copyright © Wartime Heritage Association 2012-2018
Website hosting courtesy of Register.com - a web.com company
Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Remembering World War I
Yarmouth Connections
John Donohoe
Force:
Army
Regiment:
Canadian Infantry
Battalion:
40th Battalion/25th Battalion
Regimental Number:
415840
Rank:
Private
Date of Birth:
May 21, 1895
Place of Birth:
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Date of Enlistment:
August 15, 1915
Place of Enlistment:
Aldershot, Nova Scotia
Age at Enlistment:
20
Height: 5 Feet 7 Inches
Trade:
Labourer (employed with Cosmos Cotton Mill)
Marital Status:
Married in England (after enlistment)
Religion:
Baptist (Attestation paper)
Next of Kin:
(Mother) Mrs Liddie Donohue, Water St., Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
John Donohoe was the only son of William and Lydia Donohue, of Yarmouth. He enlisted with
the 40th Battalion and was drafted to the 25th Battalion. He served in both Belgium and France and
was in all the early great battles of the Somme. He survived those battles without serious injury
despite being buried on three occasions from shell fire; however, he did suffer from shell-shock. He
was gassed, the effects of which gradually developed into a slow and fatal case of tuberculosis. He was
hospitalized in England at the 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth, S.W. in May 1916.
His health in ruins, he was discharged from the army in February 1917 and arrived home in
Yarmouth. He was accompanied by his bride, an English girl, formerly Mary E. Kemp of Coventry. They
were married in Montreal in January, 1917.
His military funeral took place at St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church, Yarmouth.
Date of Death:
September 15, 1918
Age at Death:
23
Cause of Death:
Died of tuberculosis in Yarmouth Nova Scotia.
Cemetery:
Our Lady of Calvary R. C. Cemetery,
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Plot: L. 119.
Commemorated on Page 399 of the First World War Book of Remembrance
Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on August 28
Listed on the Nominal Roll of the 40th Battalion.
Sources:
Library and Archives Canada (Attestation Paper)
Commonwealth War Grave Commission
Commonwealth War Grave Commission (Cemetery Information)
Canadian Great War Project
Veterans Affairs Canada
Additional Information:
“A Monument Speaks” A Thurston; 1989 (pp 136-137)
John Donohoe
Attestation Paper
(click to enlarge)