Storylines: Jack Edward Kelleher - Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Jack Edward Kelleher

Born and raised in Belleville, Ontario, halfway between Toronto and Ottawa, Jack Edward Kelleher was a young husband and father when war broke out. He was working several jobs and spending any free time playing baseball. Kelleher played semi-professionally with teams from Belleville and Sudbury, and he played for the Kingston Ponies of the Interprovincial Baseball League. His service reports say he had only a Grade 8 education, but was an above-average learner.

Kelleher, like many men who did not instantly sign up to fight in the Second World War, worked within the war industry (manufacturing) at the Reliance Aircraft Company. He was a storekeeper, handling and managing materials which would be used to build Lancaster and Mosquito bombers for the war. Eventually enlisting in Kingston, Ontario in 1943, Private Kelleher left his wife Shirley, daughter Karen, and his parents and siblings in Canada. He was 24 years old at the time of enlistment.

He was transferred promptly to the #1 Canadian Armoured Reinforcement Unit (#1 C.A.R.U.) following his training. While he was located in England at the Aldershot-Bordon Canadian Bases (about 1.5 hours southwest of London), he did what many Canadian soldiers did to pass time while awaiting deployment – he played baseball. Good baseball.

Kelleher played in the London International Baseball league for the Canadian Military Headquarters (CMHQ) team, which could only be described as dominant. Kelleher, the likely ace of the team, pitched in 11 of the team’s 24 scheduled league games, of which they lost only one. Playing alongside a handful of players out of Toronto, and Ed Smith from Kingston (a successful amateur player), his team would play against the United States Central Base Section Salons at Wembley Stadium in London, in front of a crowd of about 18,000. Going into the bottom of the ninth inning, Kelleher’s team was behind by one, with only a single run scored in the game to that point. With the bases loaded and two out, Kingston’s Ed Smith walked up to the plate, and smashed a walk-off grand slam to beat the United States Central Base Section Salons by a score of 4-1.

Kelleher’s CMHQ team would go on to finish first in their league in mid-September, beating out a team from Scotland at Wembley Stadium to take home the league title. Jack had won 14 games for his team.

After the Canadian Army Championships were said and done, Private Kelleher was forced to refocus on his military responsibilities with no more baseball left in the season. He was assigned to the Support Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, a part of the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade. Here, Jack would no longer be playing baseball, and would show just why the games were so important to soldiers. He mentioned in his October, 1944 letter that he had got “Fed up” with the lack of activity, and left his company to go on the loose. He did not show up to his daily duties, and had no intention of doing so. Upon returning to his Company after his leave, there was a noticeable lack of care or discipline for his actions. Private Kelleher would remain with the Grenadiers for the brief remainder of his career as a soldier.

Private Jack Edward Kelleher was eventually deployed to Northwest Europe, joining with the Highland Light Infantry of Canada. He was ultimately killed in action on March 24th, 1945 near Speldrop, Germany. He was 26 years old.