Remembering Private Angus MacDonald—Died of Wounds October 26, 1916

Angus MacDonald was born on October 28, 1888 at Havre Boucher, Antigonish County to Duncan D. and Elizabeth MacDonald. Sometime before 1911, the family relocated the nearby Mulgrave, Guysborough County, where Angus found employment as a trackman on the Intercolonial Railroad.

Pte. Angus MacDonald

On April 16, 1916, Angus attested for overseas service with the 106th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles) at Pictou, NS. The unit departed Halifax on July 15, 1916 and landed in England ten days later. When the battalion was dissolved several months later, Angus was part of a large group of 106th soldiers who were transferred to the 26th Battalion (New Brunswick), a 5th Brigade mate of Nova Scotia’s 25th Battalion, on September 21.

The reinforcement draft crossed the English Channel to France shortly afterward and reported to the 26th’s camp at Bouzincourt, west of Albert, France, on October 9. Six days later, the new arrivals entered the trenches of the Angres Sector, west of Lens, for their first tour in the line. Upon retiring to Brigade Reserve on October 21, the 26th’s personnel commenced a daily training schedule.

On the afternoon of October 25, a group of the battalion’s soldiers proceeded to the bombing pit at Bully Grenay for a training exercise that involved the use of live ammunition. Angus was wounded around 1:30 p.m. when the bomb he was throwing exploded approximately eight feet from his hand, and was immediately rushed to No 5 Canadian Field Ambulance for treatment.

On October 26, 1916, Private Angus MacDonald died of wounds sustained in the accidental explosion and was laid to rest in Bully Grenay Communal Cemetery, British Extension. A subsequent investigation determined that a faulty fuse had caused the premature explosion.

A detailed version of Angus’s family background and war service is among the 72 profiles contained in “First World War Honour Roll of Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Volume I: 1915 - 1917,” available at bantrypublishing.ca .