Military service
Service number:
H/6499
Age:
26
Rank:
Corporal
Force:
Army
Unit/Regiment:
Winnipeg Grenadiers, R.C.I.C.
Birth:
September 25, 1915
Belfast
Enlistment:
September 21, 1939
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Death:
December 19, 1941
Hong Kong
Burial/memorial information
Grave reference:
Column 25.
Additional information
Son of John Long Kelso and Mary Kelso, of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Brother of Corporal John Robert Kelso who died on December 19, 1941 while serving the Winnipeg Grenadiers.
Digital gallery of Corporal Henry Kelso
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Photo of Henry Kelso
Kelso, Henry - Corporal. Born 25th September, 1915, at Belfast, Northern Ireland. Educated at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute, Winnipeg. Entered the service of the Bank 16th December, 1937. Served at Winnipeg branch. Enlisted 21st September, 1939, from that branch in The Winnipeg Grenadiers (M.G.). Corporal in June, 1940. Served with this Regiment in Bermuda and Jamaica, and subsequently in Hong Kong. Killed in action in Hong Kong 19th December, 1941, together with his brother, Corporal John R. Kelso, of the same Regiment and Company. Both were machine gunners and Physical Training Instructors. <br><i>From a memorial booklet prepared by the Canadian Bank of Commerce.</i> -
Photo of HENRY KELSO
Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper Clipping
In memory of the men and women memorialized on the pages of the Winnipeg Evening Tribune. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me -
Biography
Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me -
Newspaper Clipping
Corporal HENRY KELSO and Corporal JOHN ROBERT KELSO were reported to have been Killed in Action in the Canadian Army¿s 242nd overseas casualty list of the war published in the Globe and Mail on January 8, 1943. -
Canada and the Defence of Hong Kong
Source: Veterans Affairs Canada. -
Canadian Casuatlies in the Defence of Hong Kong
Source: Veterans Affairs Canada. -
Memorial
Remembering brothers lost … Brothers In Arms Memorial, Zonnebeke, BE … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens … May 2022 -
Memorial
Corporal HENRY KELSO and Corporal JOHN ROBERT KELSO were brothers and are two of 19 members of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, Royal Canadian Infantry Corps who are commemorated on this panel of the Sai Wan Memorial. They are two of the 290 Canadian soldiers killed during the defense of Hong Kong, from December 8th to December 25th, 1941. Both were killed in fighting on December 19, 1941 at Wong Nei Chong Gap. Corporal EWART GRENFELL STARRETT who name also appears on this panel was killed on the same day at Wong Nei Chong Gap. His brother Lance Corporal WILLIAM JAMES STARRETT was killed in the battle the next day. -
Dedicatory Inscription of the Sai Wan Memorial
Dedicatory inscription of the SAI WAN MEMORIAL. This memorial bears the names of more than 2,000 Commonwealth servicemen, including 228 Canadians. -
Unknown Marker
The Sai Wan Memorial is located at the entrance of Sai Wan Cemetery. 1,505 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War are buried or commemorated at this cemetery, of which 444 of the burials are the remains of unidentified soldiers, including those of 107 Canadian soldiers, most of whom were killed or died of wounds during the defense of Hong Kong, which took place from December 8th to December 25th, 1941. This is one such grave marker. There is a possibility that the remains of Corporal HENRY KELSO lie beneath this grave marker, or one of the other 106 grave markers in Sai Wan Cemetery that simply read, A SOLDIER OF THE 1939-1945 WAR. A CANADIAN REGIMENT. KNOWN UNTO GOD. The unidentified soldiers are commemorated at the Sai Wan Memorial.
Digital gallery of
Corporal Henry Kelso
Digital gallery of
Corporal Henry Kelso
Digital gallery of
Corporal Henry Kelso
Digital gallery of
Corporal Henry Kelso
Digital gallery of
Corporal Henry Kelso
Digital gallery of
Corporal Henry Kelso
Digital gallery of
Corporal Henry Kelso
Digital gallery of
Corporal Henry Kelso
Digital gallery of
Corporal Henry Kelso
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 34 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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