December of 1917 he was out of service (vds). He was granted a second leave in mid November of 1918, and with the end of the war returned to Canada in July of 1919, discharged in Port Arthur on the 13th.

After the war Percy lived in Winnipeg working as a elevator operator. He died in the Winnipeg General Hospital on 20 July 1963 as a result of a fall in his home.  His Veteran Death card listed his niece Margaret Brunsel of Winnipeg as his next of kin. He is interred in an unmarked grave in the Assumption Roman Catholic Cemetery, Winnipeg. According to his death notice he was survived by his brother George in Keewatin.

In August of 1919 Keewatin held a Roll of Honour service where Daniel and his brother George were recognized for their service with medals and badges, and special tribute was paid to  their brother Private John James Delaney who had been reported as killed in action on 17 April 1917. He is also commemorated on the Municipality of Keewatin For King and Country plaque formerly housed in the Keewatin Legion.

by Judy Stockham

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