McBRIDE, Mona Ethelyn
Age at Death: 26
Rank Sergeant
Unit Canadian Women’s Army Corps
Service Number W3440
Place of Burial Albert Street Cemetery, Arnprior ON
Date of Birth 1917.08.27
Place of Birth Fitzroy Harbour ON
Enlistment July 21, 1942, Barriefield ON
Date of Death 1944.06.03
Daughter of Thomas and Ethel McBride, of Carp, ON
Mona, the daughter of an Irish-Canadian retired farmer, had worked as an office clerk in a department store before enlisting. She expressed interest in being a driver, and worked in this capacity before becoming a clerk for the freight and transport section. An evaluation noted, “She considers that she ought to be receiving pay of rank in view of the responsible nature of her work, but has little hope of this.” By spring 1944, she had been promoted to Sergeant.
That June, Mona was on leave visiting her parents in Carp, Ontario. While walking on a railway line, she was struck by a train and killed instantly. A coroner’s inquest deemed the death to be accidental. She was buried with full military honours; however, her family declined a military monument at the gravesite.
