Private Thomas Ewart Kelly was born in Toronto, Ontario on December 29, 1889, to Thomas H. and Margaret Kelly.

Kelly enlisted at Valcartier, Quebec on September 23, 1914.  At that time he was a student and had previously served with the 12th York Rangers.  Kelly sailed to England in October of 1915 aboard the SS Tyrolia as part of the First Contingent, and was serving with the 4th Battalion in Belgium when he was killed in action on April 23, 1915.  According to the Circumstances of Death Register, “While acting as a runner at Langemarck, he was carrying a message from one part of the line to another, when he was struck by a rifle bullet and killed.”   Kelly’s body was never found and he is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.

Content notes:
The collection consists of one letter written to his older sister.

External links:
Pte. Thomas Kelly’s service record (Serv/Reg# 10665) can be viewed/downloaded through Library and Archives Canada.
Kelly’s Circumstances of Death Register (page #631)can be viewed/downloaded through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Kelly can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.