Clarence McCabe was a farmer from the north shore of Hay Bay, near the town of Napanee, Ontario. He was born on June 23rd, 1891, and was the only son of Ashton and Martha McCabe.
On March 1st, 1916, at the age of 25, Clarence volunteered into the 146th Battalion, also known as the Frontenac Battalion, and given service number 835648. At attestation he was tall and thin, standing 6 feet 3 and a half inches tall and weighing 175 lbs. He volunteered with his 16 year old cousin, Reggie Brown, however Reggie was found out to be under age and discharged shortly afterwards.
After completing training with the 146th, Clarence left Halifax for England on September 26th, 1916, on the SS Southland and arrived there safely 12 days later. On November 30th, Clarence, along with 276 other men from the 146th, was transferred to the 4th CMR. He arrived in France on December 1st, which was a relatively good time as the winter of 1916-1917 was a period free from any major operations.
Clarence went "over the top" with 826 other men from the battalion on April 9, 1917, to take part in the battle of Vimy Ridge. Clarence made it unscathed through the battle and helped the 4th CMR achieve all of their objectives by mid afternoon. On May 26th the 4th was in divisional reserve in a part of the line known as Toronto Camp. It had been a bright and warm day and around 8:30 pm they were engaged in a baseball game. Clarence picked up a blind (unexploded) shell which went off and killed him instantly.
This accident was all the more tragic, in that 7 other men died and 11 others were wounded: Pte. Charles Hartin (636730), Sgt. George Knowles (401367), Pte. George Fraser Griffin (648376), Pte. Shurley Asselstine (835622), Pte. Arthur Carroll (835475), Pte. Bertie James Traviss and Pte. James Henry Dunn (835508). 5 of these were from Clarence’s home town of Napanee and all these men were likely close friends of Clarence’s. Pte. Thomas Chester Alexander Davy, Pte. Cecil Morrison and Pte. Morley Rex Gilbert were wounded in this accident as well.
Clarence is buried in La Targette British Cemetery in Neuville-St. Vaast, France.
Credit and many thanks go to Bryan Joyce for the above biography and image.
Bryan has written a book about Clarence McCabe's life, and this can be reviewed and bought via this link: Clarence McCabe