Source: August 1917 casualty. Died of illness.
Family Search: Private Harold John Mcnanley was born on 25 April 1900, in Amesbury, Essex, Massachusetts, United States as the son of Edward J. McNanley and Maggie Burke. He registered for military service in 1915. In 1915, at the age of 15, his occupation is listed as farming. He died on 13 August 1917, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, British North America, at the age of 17, and was buried in St. Michael Cemetery, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States.
CWGC
Under age. Born on April 25, 1900 at Amesbury, Massachusetts.
This man attested to the 55th Battalion on July 23, 1915, at Sussex, New Brunswick. He claimed he was born on April 25, 1897, when records indicate he was born that date but in 1900. This would make him under-aged and not eligible for military service with the CEF.
Standing 5’7″ tall he was a farmer and he listed his sister, Filomena, as his next-of-kin.
He also stated his place of birth was McAdam, York County, New Brunswick but he was born at Amesbury, Massachusetts.
He arrived in England on November 9, 1915, and served at West Sandling for training until taken on strength with the 18th Battalion on June 6, 1916, arriving in the field with the battalion in Belgium (Ypres) on June 10, 1916.
He served with the 18th until taken ill on April 10, 1917, and was transferred to England for treatment.
He contracted TB and peritonitis in April 1917.
He returned to Canada aboard the SS Letitia on July 21, 1917, as medically unfit for further military service.
He was discharged and died on August 13, 1917. He died at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Wed, May 29, 1957 ·Page 33.
Fri, Apr 27, 1917 ·Page 10.
In Remembrance of a Fallen Soldier, 17
At 9 Thursday morning a small group of World War I veterans will gather at a grave about 15 feet inside the main gate at St. Michael’s Cemetery to afford full military honors to the first Springfield soldier killed in World War I.
Unique Ceremony
The ceremony will be similar to thousands of others taking place throughout the nation. But the ceremony honoring Pvt. Harold J. McNanley of the Canadian infantry is unique in many ways. Part of the story is that the grave is the only one in St. Michael’s bearing both the American and Canadian flags.
Harold McNanley was born in Springfield and attended Chestnut Street School. At the age of 15, Harold stood more than six feet tall and weighed nearly 190 pounds. Those who remember him say he was one of the best athletes the school ever produced.
Like a great many young men at the time, Harold wanted to enlist. After being turned down in the states because of his age, he went to Canada, “stretched the truth” a few years and became a member of the 18th Battalion of Company “A”, Canadian infantry. In a few months he was in England training in the Lake Country for duty in France during World War I.
After seven months in England, Harold was shipped to France. He took part in the Somme drive and the Battle of Ypres as a machine gunner. In the latter campaign Harold was gassed.
Back On Hospital Ship
He was sent back to England where he spent seven weeks recuperating. Then he went back to Canada on a hospital ship.
During the crossing, the hospital ship ran aground. While the ship floundered, Harold contracted pneumonia. By the time he reached Halifax, Nova Scotia, his condition was critical. He died in a Halifax hospital shortly after being taken off the ship. He had just turned 17.
His body was returned to Springfield. He left two sisters, Mrs. J. E. Reynolds, now of Silver St., and Mrs. Walter Healy, now of Oakland, Cal., and two brothers, James F. and Raymond, both living today in Springfield.
This morning Harold McNanley’s brothers, sisters, and nephews, with American Legion officials and Veterans Administration representatives, will be at the grave. Harold McNanley’s two nephews and his sister, Mrs. Reynolds, will place a wreath on the grave. New American and Canadian flags will be placed there.
Post 449 Honor Guard
Members of Legion Post 449 will form the honor guard are Leonard Arooth, Richard Lalley, Charles Denver and George Lyman. William F. Coveney will represent the Massachusetts State Veterans Administration.
Part of the ceremony will be the reading of a commemorative scroll sent Mrs. Reynolds following the death of her brother and signed by the late King George V, monarch of England during World War I. The scroll reads, “He whom this scroll commemorates was numbered among those who, at the call of King and Country, left all that was dear to them, endured hardness, faced danger, and finally 1 passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and sacrifice, giving up their own lives that others might live in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that 2 his name be not forgotten.”
The Morning Union. Wed, May 29, 1957 ·Page 33.
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 