Private
Kinchin, Harold Goldsmith
Unit
24th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Victoria Rifles of Canada)
Branch
Infantry
Service Component
Canadian Expeditionary Force
Service Number
171146
birth
1897/02/13
Montréal, Quebec, Canada
death
1916/07/17
France
grave
Canadian National Vimy Memorial, Vimy Ridge, France
Gender
Male
Harold Goldsmith Kinchin was born in Montréal, Quebec, on 13 February 1897. He was the second of Harris and Maude Kinchin’s three children.
A machinist, Kinchin enlisted in the 83rd Canadian Infantry Battalion in Toronto, Ontario, on 10 August 1915. After initial training in Canada, he was shipped to England on SS Corsican on 25 September 1915 as part of the battalion’s Reinforcement Draft. He arrived in Plymouth on 5 October 1915.
On 29 February 1916, Kinchin was transferred to the 24th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Victoria Rifles of Canada) for service in France. He joined the battalion in the field on 15 March 1916. Kinchin was hospitalized on 28 June 1916 after being wounded accidently in both arms two days before. The circumstances of the accident were not recorded; however, the lack on an inquiry suggests that there was no suspicion that it was a self-inflicted wound. Kinchin returned to duty on 8 July 1916.
On 17 September 1916, Kinchin was reported wounded during the Battle of Courcelette. In November 1916, the report was changed to wounded and missing. Six months later, on 3 May 1917, military authorities declared that, for all official purposes, Kinchin was presumed to have died on or after 17 September 1916.
Harold Kinchin is commemorated on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, on Vimy Ridge, in France.
