Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJuly 1, 1878
Place of BirthKilsyth, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinCatherine McFadden, Seattle, Washington, USA
Trade / CallingBrakeman on CPR
ReligionRoman Catholic
Service Details
Regimental Number198093
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion46th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Date of EnlistmentMarch 23, 1915
Age at Enlistment36
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathMay 16, 1934
Age at Death56
Buried AtCalvary Cemetery, Seattle, Washington
Plot6-10A-18

McFadden, Daniel Joseph

Daniel Joseph McFadden was born on 1 July 1878 In Kilsyth, Grey, Ontario, a small community on the outskirts of Owen Sound. His father John McFadden, wagon maker, was born in Ireland while his mother Mary Catherine McClarty was from the area. Daniel had two older sisters, Mary Ann and Catherine, and two younger sisters, Gertrude and Margaret. By the 1901 Canada census the family had moved into Owen Sound where Daniel’s occupation was given as freight painter. At some point after the census taking, Daniel moved to Fort William in northwestern Ontario where he married Agnes McMann on October 19th. Born in Dushore, Pennsylvania, Agnes was the daughter of Patrick and Mary McMann.

With occupation given as brakeman for the Canadian Pacific Railway, Daniel signed his attestation papers in Kenora, Ontario on 23 March 1915. His marital status was given as single and his next of kin as Catherine McFadden in Seattle, Washington, likely his sister although she had married Michael Horan in 1909. With recruitment taking place throughout northwestern Ontario, the 94th Battalion had its headquarters in Port Arthur. In early June of 1916 the battalion moved to Valcartier, Quebec for further training before embarking for England from Halifax aboard the Olympic on the 28th. A local Kenora newspaper mistakenly reported that Daniel had gone overseas with the 52nd Battalion.

Once in England Daniel was transferred to the 32nd Reserve Battalion and then on to the 46th Battalion, joining the unit in the field on September 7th. Having arrived in France that August, the 46th (South Saskatchewan) Battalion fought with the 10 Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Division. Later that month Daniel spent a few days at No 12 Casualty Clearing Station with problems with the interconnective tissue in his feet.

Late during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 the 4th Canadian Division was brought into action in the taking of the Regina Trench, the longest German trench that stood well supported behind barbed wire and machine guns.  After two months of attacks and constant shelling, the remaining part of Regina Trench to the east of the Courcelette-Pys road, was taken by a night attack on 10/11 November, by the 4th Canadian Division. The trench was attacked by the 46th and 47th battalions of the 10th Canadian Brigade, with a company of the 102nd Battalion of the 11th Canadian Brigade on the right flank. The Canadians crept close to the German line before the barrage began; after eight minutes the barrage suddenly lifted, the Canadians rushed the trench and surprised the German garrison. Advanced posts were pushed forward in the centre and in trenches leading north-east, towards the line between Le Sars and Pys. The Canadians took 87 prisoners mainly from Infantry Regiment 107 of the 58th Division, with some troops from Guard Reserve Regiment 2 of the 1st Guard Reserve Division and four machine-guns, for a loss of c. 200 casualties; several German counter-attacks were defeated.’ (en.wikipedia.org).  

On the 12th of November Daniel was admitted to the No 4 General Hospital in Camiers with a gunshot wound to the thigh, later changed to the buttock. On the 18th he was transferred to the 3rd Northern General Hospital at Sheffield. In February of 1917 he was moved to the Canadian Convalescent Hospital Hillingdon House at Uxbridge, discharged in early April. Daniel then went through a series of transfers in reserve battalions. In late January of 1918 he was admitted to the No 12 Canadian General Hospital at Bramshott, initial diagnosis appendicitis but later changed to myalgia. In March he was transferred to the Canadian Red Cross Special Hospital in Buxton, Derby, discharged in mid May. With the myalgia combined with a chronic cough it was decided that Daniel be returned to Canada. He was discharged in Port Arthur as medically unfit on 7 December 1918.

After the war Daniel moved to Seattle, found living with his sister Catherine and her husband Michael Horan and their three children for the 1920 US Federal census. At the time Daniel was working as a packer in a mail order house, a job he continued with on the next census. On 25 November 1920, in Seattle, Daniel married Kansas born Gertrude Brittain.

Daniel died on 16 May 1934 in Seattle. His Veteran Death Card listed his wife Gertrude McFadden of Seattle, Washington as his next of kin. After his death Gertrude continued to live in Seattle, found working in a public library repairing books for the 1940 US Federal census. She died in December of 1945. Daniel and Gertrude are interred in separate plots in the Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Seattle.

by Judy Stockham

McFadden-Daniel-Joseph-2 McFadden-Daniel-Joseph-3 McFadden-Daniel-Joseph-4

Daniel’s grave marker photograph by Paul Everitt, findagrave.com
Gertrude’s grave marker photograph by Bob Gillum, findagrave.com.

 

 


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