835475 Pte. Arthur Carroll was born in Conway, Ontario, on February 7th, 1895, to Joseph and Mary Lynn Carroll. One of 8 children, Arthur had 5 sisters and 2 brothers and worked as a farmer in this little town just outside of Napanee. He never married. On January 25th, 1916, shortly before he turned 21, Arthur made the journey to Kingston and volunteered into the 146th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary force. Given service number 835475, the 146th was made up of men from around the Kingston area and was also known as the Frontenac Battalion.
The battalion had just formed in December 1915 and although Arthur had no previous military experience, he answered the call immediately when they started recruiting men in the Napanee area. After completing training with the 146th, Arthur left Halifax for England on September 25th, 1916, on the SS Southland and arrived there safely 12 days later. On October 27th, Arthur, along with 276 other men from the 146th, was transferred to the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles. He arrived in France on November 3rd, which was a relatively good time as the winter of 1916-1917 was a period free from any major operations.
On April 9th, 1917, Arthur and 826 other men from the battalion swarmed out of their trenches in the middle of a snow storm and started across No Man's Land. The 4th CMR's advance was part of a massive attack of all 4 Canadian Divisions in what became known as the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The ridge was thought to be impenetrable but the Canadians swept the German's from it in only 3 days. Arthur made it unscathed through the battle and helped the 4th CMR achieve all of their objectives by mid-afternoon on the first day. For the Canadians, this was their first major victory of the war.
On May 26th, 1917, Arthur was well behind the lines at Toronto Camp. It was 8:30pm and the 4th CMR was enjoying a game of baseball, when another young man from the Napanee area, Pte. Clarence McCabe, picked up a blind (unexploded) shell. The shell went off, killing Clarence instantly and severely wounding Arthur, who died of his wounds the next day in hospital, on May 27th, 1917.
7 men other died as a result of that accident, including:
Sgt. George Knowles all died immediately;
Pte. Bertie Traviss, like Pte. Carroll, also died the next day at no. 6. Casualty Clearing Station;
Pte. James Dunn survived until May 31st and
Pte. Edwin Payne died on June 18th.
10 more were wounded, including: Pte. Thomas Davy and Pte. Morley Gilbert.
Arthur is buried in Barlin Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas De Calais, France and a picture of his grave can be found on the Maple Leaf Legacy Project website.
The image and biography are courtesy of Bryan Joyce.
Bryan has written a book about Clarence McCabe's life, and this can be reviewed and bought via this link: Clarence McCabe