Kenneth Irvine Mitchell, right, after a march in 1917. This is the only photo Mitchell’s son has of his father with two arms. (Ken E Mitchell.)
A letter a sergeant wrote to Kenneth Irvine Mitchell’s mother after he was wounded in 1917. (Ken E Mitchell.)
Kenneth Irvine Mitchell dropping flowers on the grave of his friend, Hal Moony, in 1943. (Ken E Mitchell.)
Page one and two of a letter Kenneth Irvine Mitchell wrote to his aunty in April 1918, expressing his worry that when he gets home, people will give him sympathy. (Ken E Mitchell.)
Page two and three of a letter Kenneth Irvine Mitchell wrote to his aunty in April 1918, expressing his worry that when he gets home, people will give him sympathy. (Ken E Mitchell.)
Page four and five of a letter Kenneth Irvine Mitchell wrote to his aunty in April 1918, expressing his worry that when he gets home, people will give him sympathy. (Ken E Mitchell.)
A ward in the Royal Military Hospital in Richmond, England, where Kenneth Irvine Mitchell was staying. This photo was taken at Christmas in 1917. (Ken E Mitchell.)

Kenneth Irvine Mitchell

During the war, he had a fear if starving to death in a trench or shell hole so he always carried around a stick of French bread and a tin of jam.

Kenneth Irvine Mitchell served as a gunner with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. During the war, he had a fear if starving to death in a trench or shell hole so he always carried around a stick of French bread and a tin of jam.

He fought at Passchendaele, where he was struck in the arm with a shell from a German machine gun, leaving it dangling and useless for the next three days until he got medical attention. His arm was eventually amputated.

After the war, Mitchell returned to Ottawa, where he had a successful career as a banker with The Bank of Nova Scotia (formerly The Bank of Ottawa). He married and had two children, Kenneth and Carole. “My father resented receiving any special attention for his hardship and handicap, and played many sports, including tennis, badminton, bowling and curling,” said his son, Kenneth. “He was an avid follower or almost all sports.”

Mitchell was born in Granby, Quebec in 1891. He later retired to Guelph, Ontario and he had died at age seventy-eight.

Do you have an ancestor who served in the Great War? Submit their story and it could be included on this Great War Album website.



Tags

Army (327), soldier (298), survived (227), Ontario (191), wounded (100), injured (69), Quebec (60), Passchendaele (45)
Related Stories

Henry Roy Halladay

Henry Roy Halladay served in the 44th Battalion. He was killed in action on April 10, 1917, during the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Arthur Frederick Boniface and his wife Rose Rands

“My mother said that he could never become reconciled to the changing roles of women in society following the war.”

Robert Percival Webber

“I don't think any of them knew what they were getting into but he never expressed any regret that he had done that”

Gordon Rutherford

"The next morning there was a triumphant march through the city and I was one of the lucky ones detailed to go.”

Arnold Davidson

“Here, though, I don't think they have as good a way as the Canucks. It takes two Englishmen to plough where in Canada it only takes one Canadian.”