Kenneth was born on 7 June 1915 in Wallacetown, Ontario, the son of Donald and Floretta Duncanson.

He lived in Dutton, Elgin County, Ontario and was a truck driver for Strathcona Creamery, but he aspired to owning his own grocery store. In 1939, he married Mabel Lillian Haggarty.

He enlisted on 24 August 1942 at Listowel, Ontario and trained at Ipperwash and Stratford Camps. Kenneth arrived in the United Kingdom on 19 September 1943 and assigned to No.3 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit. On 17 April 1944 he was transferred to the Algonquin Regiment as a rifleman in preparation for the Normandy campaign.

The Algonquin Regiment disembarked in France 22 July 1944 as part of the 10th Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Armoured Division. Kenneth saw action in the final phases of the Normandy campaign including the Falaise Pocket and moving north into Belgium and the Netherands.

It was at the Battle of the Scheldt on the morning of the 14 September 1944 that Kenneth was killed. According to witness accounts, Kenneth died from wounds received when the German forces counterattacked the Algonquins forcing them back over the Leopold Canal. Kenneth was 29 years old.

Kenneth’s body was never recovered, and he was listed as Missing In Action on 17 September 1944, then Killed In Action on 31 May 1945. Post war, Kenneth was commemorated on Panel 11 of the Groesbeek Memorial in the Netherlands.

On 11 November 2014, remains were discovered by a metal detectorist in a farmer’s field near Molentje, Belgium. After recovery by the Belgian police, they were transferred to the CWGC.

After detailed research by the CWGC, the Directorate of History and Heritage, Canadian Forces Forensic Odontology Response Team and Belgian Raakvlak Intercommunal Archaeological Service the remains were finally identified as Private Kenneth Donald Duncanson on 27 April 2016.

Kenneth was finally laid to rest in CWGC Adegem Canadian War Cemetery, Belgium, plot II.AB.5. on 14 September 2016 at a ceremony attended by members of his family and representatives of the Canadian Armed Forces and Government. His new CWGC headstone will be cared for in perpetuity.