Background

Harry Hazlett McKee was born January 18, 1881 in Fredericton, New Brunswick to Samuel H. Mckee and Jane Armour. According to archival records, Samuel and Jane married one another April 16, 1869 in Fredericton. In addition to Harry, they would have six other children named Maggie, Sarah, Elsie, Samuel, Alex, and Hamilton. The McKee family was well-known in the Fredericton area as was the Armour family, and according to the Daily Gleaner, Samuel worked locally as a prominent mason and businessman while Jane worked at home while raising their children. Although few documents detail specifics of the family’s early life, newspapers and documents suggest that Harry was the grandson of a United Empire Loyalist, originally from Saint John, and that his father and brothers were active members of local and regional masonic orders and organizations such as the Scottish Rite of Saint John and the Royal Order of Scotland. Harry would eventually attend the University of New Brunswick and later work as a clerk for his father’s family business.

While growing up and working in the Fredericton area, at some point Harry would become close to a young girl from the area named Minnie H. Adams. They would marry one another June 5, 1902. As records indicate that both Harry and Minnie were Presbyterian, it is likely that they had gone to school and church together for most of their lives. Four years later, Harry and Minnie would welcome the birth of their daughter, Marion, on December 28, 1906. After the birth of his daughter, census records reveal that Harry moved to Western Ontario and then Winnipeg, Manitoba while Minnie and Marion resided in Fredericton with family at 459 Brunswick Street.

Although it is unclear what difficulties he was having while away from family at the outbreak of the Great War, Harry’s service record reveals initial problems. According to his service record, Harry had no prior military experience when he enlisted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, December 15, 1915. However, he would spend the next six months training with the 42nd Rifles until being held in the summer of 1916 as a deserter after attempting to re-enlist under the alias James Valentine White. Few details explain what happened to Harry while living in Winnipeg, although he would eventually be accepted back into the ranks under his actual name after signing a “solemn declaration” in December of 1916 in Ontario. According to his service record, Private Harry Hazlett McKee was thirty-four years old, claiming to be single, having brown eyes, brown hair, a fair complexion, while standing five feet six inches tall. While training with the 141st Battalion over the winter of 1916-17 in Port Arthur, Ontario, on March 2, 1917, Harry would sign his will naming his wife Minnie. It is unclear if he ever saw his wife or daughter again.

Wartime Experience

On October 4, 1917, Private McKee embarked from Halifax, Nova Scotia aboard the R.M.S. Metagama for Liverpool, England. Upon arrival on October 17, Harry would be taken on by the 11nth and then 43rd Battalions over the winter of 1917-18. According to his active service record, he would have approximately four months of training before landing in France with the 43rd Battalion on March 17, 1918, arriving just before the German Army unleashed its Spring Offensive near St. Quentin, March 21. The Germans would use a lethal combination of trench mortars and various gasses, as artillery attacked forward into the Allied lines damaging supply lines and the Allies’ morale. A month after arriving, Private McKee would be with his unit near Villers-Bretonneaux, just outside Amiens, when on April 22 he would be dangerously gassed and admitted to 23rd casualty clearing station for treatment. According to his circumstances of death record, three days later, April 25, Private McKee would pass away as a result of his injuries. News of his death would reach Minnie and family by May 2, and the Daily Gleaner and Telegraph Journal would report a week later about his death. Private Harry Hazlett McKee was only thirty-six years of age, leaving behind his wife and twelve-year old daughter Marion. Seven years after Harry’s death, Minnie would remarry a gentleman named Thomas Archibald Mills on April 16, 1925. She would pass away February 17, 1934.

Lest We Forget

Private Harry Hazlett McKee is buried at the Lapugnoy Military Cemetery located in Lapugnoy, France. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Harry is one of approximately 1332 burials honoured here. The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.