World War II Fallen: O-R

Although his first name was James, he was known as Barry—his mother’s maiden name. Barry O’Connor was born in Sarnia on January 22, 1919, the eldest son of James Phillip and Angela Loretta (nee Barry) O’Connor. James O’Connor (a contractor, born in 1895 in Oil Springs, Ontario) and Angela Barry (born in May 1891 in St. Mary’s, Perth, Ontario) were married on January 2, 1918, at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Sarnia. James and Angela O’Connor had six children together: sons James Michael Barry (born 1919); John Edward (born November 1922); Patrick William (born 1924); and Joseph Peter (born 1932), and daughters Mary Catherine (born 1921, later Mrs. Lloyd Mathers); and Margaret Lorraine (born August 10, 1926, later Mrs. Barney Howard Ozment).

Two of Barry’s brothers also served in the war: John Edward, a private in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (RCASC), attached to National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa; and Patrick William, a stoker First-Class in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR). Patrick also served in the Korean War (his story is included in this Project).

The O’Connor family lived at 313 Maxwell Street (in 1931), then 231 Harkness Street, and later 236 Proctor Street, Sarnia. Barry attended Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Elementary School from 1926 to 1931, Sarnia Collegiate from September 1932 until June 1934, and then two years at St. Patrick’s Catholic High School. He was active in boxing and skating, enjoyed hunting and shooting, and was a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish, Sarnia. In 1937, he worked at Holmes Foundry as a spare man for three months until he was laid off (it was seasonal work). He then worked for the rest of the year at J. Maylor Tobacco Store as a clerk. In September 1938, he began work at Electric Auto-Lite and continued there until he enlisted.

On August 12, 1940, Barry O’Connor, age 21, enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in London, Ontario. He stood five feet nine-and-a-half inches tall, had blue eyes and black hair, was single, and was living with his parents on Harkness Street at the time. He requested flying duties, with a preference to be a pilot or air gunner. He had several reference letters, dated mid-May 1940, that included these comments: the principal of Sarnia Collegiate wrote that “While he was here, he showed himself quite dependable and I believe he would prove so if taken on for work in your Force.”; the superintendent of Electric Auto-Lite informed recruiters that “We would be glad to recommend him to anyone who may be in need of his service.”; and the general foreman at Holmes Foundry mentioned that “He was employed as a spare man and his work was done very satisfactory. He was layed off because our business got slack”.

From #1 Recruiting Centre in London, Barry received his air training at several British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) facilities scattered across the country, including at #3 Wireless School in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and #5 Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) in Dafoe, Saskatchewan.

On June 21, 1941, ten months after enlisting, Barry married Helen Grace Hood at St. Mary’s Academy in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Helen was born in October 1919, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Hood of Winnipeg. The ceremony was officiated by Flying-Officer (Rev. Father) Lucien Vinet, chaplain of the R.C.A.F. school at Winnipeg.

In early August 1941, Barry was posted to #1 Y Depot in Halifax. On August 24, 1941, two months after getting married, he embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom.

Initially posted to #3 Personnel Reception Centre in the U.K., Barry continued his air training at #1 Signals School, and on January 20, 1942, at #22 Operational Training Unit (O.T.U.) at RAF Wellesbourne Mountford. In mid-June 1942, he became a member of RAF No. 156 Squadron in Alconbury, part of Bomber Command.

During the course of the war, one of this country’s most significant contributions was the approximately 50,000 Canadians who served with the RCAF and RAF in Bomber Command operations. Next to Britain, Canada was the largest contributor to Bomber Command, making up more than a third of all of Bomber Command personnel. The men who served in Bomber Command faced some of the most difficult odds of anyone fighting in the war.

No 156 Squadron had been formed in February 1942 based at RAF Alconbury, operating Vickers Wellington twin-engine, long-range medium bombers. In August 1942, still equipped with Wellingtons, they moved their base to RAF Warboys, and the squadron became one of the founding members of the Pathfinder Force.

The Pathfinder Force was made up of experienced, hand-picked crews from bomber squadrons with elite navigational abilities. These aerial rangers, equipped with the latest target-finding technologies, were the spearhead of the bomber stream, arriving first over the target. Their job was to illuminate the target area with flares and to drop brilliantly coloured red, green and yellow target indicators (TIs) on the aiming point for the follow-up force.

In June 1942, James and Angela O’Connor received a letter from Barry telling them that he had participated in the raids on Essex and Cologne.

In August 1942, they received another letter from him. In it, he revealed how he was in one of the recent big R.A.F. raids on Bremen. Following is a portion of that letter:

The most fun I’ve ever had was one night recently coming back from Bremen. Incidently, I got direct hits on my target with bombs of the 4,000 pounds size which are absolutely guaranteed to wake the baby and scare the chickens. Anyhow, on my way back, we met a stooge in a Me. 109, who, incidentally, didn’t see us, for he came belting towards us, head on, off to the starboard a bit. I was in the front turret, as I’m front gunner as well as bomb-aimer. I got in two nice long bursts from my guns square into him. He never fired a shot just went into a long dive. Wish I knew whether he went all the way down or not but we didn’t linger to check up. We just went down in another long dive in the opposite direction, in case there were others about. They find it pretty tough chewing to tackle a heavy bomber down on the deck, so we dove from 15,000 feet down to ground level, low enough in fact to scrape our trailing aerial on the coast of Holland. The trailing aerial is 15 feet in length, so you can realize we were plenty low. The searchlights and flak couldn’t depress low enough to get at us and it sure was funny watching the gun and searchlight crews digging themselves into their holes and trying to pull them in after we zipped over them, or should I say, passed them?

Barry also had words of praise for a watch that his father had given him before he went overseas:

It’s still keeping time right to the second. In fact it’s a better timepiece than the air ministry chronometer our navigator was given. He often uses my watch to get our exact turning point. James added that I’ve been in 13 raids and have only 17 more to go. I’m nearly half through now. I wouldn’t mind if it was 170 if I could get home between them.

Approximately eight months after Barry mailed the above letter to his parents, he lost his life over the Baltic Sea.

On October 22, 1942, Barry was transferred from #156 Squadron, becoming a member of RCAF #419 Moose Squadron “Moosa Aswayita” (written in Cree, not Latin, means “Beware the moose-a ferocious fighter”), with the rank of Warrant Officer Class II-Bomb Aimer.

RCAF #419 Squadron, also part of Bomber Command, was formed at RAF Mildenhall, England, in mid-December 1941, and was named after its first commanding officer, Wing Commander John “Moose” Fulton. The unit moved to various bases throughout the war, including Leeming, Topcliffe, Croft, and Middleton St. George. Initially operating Wellington bombers, in November 1942, the squadron converted to Handley Page Halifax bombers, and in March 1944, to Avro Lancasters.

Over a period of seven months with #419 Squadron, Barry flew 24 operations, many of these were among the squadron’s most hazardous and against the enemy’s most heavily defended targets. Barry was highly regarded in the squadron, known for his cheery manner, his keen sense of humour, and his skill and reliability as an airman.

On the night of April 28, 1943, the RAF carried out an operation involving approximately 226 Allied aircraft dropping over 590 mines in the Danish waters and in the Baltic Sea. That night, Barry O’Connor was aboard Halifax II aircraft JB923 (markings VR-Q) that took off in the darkness, under heavy cloud, at 20:42 hours from RAF Base Middleton St. George for a “Gardening” operation (nickname for mine laying) to Skagerrak, to an area designated as “Silverthorne” (Skagerrak was a strait connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat Sea through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea). It was Barry’s 24th sortie with Halifax Bomber JB923, while most others of the 7-man crew were serving on only their 4th or 5th mission. As a reservist, Barry would have been sent home after his 25th mission.

Tragically, his Halifax aircraft was lost that night, in what Bomber Command suspected was the result of “enemy action” while it was laying mines in the Skagerrak Strait, Norway. The operation was not successful that night for Moose Squadron—two of the aircraft returned because of the heavy cloud cover; one was hit by flak and had to return; and JB923 simply disappeared without a trace. [Note: Some sources list the aircraft JB923 as JB929. This follows the error in the Squadron ORB for that night].

Perishing in Halifax bomber JB923 with 24-year-old Barry O’Connor were WOs George Kenneth Alfred Smallwood, and James Gordon Acker; Sgts. Robert Russell Gourde and James Arthur Laurence Allen; and FSs Lloyd Joseph Charles Murphy and John William Carley.

In early May 1943, James and Angela in Sarnia received word that their eldest son FLIGHT SERGEANT JAMES MICHAEL BARRY O’CONNOR WAS REPORTED MISSING AFTER AIR OPERATIONS OVERSEAS.

In mid-May 1943, Helen, whom he had married less than two years prior, was then living on Spadina Avenue in Toronto. It was here that she received a letter from the Wing Commander of No. 419 (R.C.A.F.) Squadron. Following is a portion of that letter:

Dear Mrs. O’Connor,

 It is with very deep regret that I write to inform you of the circumstances of your husband’s posting as missing.

Flight Sergeant O’Connor was the Bomb Aimer of an aircraft detailed to perform an operation on the night of April 28th. The operation was generally successful, but unfortunately your husband’s aircraft failed to return and nothing has since been heard of it. There is, of course, a hope that all, or part of the crew may either be interned in neutral territory, or may be prisoners of war in enemy hands. This, of course, would not be known for some considerable time but if any word comes in we shall notify you immediately.

Flight Sergeant O’Connor was with us for seven months and had twenty-four operations to his credit. Some of these were among the Squadron’s most hazardous and successful, and against the enemy’s most heavily defended targets.

Your husband was a great favourite with all sections of the Squadron. His cheery manner and keen sense of humour, coupled with his reliability, will certainly make his loss felt for some considerable time. As you are probably aware, he took quite a prominent part in our Station sports and activities; in fact, he was such an all-round man that this Squadron, and the Air Force as a whole, will find him hard to replace….

If there is anything I can do, or any help I can give you, do not hesitate to write and let me know. May I express the sincere sympathy of the entire Squadron in the loss of a very gallant gentleman, and hope with you that better news may follow shortly.

The very next day, Helen received another letter, this one from the Flight Lieutenant, for Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, RCAF, Overseas:

 It is with deep regret that I must confirm the information which you have already received from Air Force Headquarters, Ottawa, which stated that your husband, Flight Sergeant James Michael Barry O’Connor, was reported missing as the result of air operations on the night of 28^th April, 1943.

Your husband was Bomb Aimer of a Halifax aircraft, which took off on operations against the enemy, on the above mentioned date, and failed to return. No information has since been received concerning him, however, enquiries are continuing through the International Red Cross Committee, and all other available sources, and any news which may be forthcoming will be communicated to you at once.

Please accept my deepest sympathy with you in your great anxiety.

The next letter she received was from the Casualty Branch in London;

I am commended by the Air Council to express to you their grave concern on learning from the Casualties Officer of the Royal Canadian Air Force that your husband, Flight Sergeant James Michael O’Connor, is missing as the result of air operations on the 28^th April, 1943.

This does not necessarily mean that he is killed or wounded, and if he is a prisoner of war he should be able to communicate with you in due course. Meanwhile enquiries will be made through the International Red Cross Committee and as soon as any definite news is received you will at once be informed.

If any information regarding your husband is received by you from any source you are requested to be kind enough to communicate it immediately to the Royal Canadian Air Force Casualties Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force Headquarters, Ottawa.

The Air Council desire me to express their deep sympathy with you in your great anxiety, and earnestly hope that favourable news of your son may be forthcoming.  

In November 1943, Helen, frustrated and anxious for more information about her husband, wrote a letter to RCAF Headquarters. Following is a portion of that letter:

Dear Sir:

I received your letter… asking me to confirm the fact that no further information has been received by me, concerning my husband. I regret to say, that the only information I have received about him, came from R.C.A.F. headquarters and that was very little.

There is one thing I would like to know, and I feel that I have the right to ask. I know my husband was “lost” on a raid somewhere over Germany and I feel that enough time has elapsed now that I should be able to know just where it was.

I know this action to “presume him dead” is only for official purposes. Will they keep on trying to trace him? I pray that they will… I have not heard anything about my husband, not in six whole months, I’m hoping for some better news shortly…

The reply letter from the Flight Lieutenant, R.C.A.F. Casualties Officer was received by Helen very soon after. Following is a portion of that letter:

Dear Mrs. O’Connor:

… It is regretted that no additional particulars are available at these Headquarters regarding the flight from which your husband’s aircraft failed to return or the target which he had been detailed to attack, however enquiries are being made Overseas and as soon as a reply is received it will be forwarded to you.

Please be assured that although the Air Ministry now proposes to presume your husband’s death it is for official purposes only and such action will not in any way affect or diminish the search being made for him. May I again offer my sincere sympathy in this trying time.                                                                            

In late January 1944, Helen received the following letter from the Air Marshal, Chief of the Air Staff:

Dear Mrs. O’Connor:

            I have learned with deep regret that your husband, Flight Sergeant James Michael Barry O’Connor, is now for official purposes presumed to have died on Active Service Overseas on April 28th, 1943. I wish to offer you and the members of your family my sincere and heartfelt sympathy.

            It is most lamentable that a promising career should be thus terminated and I would like you to know that his loss is greatly deplored by all those with whom your husband was serving.

Soon after, James and Angela received the news that their son Barry O’Connor’s death was officially recorded as Previously reported missing after air operations, now for official purposes, presumed dead, overseas.

In December 1944, James and Angela received official information advising them that their son, Flight Sergeant J.M. Barry O’Connor, who has been missing since April 28, 1943, was promoted to Warrant Officer, Class 2, as of November 2, 1942.

Barry O’Connor left behind his father James and mother Angela, his three brothers and two sisters, and his wife, Helen, of less than two years.

In February 1945, Helen, then living in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, received a War Service Gratuity of $549.84 for the loss of her husband Barry. In August 1946, Helen received the following letter from the R.C.A.F. Records Officer in Ottawa:

Dear Mrs. O’Connor:

            It is a privilege to have the opportunity of sending you the Operational Wings and Certificate in recognition of the gallant services rendered by your husband Warrant Officer, Class 2, J.M.B. O’Connor. I realize there is little which may be said or done to lessen your sorrow, but it is my hope that these “Wings”, indicative of operations against the enemy, will be a treasured memento of a young life offered on the altar of freedom in defence of his Home and Country.

Over time, Angela managed to convince Helen that Barry was never coming home; that she was still a young woman; and that she should get on with her life as Barry would have wanted her to do. Helen eventually re-married.

Almost nine years after Barry was lost, in January 1952, Helen, then living on Close Avenue in Toronto, received the following letter from the Wing Commander, R.C.A.F. Casualties Officer, for Chief of the Air Staff:

Dear Mrs. O’Connor:

            It is with reluctance that after so long an interval, I must refer to the loss of your husband, Warrant Officer Class II James Michael Barry O’Connor, but due to the lack of any information concerning him since he was reported missing, it must be regretfully accepted and officially recorded that he does not have a “known” grave.

Due to the extreme hazards attending air operations there are, unhappily, many thousands of British aircrew boys who do not have “known” graves and all will be commemorated on General Memorials that will be erected at a number of locations by the Imperial War Graves Commission (of which Canada is a member), each Memorial representative of a theatre of operations. One of these Memorials will be erected at Runnymede, England and the name of your husband will appear on that Memorial.

            I realize that this is an extremely distressing letter and that there is no manner of conveying such information to you that would not add to your heartaches. I am fully aware that nothing I may say will lessen your great sorrow, but I would like to express to you and the members of your family my deepest sympathy.

More than 20 years after her husband lost his life, Helen, then living on Durie Street in Toronto, was still searching for answers. Following is the letter she wrote to R.C.A.F. Headquarters in late November 1964:

Dear Sirs:

            After so long an interval I find it hard to have to write this letter. However I should like my address on file, in the event that some trace of my late husbands aircraft should turn up. My common sense tells me this is almost impossible, however he has been on my mind so much this last – while I wonder.

            I know my husbands plane went down somewhere in or, around the Skagerrak, I have enclosed this small clipping from the Toronto Star dated Nov. 10/64.

[The clipping was a news article about a massive drilling rig that was being moved through the area of Skagerrak. The rigs long steel legs were going to be lowered to the North Sea bottom, to drill for oil and natural gas].

            The Air Force was very kind in giving me all the information it could at the time Barry was missing. Would it be possible to tell me just where in England my husband was stationed all the time he was overseas? I would imagine this is all on file. I plan on going to England this year and would like to know where he spent the last months of his life.

This is very important to me, and I would be most grateful if you could help me to obtain this information. I

have since remarried, however my heart and mind remembers that Barry has no “known” grave among many others. I must thank you and the dept for all your kindness in the past. Please let me know where Barry was stationed.

Helen O’Connor married Carlson Artemus Etcher, and they moved to Calgary. Helen passed away at age 93 in August 2013 in Calgary where she is buried.

James Michael Barry O’Connor, 24, has no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Runnymede War Memorial. Surrey, United Kingdom, Panel 180.

Parents James and Angela O’Connor in Sarnia would lose a second son to war—Patrick William O’Connor, a veteran of WWII, lost his life in the Korean War (his story is included in this Project).

There is a memorial headstone in Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Sarnia that has inscribed on it the names of six O’Connor family members, including James and Angela O’Connor, and their children Joseph Peter, Mary Catherine, Pte. Patrick William, and W.O. Barry O’Connor, RCAF.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

More information on this soldier is available in

Valour Remembered: Sarnia-Lambton War Stories by Tom Slater and Tom St. Amand

William John (Jack) Oliver was born in Sarnia on October 25, 1923, the son of George Wilfred and Della (nee Hume) Oliver. George and Della, both born in Petrolia, were married on December 9, 1914, in Forest, Ontario. George supported his family working at a fence company and later at Polymer Corp in Sarnia. George and Della had five children together: sons William John; Kenneth Lyle; Clare LaVerne; and Wilfred Ray (born Feb. 3, 1918, served as a lieutenant in the Canadian Army, with a Royal Canadian Artillery Unit). Unfortunately, their only daughter, Hilda Marie Oliver, died at the age of nine months in March 1922.

The Oliver family lived at 123 Proctor Street, Sarnia. William attended Johnston Memorial Public School in Sarnia from September 1929 to June 1936 and then Sarnia Collegiate from September 1936 until April 1941. He participated in football, hockey, and softball, and was a member of Boy Scouts of Canada. His hobbies included model railroad building and photography. and music. Music also was important to William—he played in the school orchestra and the cadet band while at Sarnia Collegiate and was a member of the Lambton Garrison Band. William was also a member of the Devine Street United Church and the Young Men’s Club of St. Andrew’s Church. Prior to enlisting, he was attending Sarnia Collegiate part time and was employed (since April 1941) as a laboratory assistant in the inspection lab at Sarnia Imperial Refinery.

On November 14, 1941, William Oliver, age 18, enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in London, Ontario. At the outbreak of World War II, the military set requirements for volunteers, one being that they had to be, at minimum, 18 years of age. For overseas service, the minimum age was 19. William stood five feet six inches tall, had brown eyes and black hair, was single, and lived at home with his parents on Proctor Street at the time. He requested flying duties, with a preference to be a pilot or observer. Following the war, William planned to attend university. The Recruiting Officer wrote that William was Keen bright young man, very anxious to serve. Should be excellent Air Crew material in every respect.

From #9 Recruiting Centre in London and then #2 Manning Depot in Brandon, Manitoba, William received his air training at #7 Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) in Paulson, Manitoba; then at #16 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) in Hagersville, Ontario; next at #5 Initial Training School (ITS) in Belleville, Ontario; then at #13 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) in St. Eugene, Ontario; and finally at #2 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at Uplands, near Ottawa. William was awarded his Pilots Flying Badge on January 22, 1943, at Uplands. During his training, he flew Anson, Harvard, and Fleet Finch II aircraft.

After receiving his Pilots Flying Badge, William completed a Navigational Reconnaissance Course at #31 General Reconnaissance School (GRS) at RCAF Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. In April 1943, William enjoyed a 16-day pre-embarkation leave. By the end of April 1943, he was posted at #1 Y Depot in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

On May 8, 1943, eighteen months after enlisting, William embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom. Initially posted to #3 Personnel Reception Centre, he continued his air training in the U.K. at #3 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (AFU), and in July 1943, he was promoted to the rank of flying officer-pilot. On August 3, 1943, he was transferred, becoming a member of RAF #6 Operational Training Unit (OTU).

RAF No. 6 Operational Training Unit was formed and reformed a number of times throughout the war. During that time, it was equipped with a variety of different aircraft; operated from several different bases; and trained airmen to carry out a range of tasks (fighters, bombers and reconnaissance). In March 1943, the unit, then based at RAF Silloth, trained airmen to be part of Coastal Command with Vickers Wellingtons (twin-engine medium bomber) and Avro Ansons (twin-engine, multi-role aircraft).

Five months after arriving overseas, William Oliver lost his life in a tragic accident in Scotland.

On October 6, 1943, he accidentally fell from the roof of the St. George Hotel, 19 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. Three of his fellow officers and he were on leave had arrived at the hotel on October 5 from the R.A.F. Station Silloth, Cumberland, having booked a room there. The men had spent part of the evening in a dancehall in the city and returned to the hotel about 10 p.m. William was last seen between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m. obtaining the key for the room they were sharing.

In the investigation that followed, it was determined that shortly after midnight, William, for reasons unknown, climbed through a window onto the top floor of the hotel and was walking on the roof. It was while walking on the roof that he inadvertently walked over the edge of the roof, falling 80 feet to the ground. His body was found at 6:45 a.m. that morning (October 6). The investigation that followed the incident concluded that it was entirely accidental.

Not long after the accident, George and Della Oliver in Sarnia received a cable from R.C.A.F. Headquarters in Ottawa informing them that their son, Pilot Officer W.J. Oliver, had been killed on active service overseas. No details were given as to how he met his death, although it was stated that the funeral would be held at East Fortune near Edinburgh, Scotland.

In late October 1943, William’s brother, Ken, received the following letter at his home on South Russell Street from the Group Captain, Commanding, R.A.F. Station, Silloth, Cumberland:

Dear Mr. Oliver,

            You will have been informed by the Air Ministry that your brother, William John Oliver, lost his life on the 6th October as a result of a fall from the roof of a hotel in Edinburgh.

            May I offer on behalf of all at Silloth and myself, our sincere sympathy with you in your sad bereavement. It is very tragic that your brother should have lost his life at the conclusion of his long period of training, and at a time when he no doubt expected to be soon engaged on active operations.

As it appears that nobody was with him when the accident happened, it can only be assumed that after

climbing on the roof of the hotel for some reason which we do not know, he inadvertently fell off, and was killed by the fall to the pavement below.

            I appreciate how you must feel when you receive this letter, and again express our true sympathy.

William Oliver’s death was later officially recorded as Killed while on leave. (Fell off roof of hotel), overseas (Scotland).

Not long after his death, a memorial service was held for William at Devine Street United Church, officiated by its pastor Rev. Arnold Mathews and assisted by Rev. J.M. Macgillivray of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. The memorial service in Sarnia occurred while William’s funeral was being held in Scotland. His brother, Lieutenant Wilfred Ray Oliver, who was overseas with a Royal Canadian Artillery Unit at the time of William’s death, was able to attend the funeral.

In June 1945, George and Della Oliver received a War Service Gratuity of $249.33 for the loss of their son.

William John Oliver, 19, is buried at Haddington (St. Martin’s) New Burial Ground, East Lothian, United Kingdom (Scotland), Section E, Grave 18. On his headstone are inscribed the words FOR HONOUR, FOR COUNTRY AND FOR GOD.

His name is also inscribed on the Sarnia Refinery Plaque. Unveiled in 1949, the plaque has the names of 24 Sarnia Imperial Oil employees who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War II.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Ernest Ottaway was born in Calgary, Alberta, on August 29, 1912, the eldest child and only son of Ernest (Sr.) Augustine and Lillian Florence (nee Dochstader, born in Ontario) Ottaway. Ernest Augustine was born March

1889 in London, England, and in 1904, his family immigrated to Calgary, Alberta, when he was 15 years old.

Ernest (Sr.) and Lillian were married in Calgary, Alberta, on June 8, 1911, and had three children together: son Ernest Edward (Jr.), and daughters Virginia Lillian (born 1914, became Virginia Baldwin), and Ruby Gertrude (born August 2, 1915, accidental death on September 25, 1919).

Ernest Ottaway Sr. (#160577) was a veteran of the Great War. On October 11, 1915, 27-year-old Ernest Sr. enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Calgary. He stood five feet eight-and-one-half inches tall, had brown eyes and black hair, was employed as a printer pressman, was married to Lillian, and was living in Calgary at the time. He also had three very young children at home at the time—his eldest, son Ernest Jr. was just three years old. He recorded his prior military experience as three years with the No. 11 Army Medical Corps. He became a member of the 82nd Battalion with the rank of private.

Seven months later, he embarked overseas, arriving in Liverpool, England, on May 29, 1916. Just over four months later, on October 8, he arrived in France, as a machine gunner with the 1st Canadian Machine Gun Company.

In May 1918, Ernest Sr. was promoted to the rank of corporal. Early that summer, Allied Commanders proposed a plan to take advantage of the Germans’ disarray following their failed Spring Offensive. Canadian troops were to play a key role as “shock troops” in cracking the German defences. They spent two months preparing for what became their Hundred Days Campaign. Ernest Ottaway Sr. was soon embroiled in this campaign, one that featured intense and brutal fighting as the end of the war neared.

 The Hundred Days Campaign (August 8 – November 11, 1918, in France and Belgium) was the “beginning of the end” of the Great War. Canadians were called on again and again over the three-month period to lead the offensives against the toughest German defences. The series of victories repeatedly drove the Germans back, culminating in Germany’s unconditional surrender on November 11, but it came at a high price: approximately 46,000 Canadians were killed, wounded, or missing.

The first offensive in the Campaign was the Battle of Amiens in France (August 8-14, 1918), a truly all-arms battle, one in which all four Canadian divisions were involved. Over the course of one week, in a battle that British Field Marshal Douglas Haig called “the finest operation of the war”, the Canadians advanced nearly 14 kms—but it came at a cost of 11,822 Canadian casualties.

On August 9, 1918, Corporal Ernest Augustine Ottaway was wounded in action at Amiens, recorded as “gun shot wound right thigh and head”. He was operated on three days later at No. 9 General Hospital, Rouen. He was returned to England, recovering in a General Hospital in Liverpool one week later, and Princess Patricia Canadian Red Cross Hospital in late September. On October 4, 1918, he was discharged from hospital to return to duty, and the Great War ended one month later. On December 24, Ernest Sr. was returned to Canada, and was discharged on demobilization in February 1919 in Calgary, Alberta.

Seven months after being discharged, tragedy struck the family when Ernest Sr. and Lillian lost their four-year-old daughter Ruby, the result of an accident. Ernest Jr., who spent his early childhood in Calgary, was seven years old at the time. In October 1920, the Ottaway family moved east, residing for a time at 413 Nelson Street, Sarnia, the home of Lillian’s brother, Joseph Dochstader.

In June 1921, the family was living in Cardiff Township, Ontario. The Ottaway household included Edward Sr.’s parents, Valentine Edward and Selina Georgina; parents Edward Sr. and Lillian; and their two children, Ernest Jr. and Virginia Lillian.

Three months later, on September 18, 1921, Ernest Sr. died at the age of 32 in Bancroft, Ontario. His death was the result of his service overseas—he had been both wounded and gassed in France and died as a result of congestion of his lungs. Ernest Jr. was nine years old at the time. Ernest Ottaway Sr. is buried in St. John’s Anglican Cemetery in Bancroft. Widowed Lillian Florence Ottaway later moved to 225 Cromwell Street, Sarnia.

By the time Ernest Ottaway Jr. moved to Sarnia, he had already finished his formal education when he graduated from 8th grade. In Sarnia, he was a member of St. George’s Anglican Church. He also participated in tennis and softball and enjoyed his hobby of photography. Prior to enlisting, Ernest Jr. was employed in Sarnia as a painter and printing pressman. He had also done some work as an auto mechanic and had taken a six-month business course. He was employed for several years with the Frontier Printing Company and spent approximately one year with the Canadian Printing Company.

On October 10, 1936, Ernest Ottaway, age 24, married Petrolia-born Gertrude Leila Hallam, the youngest daughter of Robert and Eva Mabel Hallam at Canon Davis Memorial Church in Sarnia. At the time, Ernest was a printing pressman residing at 413 Nelson St., while Gertrude was a clerk residing at 204 Proctor St. The groom’s sister, Miss Virginia Ottaway, served as bridesmaid and William E. Baldwin served as the best man. After the ceremony, Ernest and Gertrude left on a wedding trip to the United States and, on their return, they lived at 413 Nelson Street. Ernest and Gertrude had two daughters together: Joanne Earnestine (tragically a stillborn, February 18, 1937); and Marlene Diana, born April 9, 1938.

Ernest was a member of the local Sarnia militia unit, the 11th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE) from May 1937 until July 1938, where he attained the rank of sergeant.

On September 8, 1939, two days before Canada declared war on Germany, Ernest Ottaway, age 27, enlisted in the Canadian Army in Sarnia. He was reported to be one of the first to enlist. Ernest stood five feet ten inches tall, had brown eyes and black hair, and was married with a one-year-old daughter at home. He recorded his occupation as painter, and his address as 413 Nelson St., later changed to 149 Brock St., Sarnia (in his Service File, his next of kin’s address—his wife Gertrude, is changed twice to 302 George Street and 163 ½ North Forsyth Street, Sarnia).

Ernest began his army training in London, Ontario. As a member of the 11th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, Canadian Active Service Force (CASF), he advanced in rank to company sergeant-major (CSM) in February 1940.

After helping to train infantry troops at Petawawa camp, Ernest embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom on August 23, 1940. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Engineers, 11th Field Company, with the rank of company sergeant-major. In the U.K., he continued his training there; took command of a battalion for a time; and was an instructor at a bomb disposal school. In August 1942, after being in the United Kingdom for more than two years, Ernest spent his 30th birthday overseas, far from his wife and daughter.

In late March 1943, Ernest returned to Canada to take an Officer’s Training Course (OTC) in Brockville, Ontario. He was pleased to make it home to Sarnia for a short while, in time for his daughter Marlene’s fifth birthday. When he arrived in Sarnia by train, he was met by Gertrude and daughter, Marlene; Sergeant-Major Alf. Luckins, with whom he had served overseas; and two members of the Canadian Legion. Although she had not seen her father for almost three years, little Marlene Diana rushed toward him as he talked with two other soldiers. “She knew him instantly,” her mother said. Ernest said, “My one worry from the time I left England was whether I would make the grade in time for her birthday. Now we’ll have a nice little party.”

While in Sarnia, Ernest told a reporter for the Canadian (Sarnia) Observer of some of his experiences. On more than one occasion he had been close to exploding bombs. He was so close to one that it lifted him bodily, together with the truck he was driving, and deposited both in a nearby field after the truck had neatly cleared a four-foot hedge. Miraculously, Ernest had escaped injury. “The bomb exploded about 40 feet away from the truck one night as I was driving to the barracks,” he said. “Owing to the noise of the engine I did not hear its approach. I didn’t know what happened until I found the hole made by the bomb in the road.”

He said that he was in London on several occasions when “Jerry came over” as he put it. He said that the approach of a high explosive bomb can be likened to the noise made by an express train. A half hour after he arrived at an English camp, a lone plane came over and strafed the barracks with machine gun fire. About a month before he returned to Canada, he was machine-gunned again with other soldiers who were stationed at a point on the south-east coast of England.

While back in Canada, Ernest secured his commission in the infantry, receiving his certificate at the

Canadian Army Officers’ Training Centre (OTC) at Brockville in July 1943. He was then transferred to A-29  

Canadian Infantry Training Centre (CITC) at Camp Ipperwash for advanced training, graduating on August 20, 1943, with the rank of lieutenant. He was then posted to #12 Canadian Army (Basic) Training Centre (BTC) in Chatham as a platoon commander and soon after to Officers Training Centre (OTC) in Brockville, Ontario. In December 1943, Ernest spent his Christmas leave at home in Sarnia with his wife Gertrude and daughter Marlene. It would be the last Christmas they would spend together.

On February 17, 1944, Lieutenant Ernest Ottaway returned to England, becoming a member of the #4 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit (#4CIRU), and later the #3CIRU. He continued training in the U.K. and was awarded a Canadian Efficiency Medal in April 1944. On August 25, 1944, Ernest embarked from the U.K. and arrived in France the next day as a member of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada (QORofC), Royal Canadian Infantry Corps (RCIC). He joined the QORofC in the Battle of the Long Left Flank.

Ernest arrived in France soon after the Battle of Normandy had concluded. The Normandy Battle began for the Canadians with the June 6, 1944, D-Day landings at Juno Beach. It took a whole summer of tenacious fighting that saw the Canadians pushing against fierce and ruthless German forces to advance east across France. In a brutal campaign of attrition, they faced fierce battles and vicious counterattacks as they clawed their way forward to liberate villages and towns including Bretteville, Carpiquet, Caen, and Falaise.

After the Allied breakout from Normandy, in late August 1944, the Canadian forces were assigned the Long Left Flank, the less glamorous but vital tasks that included clearing coastal areas in the north of France and Belgium of German occupiers; opening the English Channel ports for supplies essential to the Allied advance; and capturing the launching sites of German V-1 rockets. In a series of stop-and-start advances against stiff resistance in fortified positions, that continued into early October, the Canadians liberated ports and villages including Rouen, Dieppe, Dunkirk, Boulogne, and Calais.

The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada landed in France on D-Day and battled through Normandy and the Long Left Flank, earning Battle Honours in France including at Caen, Carpiquet, Falaise, Boulogne, and Calais.

In early September 1944, Allied forces captured the inland port of Antwerp, Belgium, the second greatest port in Europe at the mouth of the Scheldt River; however, German forces still controlled the 45-mile-long Scheldt estuary (the Belgian-Dutch border area) that connected the port of Antwerp to the North Sea. Beginning in early October 1944, the Canadians were entrusted with liberating the estuary.

The Battle of the Scheldt, October 1 – November 8, 1944, was one of the most gruelling struggles in the war as Canadians fought to liberate the German-controlled estuary. Taking place in northern Belgium and the Netherlands, it was the beginning of the Liberation of the Netherlands. The bitter fighting in the Scheldt estuary against a well-fortified and heavily entrenched enemy was made worse by the harsh conditions. Bitter winter temperatures in a wet and muddy quagmire proved challenging, but the Allies prevailed. The cost of victory was high—the Canadians suffered more than 6,300 casualties.

Ernest Ottaway and the Queen’s Own Rifles began the Scheldt Campaign by earning Battle Honours in the Breskens Pocket on the southern shore of the Scheldt estuary in the southern Netherlands near the Belgian border.

On October 10, 1944, Ernest became a replacement officer of a platoon of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada (QORofC) R.C.I.C. In a letter to Gertrude in Sarnia, he indicated that he first participated in the fighting on October 16.

Only five days later, on October 21, 1944, during the Battle of the Scheldt in the Breskens Pocket, Ernest Ottaway was killed in action while leading his platoon of “A” (Alpha) Company. He was a member of the 1^st Battalion QORofC that had driven the Germans from the Dutch village of Ijzendijke (south east of the town of Schoondijke). They then pursued the enemy westward towards the town of Oostburg, a main point of resistance that was heavily defended. Ottaways’ “A” Company was tasked with probing the enemy defences in the area of a large farm that was defended by several machine guns and a number of snipers. While he was leading his Alpha platoon forward, he was crawling up a ditch when he hit an anti-personnel mine. He was killed instantly.

Though killed on October 21, 1944, Ernest Ottaway’s remains were not buried until three weeks later, on November 13, 1944. His remains were buried at a Holland location recorded on the Army Field Service Card as “1/25000 Philipine Sheet 22 SW in corner of pear orchard by farm house on east side of highway MR 179071.”

On October 28, 1944, Gertrude Ottaway on Forsyth Street in Sarnia received the following telegram from the Director of Records in Ottawa: MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE DEEPLY REGRETS TO INFORM YOU THAT LIEUTENANT CEM ERNEST EDWARD OTTAWAY HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY REPORTED KILLED IN ACTION TWENTY-FIRST OCTOBER 1944 STOP IF ANY FURTHER INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE IT WILL BE FORWARDED AS SOON AS RECEIVED.No other details were provided.

In early November 1944, Gertrude received the following letter from the Major-General, Adjutant-General:

Dear Mrs. Ottaway:

            It was with deep regret that I learned of the death of your husband, Lieutenant Ernest Edward Ottaway, who gave his life in the Service of his Country in the Western European Theatre of War on the 21st day of October, 1944.

            From official information we have received, your husband was killed in action against the enemy. You may be assured that any additional information received will be communicated to you without delay.

            The Minister of National Defence and the Members of the Army Council have asked me to express to you and your family their sincere sympathy in your bereavement. We pay tribute to the sacrifice he so bravely made.

In mid-November 1944, Gertrude received the following letter from the Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the 1st Battalion, Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada:

It is with great personal regret and sorrow that I have to write you concerning the death of your husband on October 21 during the battle of the Scheldt pocket. The battalion had driven the enemy from the village of Ijzendijke and was pursuing them into the heavily defended belt based on the town of Oostburg. “A” company, to which your husband was attached, was given the job of “feeling out” the enemy defences in the area of a large farm, which was manned by several machine-guns and a number of snipers. During the course of the patrols that were necessary to get this information your husband, while leading his platoon forward, exploded an anti-personnel mine in the ditch up which he was crawling, killing him instantly.

Although Edward had been with us only a few days, we already knew that we had been lucky in getting an officer of his caliber. We are all very sorry to lose him in this way, as we were convinced he had a future with the regiment. I can assure you that he died carrying out his duty, leading his platoon into an action which we all knew was an extremely dangerous and hazardous one. We have indeed lost a very fine soldier. May I offer you, on behalf of myself and the regiment, our sincere sympathy in your great loss.

More than a year after Ernest Ottaway was buried, Gertrude received a letter from the Colonel, Director of Records, for Adjutant-General in mid-December 1945. Following is a portion of that letter:

Dear Madam:

Information has just been received from overseas that the remains of your husband, Lieutenant Ernest Edward Ottaway, have been carefully exhumed from the original place of interment and reverently reburied in grave 7, row E, plot 2, of Adegem Canadian Military Cemetery, Adegem, Belgium. Marked map is enclosed. This is a recognized military burial ground and will receive care and maintenance in perpetuity.

The grave will have been marked with a temporary cross which will be replaced in due course by a permanent headstone suitably inscribed. While it cannot now be stated when this work of permanent commemoration will begin, before any action is taken you will be communicated with and an opportunity will be given you to submit a short personal inscription of your own choice for engraving on the headstone…

Ernest Ottaway’s death was later officially recorded as Overseas casualty, killed in action, in the field (Holland).

In May 1945, Gertrude received a War Service Gratuity of $1157.50 for the loss of her husband. Ernest Ottaway left behind his widowed mother, Lillian; his sister, Virginia; his wife of eight years; and their six-year-old daughter, Marlene.

Ernest Edward Ottaway and his father Ernest Augustine Ottaway each died at the age of 32 and both as a result of war. In early December 1944, a memorial service in Ernest Edward Ottaway’s honour was held in St. George’s Anglican Church, Sarnia, during the regular morning Sunday service. Rev. F.G. Hardy, the choir, and the congregation paid a solemn tribute to his memory, which included the singing of “Unto the Hills Will I Lift Up Mine Eyes”, one of Ernest’s favourite hymns, and the recital of appropriate prayers.

Ernest Ottaway, 32, is buried in Adegem Canadian War Cemetery, Belgium, Grave II.E.7. On his headstone are inscribed the words IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR HUSBAND WHO WAS KILLED IN OOSTBURG, HOLLAND.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Less than three years after enlisting, Michael Joseph Paithouski married the love of his life. Seven months later, he was serving on one of the sturdy little “work horses” of the Royal Canadian Navy. Three months after the birth of his son, Michael Paithouski lost his life off the east coast of Canada to what British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said was “the only thing that ever really frightened me during the war.”

Michael Joseph Paithouski was born in Hamilton, Ontario, on December 7, 1916, the son of Michael Paithouski Sr. (nicknamed “Tato”) and Rosa Paithouski. Rosa Paithouski (nee Doskevitch) was born in Lvov, Poland. In a previous marriage to Paul Lukasevich, Rosa had two children: Peter Lukasevich (born 1901) and Mike Lukez (born 1907, changed his name from Lukasevich). Both sons later became half-brothers to Michael Paithouski. Rosa emigrated from Poland to Canada, leaving behind her husband and two children. Peter Lukasevich and Mike Lukez later immigrated to Sarnia in their 20s, and they later moved to Windsor.                                                     

Michael Paithouski Sr. (“Tato”) was born in Vilshanka (near Kiev), Ukraine. When Tato emigrated from Trieste in northeastern Italy to North America in 1909, his first stop was Ellis Island, New York. Tato’s last name was actually Piatkowski, but the immigration officer recorded it as Paithouski, which it was to remain afterwards. His name is recorded on the American Immigrant Wall of Honor at Ellis Island in New York Harbor. Tato Paithouski then made his way from New York to Montreal and later to Hamilton. It was in Canada that Tato married Rosa. Tato and Rosa had three children: Mary (born 1915 in Montreal); Michael Joseph (born December 7, 1916 in Hamilton); and Nicholas Joseph (born October 26, 1917 in Hamilton). Eventually the Paithouski family moved to Sarnia and resided at 589 South Vidal Street. Tato supported his family working as a boiler foreman at Imperial Oil’s Refinery.

The Paithouski siblings and their spouses were very busy people. Michael’s sister, Mary, married Earl Joseph Wynne just before Earl went off to war in September 1939 (he would become a sergeant in the army). Michael’s younger brother Nicholas (Nick) Joseph Paithouski, was a star football player for Queen’s University, from where he graduated in 1940 as a civil engineer. In his first season as a football player at Queen’s in 1936, Nick played on the junior team because he was viewed as too small for the senior squad. That season, he was voted as the junior team’s Most Valuable Player. He played as a regular on the senior offensive and defensive line for the following three years for the Queen’s Golden Gaels. Nick won the Johnny Evans Trophy as MVP as a lineman in the 1939 season. Graduating in engineering in 1940, Nick was the only one of five children from a Ukrainian-Polish immigrant family to receive a university education.

Nick also was an outstanding player for the Sarnia Imperials and later the Regina Roughriders. As it turns out, his football experience would figure greatly during the war. Nick played centre and linebacker for the 1940 Sarnia Imperials where he was an all-star and won the 1940 Imperial Oil Trophy as the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) league MVP. In 1941, Nick played one year for the CFL Regina (later Saskatchewan) Roughriders. In April 1942, Nick enlisted with the Royal Canadian Engineers, later becoming a lieutenant. He arrived overseas around August 1943. During his time overseas, one of Nick’s highlights was playing in two famous football games in London, England.

The idea for the first football game originated when Major Dennis Whitaker, a former quarterback for the Hamilton Tigers of the CFL and a Dieppe survivor, and an American Special Services lieutenant met in a pub and began talking football. The result of the chance meeting was the Tea Bowl. The game was to be a hybrid, with the first half played under American rules and the second under Canadian rules.

The Canadian Army team, named the “Mustangs”, had a number of Sarnians (Nick Paithouski at center, Charles Henry Living—included in this Project, and Ken Withers) and several CFL players. The Tea Bowl was played on February 13, 1944, before over 30,000 fans in White City Stadium in London, and was even broadcast on British radio. With the looming threat of German bombers, RAF Spitfires were deployed to cover the skies around the stadium during the game. The Canadian Army “Mustangs” defeated the U.S. Army Central Base Station “Pirates” team by a score of 16 to 6.

Stung by the loss, the Americans called for a rematch. Their new team, the U.S. 29th Army team, named the “Blues”, was reinforced with a contingent from the University of Iowa Cornhuskers and a former NFL all-star. The rematch, played on March 19, 1944, again in White City Stadium, this time before a crowd of 50,000, was dubbed the Coffee Bowl. The U.S. “Blues” defeated the Canadian Army “Mustangs” team by a score of 18 to 0.

The outcomes of the games were really irrelevant; what counted was the camaraderie, the friendly competitiveness, and a sense of shared purpose. Less than three months later, the Allied forces, including some of the games’ participants, joined together in something much larger—the D-Day landings on the beaches of France.

As a platoon leader with the Royal Canadian Engineers, Nick Paithouski was responsible for supplying the equipment and building of bridges, 51 of them in 45 days in France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands between March 24 and May 5, 1945. In late 1945, Lieutenant Nicholas Paithouski was awarded the decoration “Mention in Despatches”. The award read “The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of Mentions in Despatches, in recognition of gallant and distinguished services.”

After the war, the United States military authorities recognized his distinguished service and bravery for supplying bridging parts and equipment to Allied Forces in North West Europe. They awarded Nick the USA Bronze Star for his efforts, an honour bestowed on a very small number of non-American servicemen.

After the war, in 1946, Nick married ‘Effie’ Barbara Paul in Hamilton. Nick went on to play two seasons with the Hamilton Tigercats (Wildcats at the time), in 1947 and 1948, while working at Stelco. He then returned to Sarnia to start a family with ‘Effie’ Barbara Paul. They were successful, as ‘Effie’ gave birth to Janet Elizabeth (1951, later Janet Baker) and Joseph Paithouski (1953).

‘Effie’ Barbara Paul was the daughter of Lt. Charles Marr and Frances (nee Williams) Paul. ‘Effie’ was born

in London, England, in November 1917 during a Zeppelin air raid. Her parents, Charles and Frances, decided that mother and child should travel to Sarnia, Ontario, and await the father’s discharge from the army. In September 1918, baby ‘Effie’ Barbara and her mother, Frances Paul, left Southhampton, England, bound for New York aboard RMS Olympic (one of Titanic’s sister ships), under the constant threat of U-boat attack. The British Government had paid for their tickets, a special deal for English wives and children of colonial soldiers to reduce the number of people that needed to be fed. Both Frances’ and Effie’s names are recorded on the American Immigrant Wall of Honor at Ellis Island in New York Harbor. When mother and daughter Paul arrived in Sarnia, Frances received a telegram informing her that her close sister “Lou” had died back in England. Frances’ husband Lt. Charles Marr Paul was still fighting in Europe (more on Lt. Charles Paul below).

Nick and ‘Effie’, along with their children, Janet and Joseph Paithouski, moved to Ottawa in 1960. Nick supported his family working there as a civil engineer for the Federal Department of Transport. ‘Effie’ Barbara Paul earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and became a teacher with the Carleton Board of Education. ‘Effie’ Barbara Paul Paithouski passed away in July of 1976.

Nick Paithouski returned to Sarnia in 1984 to receive a local award—he was inducted into the Sarnia-Lambton Sports Hall of Fame for football in 1984. Trip Trepanier, the Hall of Fame Director, former teammate, and long-time friend of Nick Paithouski, described him as “one of the best centres in Canada, not just one, but for a couple of years… He never bragged about anything; he just took everything as it came.”

On September 15, 1985, Nick Paithouski passed away at the age of 87. Both Nicholas Joseph Paithouski and Effie Barbara Paithouski are buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Sarnia. 

In the autumn of 1987, Nick was posthumously accepted into the Queen’s University Football Hall of Fame. The Paithouski Prize, honouring his memory, is awarded annually at Queen’s University to the graduating engineering student who has demonstrated the most consistent improvement in academic performance.

And one more honour for Nick—on May 15, 2010, twenty-five years after his death, Lieutenant Nick Paithouski was inducted into the Canadian Veterans Hall of Valour in Carleton Place near Ottawa.

Nick Paithouski’s induction into the Hall of Valour was doubly moving for the Paithouski family. ‘Effie’ Barbara Paul’s father, Lieutenant Charles Marr Paul, was also inducted into the Hall of Valour on the same day. Charles Paul was born in Sarnia and was in the first contingent of Canadians to leave for battle in the First World War, departing Val Cartier with the CEF on October 3, 1914. Charles joined the 8th Battalion of the 90th Winnipeg Rifles, nicknamed the Little Black Devils and was later credited with saving many lives.

Lieutenant Charles Paul received the Military Medal for courage and gallantry under fire while holding the line during the first German attack with poison gas at Ypres in April 1915. He also earned a Meritorious Service Medal for saving more lives during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. His unit was also at Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele in 1917, and the following year he was made officer in the field.

It was during the war that Charles met and married Frances Williams in England. After returning to Sarnia with his British bride, Charles and Frances raised eight children: Francis (would serve in the Royal Canadian Navy); Robert, Elva, Lillian, Edna Jean, Edith (married Roy Telfer who served with Canadian Army); Betty Elizabeth (married Jack Stevens who served in the Canadian Army and was wounded at Dieppe); and Effie Barbara, who would become Nick Paithouski’s future wife.

More information on Charles Paul, including portions of two letters that he wrote to his mother from the Front in April of 1915 are included in this Project in the World War I section “Soldiers’ Letters Home to Sarnia.”

Michael Joseph Paithouski was born December 7, 1916, in Hamilton. NOTE: Many of the documents in Michael’s Military Service File, including his Death Certificate, record his birthdate as December 7, 1917. In fact, he was born in 1916.

Michael Paithouski was a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish in Sarnia, and prior to enlisting, worked for approximately six months as a labourer at Kellogg Construction Limited in Sarnia.

On January 23, 1941, Michael Paithouski, age 24, enlisted in the Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) in London, Ontario. He stood five feet seven-and-one-quarter inches tall, had blue eyes and fair hair, was single, and was living with his parents on Vidal Street at the time. He recorded his occupation as fireman, C.S.L. After the war he planned to gain employment as a stationary engineer.

Michael initially received training in London; then in April 1941, he continued training at the naval base Stadacona (Halifax) and at Hochelaga (Quebec). On September 17, 1941, he became a member of the crew of HMCS Drumheller, a Flower-Class corvette. He served on the Drumheller until December 16, 1943. The ship had a number of assignments, including part of the Sydney Force, Newfoundland Command, the Newfie-Derry run, and Mid-Ocean Escort Force escorting convoys across the Atlantic.

Beginning on the opening day of the Second World War, the Battle of the Atlantic would be the longest continuous campaign of the war, and one in which Canada played a central role. The Royal Canadian Navy, along with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Canada’s Merchant Navy, played a vital role in defending the country’s eastern coast and escorting convoys of ships carrying men and essential machinery, arms, fuel, and basic resources between North America and Europe.

On November 30, 1943, Michael Paithouski married Miss Eloise Victoria Johnston at St. George’s Chapel in Sarnia. Eloise, born 1920, was the only daughter of John Eugene Johnston and Florence Johnston of 332 Confederation Street. At the wedding ceremony, Mrs. Hazel Smith served as the matron of honour and George Kumchy served as the best man. Following the ceremony, the immediate families were entertained at the Colonial Hotel for a reception before the newlyweds left on a short wedding trip. On their return, the couple lived at 332 Confederation Street and later 215 Confederation Street, Sarnia. Michael and Eloise Paithouski had one child together, a son, John Michael, born August 22, 1944.

Eloise Johnston had two brothers who also served in the war. One brother, Eugene, served in the infantry, his life forever altered by his wartime experiences. Her other brother, Jay Syver Johnston, became a Flying Officer-Wireless Operator/Air Gunner with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Jay Johnston (Michael’s brother-in-law) lost his life during the war when the Liberator aircraft he was in crashed into Black Mountain in Quebec in October of 1943. The crash took 24 airmen’s lives, the largest single-crash loss of life in the history of the RCAF. The plane was listed as missing, and its remains were not found until after the war. Jay Johnston’s story is included in this Project.

Michael and Eloise Paithouski married just one month after Eloise had lost her brother Jay.

After serving aboard the HMCS Drumheller until mid-December 1943, Michael was then stationed at the base Stadacona in Halifax for a time, and on June 13, 1944, he was transferred to HMCS Shawinigan, with the rank of petty officer stoker.

Before he joined the Shawinigan, Michael returned to Sarnia on a few weeks leave, to visit his parents, his new wife and his many friends.It would be the only time he would see his young son Johnny.

When he returned to duty aboard the Shawinigan, Michael sent Eloise and their young son three letters. Less than one year after getting married, Michael Paithouski lost his life.

HMCS Shawinigan (K136) was a Flower-class corvette, originally designed to accommodate a standard crew of less than 50. Commissioned on September 19, 1941, at Quebec City, she was one of the sturdy little “work horses” of the RCN, and was to become the 9th corvette and 19th Canadian warship lost in the war. She was in the navy’s convoy escort and patrol fleet. Her sea miles totalled more than 150 000, and she had been one of the busiest vessels of her class, escorting convoy runs in the Atlantic Ocean and off the east coast of Canada. Few ships of her class spent more time at sea during the period when German U-boats were most active in the North Atlantic. During the two years prior to her sinking, she did not lose a ship under her charge. Men who served aboard her had been acclaimed for fighting efficiency, for rescue work, and for attacks on enemy U-boats. She escorted hundreds of thousands of vital war supplies and shipping to Allied ports.

On the morning of November 24, 1944, HMCS Shawinigan and a United States Coast Guard Cutter Sassafrass escorted the ferry Burgeo from Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. Ferries on this route were always escorted after the tragic loss of the passenger ferry SS Caribou two years earlier. In mid-October 1942, the Caribou had been torpedoed on the same route and 136 lives were lost, including 10 children.

On this November 1944 day, the three ships made an uneventful crossing to Port aux Basques, at which time the Shawinigan detached to continue doing an independent anti-submarine patrol in the area. The Shawinigan was scheduled to rendezvous with the Burgeo the following morning for the return to Cape Breton. But the Shawinigan never made it.

On that fateful November 24 moonlit night, the Shawinigan maintained radio silence, as ordered, while performing a solo anti-submarine patrol in the Cabot Strait between Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island. Nearby, German U-boat U-1228 was trying to repair a faulty snorkel without success and had decided to return to Germany for repairs. It was now 9:30 p.m. As soon as U-1228 started her return route into the Atlantic, she sighted the Shawinigan. In her first recorded attack on enemy shipping, U-1228 fired a single T-5 Gnat torpedo that struck the corvette in the stern.

Four minutes after the attack, the Shawinigan and her entire crew disappeared in a plume of frigid Atlantic water and a shower of sparks. The ship had no time to transmit any messages and authorities later speculated that the Shawinigan’s depth charges exploded as she sank, adding to the destruction.

The next morning, the Burgeo left Port aux Basques on schedule in the fog but could not find the Shawinigan. They maintained radio silence and did not inform command of Shawinigan’s failure to appear.

Unescorted, the Burgeo made for Sydney and arrived on November 25 at 6 pm. Suspecting something had happened to Shawinigan, naval officers in Sydney ordered an air and sea search for the missing corvette, but bad weather put a stop to much of that. A day or so later, searching ships came upon fragments of wreckage, an empty Carley float, and six bodies, which were all that remained to indicate what had happened to the Shawinigan.

A third of Shawinigan’s crew were 20 years old or younger, and no crew member survived the tragic sinking. Seven officers and 84 crew members, including Michael Paithouski, were lost. It is impossible to record exactly what happened to Shawinigan during her final moments. Some sailors were probably killed instantly by the horrific explosion; others inevitably died in the icy water as the ship sank. Those fortunate enough to get into their life vests and survive the explosion died later in the freezing North Atlantic.

The Shawinigan was one of only three RCN ships lost with all hands. Twenty-three-year-old Petty Leading Coder William Anderson, another Sarnian, was also on board and perished in the sinking. His name is also inscribed on the Sarnia cenotaph and his story is included in this Project.

In late November 1944, Michael Sr. and Rosa Paithouski in Sarnia received a telegram from the Department of National Defence informing them that their son PETTY OFFICER MICHAEL PAITHOUSKI HAS BEEN REPORTED MISSING AT SEA. The message contained no other information and intimated that a letter would follow. The message was received exactly one year to the day that Michael had married Eloise Victoria Johnston.

Eloise was devastated when she received the news. Her son said years later, “I was told that when the telegram arrived, my mother collapsed on the floor.”

On November 29, 1944, one day before her first wedding anniversary, Eloise Victoria Paithouski at 332 Confederation Street, received the following letter from the Secretary, Naval Board:

Dear Mrs. Paithouski:

            It is with deepest regret that I must confirm the telegram of the 29th November 1944, from the Minister of National Defence for Naval Services, informing you that your husband, Michael Paithouski, Stoker Petty Officer, Official Number V-17380, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, is missing at sea.

            The only information that can be given at this time is that your husband is missing at sea when the ship in which he was serving was lost. Please be assured, however, that as soon as further particulars can be released, you will be informed.

            It is regretted that slight hope is held for your husband’s survival. When it is considered, beyond all reasonable doubt, that no further hope exists and should no information be received to the contrary, an official presumption of death will be made by the Canadian Naval Authorities.

It is requested that, for security reasons, you regard the name of the ship in which your husband was serving, as confidential until such time as an official announcement is made. Please accept the sincere sympathy of the Department in your anxiety.

On December 7, 1944, Eloise received the following letter from the Secretary, Naval Board:

Dear Mrs. Paithouski:

            Further to my letter of the 29th of November, 1944, details of the disaster in which your husband has been reported missing are now being released.

            H.M.C.S. “SHAWINIGAN”, a Royal Canadian Navy corvette, was lost while on operational duty at sea. Seven officers, including her Captain, Lieutenant W.J. Jones, R.C.N.R., and seventy-eight ratings are missing. The bodies of five other ratings have been recovered and identified. There are no known survivors.

            It is requested that you will regard this information as confidential until an official announcement is made. May I again express sincere sympathy with you in your anxiety.

On December 7, 1944, in a dispatch from Ottawa, the Hon. Angus L. Macdonald, Minister of National Defence for Naval Services, announced the loss of HMCS Shawinigan while on operational duty in the North Atlantic. He gave no details but said the ship’s complement had been lost and five bodies have been recovered and identified. It was announced locally that two Sarnia seamen, Michael Paithouski and William Anderson, were members of the crew of the Shawinigan and were reported missing.

In mid-February 1945, the Paithouski family in Sarnia received a telegram from Ottawa informing them that their son PETTY OFFICER MICHAEL PAITHOUSKI WHO WAS REPORTED MISSING AT SEA LAST NOVEMBER IS OFFICIALLY PRESUMED LOST.

Also in February 1945, Eloise received the following letter from the Secretary, Naval Board:

Dear Mrs. Paithouski:

            Further to my letter of the 7th of December, 1944, I regret to inform you that in view of the length of time which has elapsed since your husband, Michael Paithouski, Stoker Petty Officer, Official Number V-17380, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, was reported missing from H.M.C.S. “SHAWINIGAN”, and as no news has since been received to the contrary, the Canadian Naval Authorities have now presumed his death to have occurred on the 24th of November, 1944.

            Please allow me to express sincere sympathy with you in your bereavement on behalf of the Minister of National Defence for Naval Services, the Chief of the Naval Staff, and the Officers and men of the Royal Canadian Navy, the high traditions of which your husband has helped to maintain.

Michael Paithouski’s death was later officially recorded as Missing, presumed dead, when the ship in which he was serving, H.M.C.S. ‘Shawinigan’ was lost while on operational duty at sea.

In late August 1945, Eloise, then at 215 Confederation Street, received a War Service Gratuity of $817.95 for the loss of her husband. Also in late August 1945, she received the following letter from the Secretary, Naval Board:

Dear Mrs. Paithouski:

            Further to my letter of the 15th of February, 1945, the Department is now able to release additional information regarding the loss of your husband’s ship and I am accordingly passing on the following particulars which will, no doubt, be of interest to you.

            H.M.C.S. “SHAWINIGAN” sailed from Sydney, N.S., on the 24th of November, 1944, to escort a merchant ship to Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland, and arrived off Port Aux Basques that night. In accordance with orders she was then to carry out a patrol in the area for the duration of the night, after which she was to meet the same merchant ship the next morning and return with her to Sydney.

            The merchant ship arrived in Sydney unescorted on the night of the 25th of November and after it was ascertained that “Shawinigan” had not appeared at the designated rendezvous to provide escort as instructed, searches were instituted and “Shawinigan” was discovered to be missing.

            It was the opinion of the Department at the time that the ship had been torpedoed by an enemy submarine during the night of the 24th/25th of November, 1944, as submarines were known to be operating in that area; and this has since been confirmed from German evidence. Although no survivors were found, a few bodies were recovered by later searches, due to tidal movements, some distance from the area in which “Shawinigan” was known to be operating. As a result, the position of the sinking can not be exactly ascertained, although from German evidence and the Department’s computation, it is estimated to be in the vicinity of the three mile limit off Channel Head, near Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland.

It was not until after the war ended and U-1228 surrendered, that the details of what had happened to the Shawinigan that night were uncovered. When the U-boat commander was interrogated in May 1945, he stated the ship sank quickly, followed by two underwater explosions. He saw no survivors in the water.

Michael Paithouski, 27, has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia, Canada, Panel 12. The page displaying Michael’s name in the Book of Remembrance in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, Ottawa is open each year every September 1st.

Michael left behind Eloise and their three-month-old son Johnny Paithouski. For Eloise, she did not have clear closure of her husband’s death, or her brother, Jay’s death, until after the war ended. Jay Johnston’s Liberator aircraft had crashed into Black Mountain in Quebec on October 20, 1943, taking the lives of 24 airmen. The fate of the aircraft remained a mystery until the crash site was located in June 1946. In the early 1950s, Eloise, and their son Johnny (age 7 or 8 at the time), accompanied by her father, John Johnston, visited the grave of her brother Jay.

They hired a guide to help them navigate the long and arduous climb. John remembers that when his grandfather and his mother saw Jay’s grave “it was very emotional but just seeing my uncle’s final resting place provided a real sense of closure for them. Seeing his grave helped them cope with their loss.”

Eloise eventually starting working midnight shifts as a switchboard operator at Bell Canada and leaving their son, Johnny, to be cared for by Michael’s sister, Mary and her husband Earl Wynne.

John was only a newborn when his father came home on leave in 1944 and held his son for the first time, so John does not remember meeting him. But he did get to know his father growing up. Eloise displayed several photos of her husband at their home and she, along with other relatives, continually regaled John with stories about his father. “From what I understand, my dad was hard not to like; he was a very popular guy,” John stated. “Everyone liked him—he was ‘one of the guys’. He was a party guy who enjoyed life and his friends and, from what I’ve been told, he loved to laugh. When people told me stories about him, they recalled the good times and usually commented on how much my dad laughed.”

Family members often mentioned to John how much he resembled his father; not only in his appearance, but also in his actions, his mannerisms, and his infectious laugh. In the mid-1950s, Eloise remarried, to Tom Rue, a Norwegian Merchant Marine stationed in Canada, and they moved to Toronto. John recalled that his stepfather was a terrific person with whom he got along with very well. But when John had the opportunity to take his surname, he refused. He explained it this way: “I meant no disrespect to my stepfather—he was always simply wonderful to me—but I wanted to honour my father by keeping the name ‘Paithouski’”.

Fifty-three years after the sinking, on June 14, 1997, at Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chrietien, and his wife took part in a Royal Canadian Navy ceremony to officially commission the new HMCS Shawinigan (704). A memorial service for those who had died on the original Shawinigan was held and a stone monument dedicated to the 91 lost was also unveiled.

In attendance for the memorial service and christening were Johnny Paithouski and his wife, Paulette. They were there with other families who had lost loved ones on board the HMCS Shawinigan on that fateful night in November 1944. For John and others, the hope was that the occasion would provide a sense of closure. John recalled, “I have never stopped thinking of my dad. In many ways, I would be attending the funeral my father never had.”

John and Paulette also met admirals and dignitaries, other family members who had lost loved ones on the Shawinigan, and some members of the “old crew” who had served on the corvette earlier in the war. The entire trip was exhilarating, exhausting, and memorable. John stated, “After all these years, I was fortunate enough to see my dad honoured. I had finally attended my dad’s funeral…it was a beautiful ceremony.”

Johnny had married Paulette, her second marriage, and she had a son from her first marriage, Shawn. A number of years later, with his step-son’s full approval, Johnny in the first legal case of its kind in Ontario, adopted Shawn who then became Shawn Paithouski.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Ted Parsons was born in Sarnia on November 26, 1916, the third child of Arthur Edwin (born 1883) and Olive Sarah (nee Cornish, born 1896) Parsons, both of whom were born in Portsmouth, England. At some point they both immigrated to Canada and got married on March 18, 1913, in Point Edward, Ontario. Arthur Parsons Sr. supported his family by working as a civil and stationary engineer. The Parsons family moved around a lot in the city—residing at 186 Nelson St. (in 1916); at 112 Maria St. (in 1921); at 327 Brock St. (in 1931); at 286 Kathleen Avenue; at 170 Proctor Street, and then 263 North Vidal Street, Sarnia.

Arthur Sr. and Olive had five children together: sons John (the eldest son), Arthur Edward (Ted), and Thomas; and two daughters, Gwendolyn (the eldest daughter), and Shirley. Note: Thomas and Shirley were fraternal twins and were the youngest of the Parsons children. Many years later, Thomas Parsons named Ted, his only son, after his older brother who had such an impact on Thomas.

Ted Parsons attended three elementary schools in Sarnia from 1925 to 1931: London Road, Lochiel Street, and Devine Street Public Schools. He then attended Sarnia Collegiate from September 1931 until June 1934. Ted was a member of the SCITS rugby and basketball teams, was active in swimming and track, and enjoyed his hobby of photography. According to his family members, Ted was hard-working, well-liked, and well-respected. With his charming, out-going, and fun-loving personality, he developed quite a reputation as a lady’s man during his youth. 

Ted had a number of jobs prior to enlisting: as a clerk at Clement Drug Company in Sarnia, 1929-1930; as a salesman with Parson’s Gift Shoppe in Sarnia, 1934 to 1936; as a jeweller at C.A. Remus Jewellers in Timmins, 1936 to 1940; and then as a jeweller at W.H. McCreery Jewellers in Windsor, from September 1940 until early 1941. Reference letters written by two business people in Timmins on behalf of Ted in his RCAF application included the following comments: I have always found him honorable and trustworthy in every respect. I would say that Mr. Parsons exemplifies our finer type Canadian Youth and I am sure that he would not be found lacking in any trust imposed with him; and I have found him to be a willing, honest and able worker at all times. He has resided in Timmins for the past four years, and is well known here, and well-liked by business associates and personal acquaintances.

On February 24, 1941, Arthur “Ted” Parsons, age 24, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in Windsor, Ontario. He stood five feet seven inches tall, had blue eyes and brown hair, was single, and was residing at 1019 Pelissier Street, Windsor, at the time. He recorded his permanent address as 286 Kathleen Avenue, and his next-of-kin as his mother, Mrs. Olive Parsons, of 286 Kathleen Avenue, Sarnia. He also recorded that he had applied to join the RCAF in September 1940 in North Bay, the result being he transferred to Windsor. He had already begun working on his flying license prior to enlisting, with 9 ½ hours of dual flying, and 2 ½ hours of solo flying experience. He requested flying duties with the RCAF, with a preference to be a pilot.

From the Recruiting Centre in Windsor and #1 Manning Depot in Toronto, Ted received his air training at a number of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) schools across the country including #5 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) in Brantford; #1 Initial Training School (ITS) in Toronto; #12 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) in Goderich; Composite Training School (KTS) in Trenton; #7 Air Observer School (AOS) in Portage la Prairie; #3 Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) in MacDonald, Manitoba; and then #1 Air Navigation School (ANS) in Rivers, Manitoba. The Chief Instructor and Commanding Officer at #1 ANS commented that Ted Parson was Above average student. Conscientious worker, excellent navigator. Good appearance and personality, and Excellent officer material – would make a good instructor.

Just over one year after joining the RCAF, Ted lost his father, Arthur Parsons, who passed away on March 8, 1942, at the age of 58. He is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Sarnia. Ted, who was training at #3 B&GS in Manitoba at the time, was given a 15-day leave to return home.

The following month, on April 11, 1942, Ted was awarded his Air Observer’s Badge at #3B&GS. One month later, on May 11, Ted received his commission as pilot officer at #1 ANS in Rivers, Manitoba. Ted then spent his two-week pre-embarkation furlough with his widowed mother in Sarnia. By July 1942, he was posted east, to #31 Operational Training Unit (OTU) in Debert, Nova Scotia, and then to #31 Personnel Depot (PD) in Moncton, New Brunswick.

On July 20, 1942, Ted embarked overseas and arrived in the United Kingdom 10 days later. Initially posted to #3 Personnel Reception Centre, he was transferred to #9 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit (AFU) and then on August 8, 1942, to #14 Operational Training Unit (OTU). On February 6, 1943, Ted became a member of RAF # 77 Squadron, part of Bomber Command.

During the course of the war, one of this country’s most significant contributions was the approximately 50,000 Canadians who served with the RCAF and RAF in Bomber Command operations. Next to Britain, Canada was the largest contributor to Bomber Command, making up more than a third of all of Bomber Command personnel. The men who served in Bomber Command faced some of the most difficult odds of anyone fighting in the war.

At the start of the war, RAF #77 Squadron was based at RAF Driffield and was equipped with Armstrong Whitworth Whitley aircraft—twin engine, medium bombers. Initially, the squadron played a role in the propaganda war, dropping leaflets, known as “Nickels”, over Germany. By March 1940, as part of No. 4 Group, they began bombing missions against Germany, operating from different RAF bases—such as Kinloss, Linton-on-Ouse, Topcliffe, and Leeming—over a couple of years. In the period between September 1939 and May 1942, it is believed that #77 Squadron carried out more raids and suffered more losses than any other Whitley squadron. From early May to October 1942, the squadron was loaned to Coastal Command, where they carried out convoy escorts, anti-submarine patrols, and shipping strikes from RAF Chivenor, off south west England. In October 1942, RAF #77 Squadron returned to Bomber Command and converted to Handley Page Halifax aircraft—four engine, heavy bombers.

No. 77 Squadron also became the first occupant of the newly-built RAF Elvington airbase, just outside of York. RAF Elvington station was a recently constructed temporary camp with wooden buildings and Nissen hut accommodations, but with far less luxury and comfort than their previous base. The airfield and squadron were declared fully operational at the end of January 1943 as part of Bomber Command with No. 4 Group.

In March 1943, Olive in Sarnia received news that her son Arthur “Ted” Parsons had been promoted from pilot officer to flying officer by the R.C.A.F. “somewhere in England”.

As an RCAF member of RAF #77 Squadron “Esse Potius Quam Videri” (To be, rather than seem), Ted Parsons attained the rank flying officer-navigator. He served with #77 Squadron for less than three months, aboard Halifax II aircraft JB803. In that short time, the crew flew 12 missions: March 11-Stuttgart, March 12-Essen, March 29-Berlin, April 2-Lorient, April 3-Essen, April 8-Duisburg, April 10-Frankfurt, April 14-Stuttgart, April 16-Pilsen, April 20-Stettin, April 26-Duisburg, and April 27-Mining.

During February and March 1943, the squadron flew 152 sorties on 22 raids, with the loss of only three aircraft, a loss rate of 2%. However, during the months of April, May, and June 1943, when the squadron carried out 356 sorties on 29 raids, 19 aircraft went missing and two were lost in take-off accidents. The average loss rate was 5.8% which meant that only about 1 crew in six could be expected to complete a tour of 30 operations.

On the night of April 30/May 1, 1943, Ted Parsons was a member of the crew of seven (five British and two Canadian) aboard Halifax II aircraft JB803 (markings KN-G) on her 13th mission. Five of the seven crew members of JB803 flew on all 13 missions, including Ted Parsons, Thomas Scharff, Ian Crawford, Leon Hannam, and Gordon Watson. William Louth flew the last six, and Raymond Shepherd flew the last four missions.

Weighing almost 30-tons, the aircraft departed at 23:53 hours (April 30) from RAF Elvington. The night mission, consisting of 305 heavy bombers, was an operational sortie targeting the city of Essen in the Ruhr Valley of Germany. Crossing the North Sea was relatively uneventful but after crossing the Dutch coast it did not take long before the flight was picked up by German radar operators at their Zander station near Zandvoort. German pilot Feldweibel Heinz Vinke, in his twin-engine Messerschmitt Bf110, was one of the many night fighters sent out to intercept the bombers.

After take-off, nothing was heard from Halifax JB803, and it was later reported missing.

With a high concentration of German anti-aircraft guns in north Holland, especially around Amsterdam, Allied bombers tended to avoid this area. With British operations being carried out at night, most of their losses in this area was not due to anti-aircraft fire, but were the result of German night fighters.

On this night, soon after 02:00 hours (May 1), Vinke’s German night fighter caught up with JB803 above North Holland and started his attack at an altitude of 6,300 meters. It is most likely Vinke started his attack from below and the rear, a common tactic. The attack damaged the Halifax significantly and she was forced to start her descent into the thick cloud layer below them. The conditions over Holland that pitch black night were not the best as pilots contended with drizzle, and a low, thick cloud base. Now engulfed in flames, the Halifax circled around the villages of Muiden, Muiderberg, and Ijsselmeer Lake, likely in an effort to establish their position to bail out over land instead of water.

During the perilous descent, 20-year-old pilot Gordon Watson gave the order to jump. Five of the seven crewmen bailed out of the bomber exit, including Ted Parsons. Tragically, the strong winds pushed them over nearby Ijsselmeer Lake. Four of the parachuters, including Parsons, landed in the ice-cold waters of the lake where they drowned. Pilot Watson remained on board to give the crew the time to jump. Gunner Thomas Scarff also remained on board, either because he was wounded or he was trying to assist Watson in an emergency landing. We will never know. The aircraft crashed at approximately 02:26 hours (May 1) between Muiden and Muiderberg (about 15 km east of Amsterdam). It exploded instantly and area residents saw fires at the crash site for the rest of the night.

The next day, the bodies of Sgts. Watson and Scarff were found outside the aircraft. It was determined that they had died instantly in the crash. The two victims were quickly coffered by the Germans on the Saturday morning (May 1), and local citizen Frans Nell brought the bodies by horse and wagon to the community cemetery in Muiden Woods. Doctor Hakman, who cared for the two bodies, recalled years later that the Canadian Scarff had an ID bracelet on his wrist and a small bible in his pocket, plus a photograph of a young woman. The two airmen were buried that night after 8 o’clock, with the mayor of Muiden present at the burial.

In the days following, the bodies of four of the airmen who parachuted out of the aircraft washed ashore, with no signs of life vests on any of them: F/O Ted Parsons and Sgts. Ian Crawford, Leon Hannam, and Raymond Shepherd. Ted Parsons was the first drowned victim found by the 15-year-old son of the Stoop family from Muiden, on Sunday, May 2, a good 24 hours after the crash. The next day three other bodies washed up. By May 4, the bodies of Ted Parsons, Ian Crawford, Leon Hannam, and Raymond Shepherd were buried in Muiden General Cemetery by the German authorities in the presence of Muiden mayor Coops. The body of the seventh airman, Sgt. William Louth, was initially not recovered; in fact, his remains have never been located.

On the day of the crash, an airman with no means of identification on him was found severely wounded. He was taken to hospital where he died of his injuries on May 13 without ever waking up. That body was buried in Amsterdam in a grave inscribed with the words AN AIRMAN OF THE 1939-1945 WAR, A SERGEANT, ROYAL AIR FORCE 13TH MAY 1943 KNOWN UNTO GOD. There was some speculation that this could have been Louths’ body; however, there was another bomber that crashed in the same area that same night. Experts believe the unidentified airman came from this other bomber.

Most believe that William Louth either landed in the lake with the others and sank to the bottom, never to be recovered; or he never got out of the aircraft and his body is still entombed in the ground with the remnants of the aircraft (the engine itself was located two metres below the surface, and the nose would have been deeper). William Louth’s name is inscribed on the Runnymede Memorial.

Perishing with Navigator F/O Arthur Ted Parsons were Sgt. Thomas Deuel Scarff (RCAF, born and raised in Winnipeg, age 23, tailgunner); and Sgts. Ian Douglas Crawford (RAF, age 21, flight engineer), Leon Hannam (RAF, age 22, bomb aimer/air gunner), Raymond Shepherd (RAF, age 21, top gunner), William Robert Louth (RAF, age 29, wireless operator, and the only married crew member), and Gordon Watson (RAF, age 20, pilot).

In England, British High Command considered the Essen mission a success, for of the 305 aircraft that took part in the raid, only 12 were lost.  

Halifax JB803 was shot down by German Luftwaffe night fighter ace Heinz Vinke and was his 19th kill since becoming a night fighter. Awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross in September 1943, he was credited with shooting down 54 enemy aircraft, all at night, and is ranked as the 18th most successful night fighter pilot in the history of aerial warfare. At age 23, while flying a Messerschmitt Bf110, Vinke was shot down and killed on February 26, 1944, by two British Typhoons who were on a search and rescue mission over the English Channel. His body was never found.

Following are five accounts from eyewitnesses of the events on the night of April 30/May 1—the night Halifax JB803 was shot down over Holland:

Sake van Huissteden is 12 years old and on his way home with his father. They are in the Noordpolder (a hamlet on a low-lying tract of land enclosed by dikes). Behind them they drag a cart with a slaughtered sheep. They hear a strange, thunderous sound. When they reach the Echobos (a wooded site on the western edge of Muiderberg), they hear a great explosion, but do not know what is going on.

The four Heynis sisters are in bed in their house on the Herengracht in Muiden. Hetty is awake. She hears the sound of an airplane and leaves her bed. When she looks out the window, she sees a burning plane flying over the barracks. It scatters light bullets. She opens the window and just at that moment someone jumps out of the plane with a parachute… Later the sisters heard that the plane crashed in the Noordpolder when it wanted to make an emergency landing. Two crew members are found at the wreck, but the rest are lost. The Germans begin house searches the next day.

Gerrit Wegman is 12 years old and lives on the Zuidpolderweg. He also wakes up from the noise of the bomber and the explosion. From his bedroom window, he sees a sea of fire on the other side of the canal, a few hundred meters away from him. Not long after, the Germans do a house search.

Ben Hottentot lives on the farm at the Hakkelaar and is woken up by the explosion. He looks out the window and sees a red glow. He can not determine the distance in the dark. He thinks the Kruitfabriek (gunpowder factory) or a factory is bombed somewhere in Amsterdam-North and goes back to bed. An hour later, a pounding on the door. The farm is surrounded by Germans. They ask for English fliers, but it soon becomes clear that they are not on the farm. The next morning, Hottentot sees how close the wreck is in the pasture. It was guarded by the Germans. On 2 and 3 May, the bodies of the dead crew members who had jumped out of the plane with their parachutes and drowned in the Ijsselmeer are washing up.

Frans Nell and his brother on the Slothoeve farm on the northpolder road in Muiden, after hearing the huge bang and seeing a sea of fire in the meadows just east of the road, got dressed to investigate the area. On the third meadow along the waterway, they saw a huge piece of the bomber which did not burn. The entire area was full of wreckage pieces and there was still evidence of fire on places where the 800 kg Rolls-Royce engines were sunken into the ground. They came across the still bodies of two crewmen laying next to each other (Watson and Scharff) beside the wreckage, not pinched in the remains. Frans Nell recalled years later that neither of the bodies was burnt, mutilated or bloodied, but appeared to have had serious head wounds.

Note: The bomber crashed on land owned by the Nell family.

On May 2, 1943, widowed Olive Parsons, then living at 170 Proctor Street, Sarnia, received the following telegram from the RCAF Casualties Officer: REGRET TO ADVISE YOU THAT YOUR SON FLYING OFFICER ARTHUR EDWARD PARSONS J ONE ONE SIX THREE SIX IS REPORTED MISSING AFTER AIR OPERATIONS OVERSEAS MAY FIRST STOP LETTER FOLLOWS.

Ted Parsons’ death was later officially recorded as Previously reported missing after air operations, now for official purposes, presumed dead.

In August 1945, Olive, then residing at 263 North Vidal Vidal Street, received a War Service Gratuity of $317.79 for the loss of her son.

In the spring of 1946, the RAF Missing Research and Enquiry Unit (MREU) conducted an investigation into the crash of Halifax JB803 and the burial of its crew. Following are portions of the Investigating Officers report:

2. … I called at the Town Hall at Muiden on March 7th, 1946, and interviewed the burgomaster, a Mr. Koops a very helpful man. Mr. Koops told us he remembered the crash. No one of the police had been allowed near it. It occurred at 0230 hrs. on the morning of May 1st, 1943, in Polderland near the IJsselmeer (Zuider Zee). The aircraft burnt furiously for several hours, but there was no explosion. The burgomaster stated that all remains of the aircraft were taken away by the Germans.

3. The bodies of Sgt. Scraff and Sgt. Watson were found near the aircraft. A doctor who visited the aircraft after it had burned out stated that he could not find the remains of any more bodies in the wreck. A couple of days later the body of F/O Parsons was washed ashore from the Ijsselmeer at Muiden and the bodies of Sgts. Crawford, Shepherd and Hannam were washed ashore at Diemen, about 3 miles westwards.

4. The burgomaster had not heard of a seventh body, that of Sgt. Louth, being found. It is possible that he baled out, as apparently the other members of the crew did, and that he came down in the Ijsselmeer and has either never been discovered or was washed ashore some considerable time afterwards, having no remaining means of identification.

5. Next day, we called at the Oosterbegraafplaats, Amsterdam GSGS Sheet 2A Z 095203, as many airmen, who were found in the Ijsselmeer have been buried there, and we discovered that there is an unknown who was buried in May 13, 1943, in grave 49, topmost coffin, Section 69. The body was brought from the Ijsselmeer. This body will be exhumed. There are many unknowns buried in the period of 3 months after the crash, at this cemetery, who one of which might be Sgt. Louth…

6. It was the custom of the Germans to take wounded airmen and the bodies of the killed to the Wilhelmina Gasthuis at Amsterdam, a large hospital. Thinking that it might be possible to find out something about Sgt. Louth there, we next called on the doctor in charge, but perusal of the books did not provide any enlightenment.

7. Further efforts will be made to discover the fate and burial place of Sgt. Louth.

In July 1946, Olive received the following letter from the R.C.A.F. Casualty Officer, for Chief of the Air Staff in Ottawa:

Dear Mrs. Parsons:

            A report has now been received from a Missing Research and Enquiry Unit on the Continent which contains additional information concerning the death and place of burial of your son, Flying Officer Arthur Edward Parsons, of which, although it is of a distressing nature, it is felt you would wish to be advised.

            According to local inhabitants who were interrogated by a representative from the Missing Research and Enquiry Unit, the aircraft of which your son was a member of the crew crashed at approximately 2:30 A.M. on May 1st, 1943, near the Ijsselmeer, (Zuider Zee) near Muiden, 6 ½ miles East South East of Amsterdam, Holland. The bodies of Flight Sergeant Scarff and Sergeant Watson were recovered near the wrecked aircraft and the body of your son was recovered from the Ijsselmeer at Muiden. The bodies of Sergeant Crawford, Sergeant Shepherd and Sergeant Hannam were also recovered from the sea about three miles distant, at Diemen. The six members of the crew were buried by the German Authorities in the General Cemetery at Muiden, Holland, and your son was buried in Grave No. 85, Row 1, rather than Grave No. 80 as previously advised.

            The reverent care of the burial places of all who served in the Forces of the British Empire is the task of the Imperial War Graves Commission. Already eminent architects are at work planning the construction of beautiful cemeteries and each individual grave will be supported and sustained by the nations of the Empire. I hope it may be of some consolation to you to know that your gallant son’s grave is in sacred care and keeping.

May I again offer you and the members of your family my deepest sympathy in your great loss.

In March 1947, Olive received the following letter from the Wing Commander for Chief of the Air Staff in Ottawa:

Dear Mrs. Parsons:

            It is a privilege to have the opportunity of sending you the Operational Wings and Certificate in recognition of the gallant services rendered by your son, Flying Officer A.E. Parsons. I realize there is little which may be said or done to lessen your sorrow, but it is my hope that these “Wings”, indicative of operations against the enemy, will be a treasured memento of a young life offered on the altar of freedom in defence of his Home and Country.

Reflecting many years later, Ted’s sister, Shirley (McKenzie), said, “When mother got the news, she was heartbroken”. For the rest of her life, Olive never believed that her son was dead. She always held out hope that someday her “Tedums” would return home and come through the front door.

Arthur Ted Parsons, 27, is buried in Muiden General Cemetery, Netherlands, Row E, Grave 85. On his headstone are inscribed the words GOD’S GREATEST GIFT, REMEMBRANCE.

Since 1943, the municipality of Gooise Meren along with the Commonwealth War Grace Commission have maintained the six war graves.

Since 1946, every May 4 is Hollands national Remembrance Day (Dodenhherdenking), a solemn occasion and one the Dutch mark with ceremonies at the Canadian War Cemeteries. On that day, people all over the country observe two minutes of silence at 8:00 p.m.

On May 5^th, the Dutch across the country celebrate National Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag). It was on this date that Canadian General Charles Foulkes accepted the German surrender in the Netherlands. The German occupation of their country was officially over, and the Dutch celebrated and continue to celebrate their freedom and democracy.

In Muiden, on every May 4, a commemoration is organized by the Commission Public Parties Muiden. It begins with an evening service with citizens attending the local church where there are speeches, followed by a silent procession to the Muiden Cemetery. Residents gather around the graves of the six Allied airmen of Halifax JB803, music is played, and then at exactly 8:00 p.m., two minutes of silence is observed. This is then followed by the playing of the Dutch national anthem, and the mayor then lays a wreath. Then flowers, usually tulips, are placed on the graves—by military and police personnel, and the general public—including by schoolchildren.

Every Christmas Eve, Muiden residents place a lit candle on the graves of the six airmen. This is a custom that began over 25 years ago in the Canadian War Cemetery in Holten, and the movement spread throughout the country. At night, candles are placed on the graves of the six fallen. 

Much of Halifax JB803 was salvaged in 1943 by the Germans (it took about a week), including one of the four engines; however, some bits and pieces remained at the crash site. After the war, collectors found two engines to salvage, but the fourth engine sat in the ground for 60 years.

In the summer of 2003, the son of Frans Nell kindly agreed to an excavation of the crash site through the Aircraft Recovery Group (ARG) 1940-1945 Foundation in Heemskerk, Holland. On August 17, 2003, the ARG unearthed the remains of the Halifax JB803. Among the three tons of wreckage removed was the last of four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines (found more than two metres below ground level), three radiators, a fire extinguisher, two undercarriage legs, engine mounts, and wing portions. Some of the parts were transported to the group’s museum in Heemskerk, including the Merlin engine, while other components were put on display at the Muiden town hall.

Guus Kroon of Muiden remembered as a child in 1964 cycling with his parents along the dyke through the Noordpolder when his father pointed at a white house in the direction of the polder and told him that a plane had crashed over there during the war. Guus was immediately fascinated and so began his search for more information. Also, over the years as he rode his bicycle throughout the Netherlands he noticed several monuments for other Allied aircraft that had crashed and he wondered why there was no monument in his hometown. So in 2017, Guus Kroon founded the Workgroup Halifax Monument Muiden. He and his group of volunteers, that included David van Coolwijk, Wouter Wormhoudt, Willem Kroon, Hans Kroon, and Frans-Jan Ter Beek, developed plans to erect a monument to honour of the crew of Halifax JB803 at the crash site in Muiden.

The group’s initial goal was to have a permanent monument completed by May 1, 2018, the 75th anniversary of the crash; however, they had time only to erect a plaque on a fence near the crash site. On it were inscribed the names and short descriptions of the seven crew members. The official unveiling of the plaque in May 2018 drew much interest from area residents in Muiden and Muiderberg.

Continuing their plan, the group hit some unanticipated snags: the original proposed site for the monument was considered a safety hazard to motorists because of its proximity to the road; and several pipes and cables running beneath the proposed site posed a problem.

The group established a foundation and a website in 2018, advertised nationally, and began fundraising through crowdfunding and accepting public and personal donations. They needed to raise €4000 to finance the construction and the maintenance of the monument. In January 2019, the group began construction of the monument. They also ran special fundraising events; for example, on April 28, 2019, the group ran a “Ted Parsons Look Alike Contest.” In early 2020, the group received approval at a new site on the Zuidpolderweg, on the curve of a bicycle path, about 150 metres from the crash site.

In March 2020, the corona virus pandemic hit the Netherlands that postponed the planned May unveiling. The year 2020 was also the 75th anniversary of the end of the war. 

On September 5, 2020, the official unveiling ceremony took place and included Mayor Han ter Heegde and David van Coolwijk’s children uncovering the monument from beneath a Dutch flag draped over it. Near the end of the ceremony and prior to a moment of silence for the deceased airmen, Mayor Ter Heegde stated, “The heroes of Muiden now have a ‘memorial’… they may be a shining example to us in their bravery, their courage, and their confidence in a good cause.”

Sarnia was also a part of the event. Along with a letter from Mayor Mike Bradley expressing the gratitude of the citizens of Sarnia, the Royal Canadian Legion (Sarnia) Branch 62, and the Sarnia Historical Society made a donation of $1000 to assist in the building and maintenance of the monument.

The monument is an impressive structure standing three metres tall. The pedestal is a concrete base covered in red bricks and affixed to it is the plaque from 2018. Atop the pedestal is an airplane propeller that is attached to the base by a steel tube. The propeller is an original blade from a Halifax bomber acquired from the Aircraft Recovery Group in Heemskerk, Netherlands, but not the Halifax JB803.

Using a metal detector, historian and Monument Muiden group member David van Coolwijk had recovered pieces of the Halifax JB803. A number of these pieces were sent to family members of the seven crewmen around the time of the monument unveiling. Family members had been invited to the monument unveiling ceremony but COVID travel restrictions prevented them from attending.

Sharon McDonald of Sarnia, Ted Parsons’ niece, was one of those unable to attend. She was disappointed she could not be in Muiden, but was very appreciative of what Guus Kroon started three years ago. “When I first heard about it,” Sharon stated, “I couldn’t think of anything else for a couple of weeks. It’s amazing really and I’m so grateful to Guus and his group. Olive, my grandmother, would be extremely happy and so proud of her son, Ted.”

Sharon’s mother, Gwendolyn (Parsons-Waite), was Ted Parsons’ sister. Gwen and Ted were very close to each other growing up. Gwen passed away in 2009 and was cremated. In September 2020, around the time of the monuments’ unveiling, Sharon mailed Gwen’s ashes to David van Coolwijk so that he could scatter them on the grave of her brother Ted. After nearly eight decades, a brother and a sister were together again. An emotional van Coolwijk simply stated, “It is a great honour.”

Sadly, Sharon McDonald passed away in June 2021 and never did get to Holland to see the monument in person.  She did, however, live to see her uncle honoured and her mother’s ashes re-united with her beloved brother.

The Monument Muiden group continues its work to honour the sacrifices made by the crew of Halifax JB803. Every May 1, there is a ceremony at the monument, one that the mayor insists on attending. Community members gather around it to hear a few speeches and to observe one minute of silence to remember the airmen who sacrificed their lives. The Muiden group are also organizing material that they can bring it into the classroom—to teach the schoolchildren about JB803 and her crew. And every September 5, the monument organizers along with their families, gather for a picnic at the monument—to remember.

A wonderful website has been created by the Halifax Monument Muiden volunteers: www.halifaxmonumentmuiden.nl

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

More information on this soldier is available in

Valour Remembered: Sarnia-Lambton War Stories by Tom Slater and Tom St. Amand

Douglas Pole was born in Sarnia on October 15, 1923, the middle son of Willard Harford and Muriel Grace (nee Proctor) Pole. Willard, the son of Charles and Mary Pole, was born on August 4, 1892, in Strathroy, Ontario, and served in WWI.

At the age of 24, Willard Pole enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on February 19, 1917, in London, Ontario. He stood five feet nine-and-a-half inches tall, had blue eyes and light brown hair, was single and was living with his parents at 440 Wellington Street, Sarnia at the time. He recorded his next-of-kin as his mother, Mary, who was living on Wellington Street and later 194 Kathleen Avenue. He listed his trade or calling as druggist. He was appointed the rank of sergeant, with Canadian Army Medical Corps (C.A.M.C.) at Training Depot, No. 1, of the CEF. Less than two months later, on April 12, 1917, he embarked overseas from Halifax and arrived in Liverpool on April 29.

One month later, on May 31, 1917, Sergeant Willard Pole arrived in Havre, France, as a member of the CAMC. He served as a medic initially with the 5th Canadian Field Ambulance and in late August 1917 was transferred to the 29th Company, Canadian Forestry Corps. In the early part of 1919, he returned to England and was attached to No. 9 Canadian Stationary Hospital. He was discharged on July 17, 1919, in Halifax, because the war was over or, as the military put it, a “demobilization consequence upon cessation of hostilities”.

Willard Pole graduated from the College of Pharmacy the same year and returned to Sarnia. He married Sarnia-born Muriel Grace Proctor Pole on October 11, 1919, in Sarnia. Muriel Grace, who went by her middle name, Grace, was born January 29, 1893, in Sarnia, the daughter of George and Harriet Proctor. Willard and Grace were blessed with three sons: the eldest, Ross Norman (born Sept. 24, 1920 in Windsor); Douglas Campbell (born Oct. 15, 1923 in Sarnia); and the youngest, Neil Proctor (born June 13, 1927 in Sarnia). The Pole family lived at 208 Essex Street and Willard was a druggist in Sarnia, operating the successful Pole’s Drug Store.

Janet Pole, the daughter of Neil Pole, many years later, recalled a story about the three boys when they were young: when George Proctor passed away in 1930, Neil was about 2 ¹/₂ years old. His two older brothers dared him to go visit his grandpa at the funeral home. So, he did, walking to the funeral home by himself, in December. When he was found, the funeral home called Grace and asked, “Are you missing a child?”

Janet recalled that she wasn’t sure who got in more trouble.

Doug Pole attended George Street Public School in Sarnia from 1929 to 1936, and then Sarnia Collegiate from September 1937 until April 1942. At high school, he was extremely active in many sports: basketball, rugby, baseball, lacrosse, water-polo, and football. Besides playing WOSSAA hockey, he was also a badminton star, having received a championship cup while playing at the local Armouries. Outside sports, Doug was a member of Central United Church and its Central Century Club where, not surprisingly, the athletic Pole played hockey, softball, and basketball. He also found time to indulge his hobby of collecting old coins and in the summer of 1941, he worked at Imperial Oil Limited as a watchman on the SS Iocolite, an Imperial Oil tanker.

On March 27, 1942, Doug Pole, age 18, enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in Sarnia (three months after his older brother Ross had enlisted). At the outbreak of World War II, the military set requirements for volunteers, one being that they had to be, at minimum, 18 years of age. For overseas service, the minimum age was 19. Doug stood five feet eight-and-a-half inches tall, was single, and was residing at home with his parents on Essex Street at the time. He recorded his occupation as student and stated that he was planning to return to school after the war. He requested flying duties, with a preference to be a pilot or observer.

His personal character references included: Reverend E.W. Jewitt; Mr. F. Pelling, draughtsman at Imperial Oil, Mr. W. Rogin, physical training instructor; and Mr. F.C. Asbury, principal at Sarnia Collegiate. Mr. Ashbury’s reference letter read; 

Dear Sir,

            This is to certify that Douglas C. Pole has been a pupil in the Collegiate Department of this school since September 1937, when he came in with High School Entrance standing.

            He already holds Pass Matriculation credits in Canadian History and Chemistry and hopes, by June, to add to these the credits in English Literature and Composition, Modern History, Algebra and Geometry, Physics and French.

            Pole has always shown himself quite proficient in athletics and would, I believe, prove an acceptable candidate for your Force.

The RCAF medical board consultant’s comments included that Doug was fit, stability good, largely muscular, alert, keen, well balanced.  

From #9 Recruiting Centre in London and #5 Manning Depot in Lachine, Quebec, Doug received his air training at #13 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) in St Huberts, Quebec; at #5 Initial Training School (ITS) in Belleville; at #20 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) in Oshawa; and then at #1 Air Observer School (AOS) in Malton, Ontario. Doug was awarded his Navigators Badge and commission as Pilot Officer at #1 AOS in Malton on September 17, 1943. His Commanding Officer’s comments included; An exceptionally keen student, air work most satisfactory.

On September 18, 1943, one day after his graduation, Doug married Miss Ivy Mae Logan, the youngest daughter of Joseph A. and Jessie Logan of Sarnia Township. At the wedding ceremony at St. George’s Anglican Church, the bride was given in marriage by her brother, Bert Logan. The maid of honour was Miss Jacqueline Davison and Neil Pole, the brother of the groom, served as the best man. Following the ceremony, a reception was held at Dell’s for 50 guests. Afterwards, with Doug on his 14-day pre-embarkation leave, the newlywed couple left for a wedding trip to points east.

One month after getting married, on October 22, 1943, Doug embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom. While Doug was overseas, Ivy Mae resided with her sister, Mrs. A.G. Knight, of 245 Stuart Street, Sarnia. In early November 1943, Ivy Mae received a cable from Doug telling her of his safe arrival overseas.

In the U.K., Doug was initially posted to #3 Personnel Reception Centre before being transferred to #6 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit (AFU) on January 4, 1944. In late February 1944, he was transferred to #24 Operational Training Unit (O.T.U.), and in mid-May 1944 was transferred to #1664 Heavy Conversion Unit (H.C.U.).

On April 6, 1944, Doug wrote a letter to his friends in Sarnia—Lorraine Mara (Ivy Logan’s best friend) and her boyfriend at the time Bert Logan (Ivy’s brother). Lorraine and Bert later married, on June 21, 1947. Following is that letter, written on a Thursday evening at R.A.F. Station, Honeybourne:

Dear Bert & Lorraine,

            The wonderful parcel I received the other day contained a note which was signed “Bert & Lorraine” so I’m addressing this letter that way. Gee but that sounds nice together doesn’t it? In fact I won’t be surprised if I get an invitation some of these weeks. HA HA. However I’m terribly sorry but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it so wait till I get home. How about it kids?????

            Well now to come down to earth again. Your parcel arrived in first class condition and boy was I ever glad to get it!! You folks have no idea how much boxes of food mean to us over here, but let me tell you it certainly is a lot. So thanks again for the swell parcel folks. Also, thank you Lorraine for the box you put in one of Sandy’s parcels. [Doug’s nickname for Ivy Logan was “Sandy”]. Gee but it’s great to have a second best girl like you. P.S. Don’t tell my wife (HA).

            Gee but I hope we can soon get home again! Now that summer is coming on I’m beginning to think of other swell times we used to have together (the four of us). Gee but didn’t we have fun! I’ll certainly be glad when we can start all over again with our picnics, wiener roasts, etc. Oh how I long to be home again. I hope you folks are having a good time for me too, because I’m certainly leading a lonely old life over here. All I do is fly, eat and sleep. Not very exciting is it!

            I hope I’m not asking too much but would you folks help me out by seeing that Sandy doesn’t get down-hearted while I’m away. I know she worries a bit about me but I hope you will try to keep her smiling. Then I’ll soon be home and we can resume our old partnership. Gee but when I think of coming home I really get excited.

            I suppose you will be out home again now Bert. If so don’t work too hard and mind all those late nights. I hope you still have all the gas you need to go to all the places I know you like to go to on the weekends. [Bert had a family farm in the community of “Blackwell”. During the winter, he worked in Sarnia delivering oil to homes. The other three seasons, he worked on the family farm in Blackwell]. And Lorraine, I suppose are still busily engaged at the Imperial [Lorraine was employed at Imperial Oil]. From what Sandy tells me you two have some hectic “cat sessions” in bed till all hours of the morning. I only hope you leave a bit of me intact. Please say hello to all your folks for me Lorraine. I hope this little note finds you all well and having wonderful times at “Kenwick Gardens”.

            They have been working us like the dickens the last month or so, but as you know as well as I do something big is going to happen. It’s a good thing we don’t know where or when because if we did I’m afraid we wouldn’t like it so much. But I hope “we” all come out on top okay. [the “something big” Doug refers to is D-Day].

            I see I must close now so I’ll say cheerio for now and take care of yourselves. I’ll be seeing you before you know it. So long.                                   Doug

P.S. Thanks again for the swell parcel.

Two months after writing the above letter, on June 12, 1944, Doug Pole became a member of RCAF #429 Bison Squadron “Fortunae Nihil” (Nothing to chance), part of Bomber Command, No. 6 Group. He was promoted to the rank of Flying Officer-Navigator while on operational duty in June 1944.

Also in June 1944, Doug lost his brother, RCAF Flying Officer Ross Pole. In mid-June 1944, Willard and Grace Pole in Sarnia received a telegram from Ottawa informing them that their eldest son FLYING OFFICER ROSS POLE WAS REPORTED MISSING ON JUNE 13 AFTER ACTIVE OPERATIONS OVER ENEMY TERRITORY. No other details were given.

Ross Pole’s story is included in this Project.

Four months later, Willard and Grace Pole would lose a second son—Douglas.

During the course of the war, one of this country’s most significant contributions was the approximately 50,000 Canadians who served with the RCAF and RAF in Bomber Command operations. Next to Britain, Canada was the largest contributor to Bomber Command, making up more than a third of all of Bomber Command personnel. The men who served in Bomber Command faced some of the most difficult odds of anyone fighting in the war.

The Bomber Command Museum of Canadain Nanton, Alberta reports that of every 100 airmen who joined the Command, “45 were killed, six were seriously wounded, eight became prisoners of war and only 41 escaped unscathed (at least physically). The fatality rate in Bomber Command was more than 45 percent. It is a loss rate comparable only to the worst slaughter of the First World War trenches.”

Both Pole boys belonged to squadrons that were part of No. 6 Bomber Group—Ross Pole was a member of RCAF #419 Moose Squadron (in May 1944), while Doug Pole was a member of RCAF #429 Bison Squadron (in June 1944).

No. 429 Squadron was formed in November 1942 as a night bomber squadron and was based at East Moor. It was equipped with Vickers Wellington aircraft initially, but in August 1943 the squadron converted to Handley Page Halifax aircraft and moved to RAF Leeming, Yorkshire. It remained in Yorkshire for the rest of the war. In March 1945, the squadron converted to Avro Lancasters. At the end of the war, the squadron was used to transport troops and liberated POWs back to the U.K.

In August 1944 while on a bombing mission, Doug Pole’s Halifax aircraft was damaged by flak but was able to return safely to base. Between August 14 and September 21, 1944, Doug was in hospital recovering from painful leg wounds that he received on the flight when the bomber was hit by flak. He recovered nicely and returned to active duty.

On October 4, 1944, Doug mailed a postcard from Scotland to Jessie Logan—Ivy’s mother and his mother-in-law.

Dear Mom,

            I was in Edinburgh to-day so I decided to see the famous Forth Bridge while I was here [the postcard featured a photo of the bridge]. I hope you like what I saw. It was a sunny but rather windy day. I enjoyed my visit to Edinburgh very much indeed. It certainly is a beautiful city. The nicest I’ve seen here so far. Hope this finds you all well & enjoying decent weather. Say hello to Bert for me. Cheerio & all the best.

Love – Doug

On October 23, 1944, one month after being released from hospital, Doug Pole was aboard Halifax Mk. III aircraft MZ906 (markings AL-H) that took off from RAF Leeming on a day bombing operation targeting Essen,

Germany. It was one of 1055 aircraft involved in the operation—a record, and it was the heaviest raid on Essen so far. Most of the bombs dropped were high explosives. There were only eight aircraft lost; however, one of them was Halifax MZ906 that failed to return from the Essen operation.

Perishing with F/O Douglas Pole were FSs. George Theodore Hallam and Lorne Joseph Moore; F/O Norman Charles Muir; P/Os. Lloyd John Innes and Peter John Felix Mitchell; and Sgt. John Michael Wemyss (RAF).

Doug Pole was killed one year and one day after getting married in Sarnia.

In late October 1944, Willard and Grace in Sarnia were advised by Squadron Leader Caufield of the St. Thomas R.C.A.F. station that their son FLYING OFFICER DOUGLAS POLE HAD BEEN REPORTED MISSING ON OCTOBER 23 PRESUMABLY WHILE ON OPERATIONS OVER ENEMY TERRITORY.

In late October 1944, Ivy Mae received a letter from the Wing Commander, No. 429 Squadron, R.C.A.F. Following is a portion of that letter:

Dear Mrs. Pole,

            Prior to the arrival of this letter you will have received a telegram informing you that your husband, Flying Officer Douglas Campbell Pole, has been reported missing as the result of air operations. I am sorry to have to confirm the fact that this is, at least temporarily, true.

            Your husband and his crew were engaged in an operational flight over Essen, Germany, on the evening of October 23rd, and no news of them has yet been received. There is, however, every chance that they are prisoners of war, or with luck, among friends who will help them to evade capture and return to this country. Indeed, it is the sincere hope of all of us here that this is the case; in which event either you will hear from your husband directly, or will be advised by R.C.A.F. Headquarters, Ottawa, who will receive advice from the International Red Cross Society….

            Any further news received in the meantime will be passed on to you by R.C.A.F. Headquarters at Ottawa with whom you may communicate if you wish.

It is desired to explain that the request in the telegram notifying you of the casualty to your husband was included with the object of avoiding his chance of escape being prejudiced by undue publicity in case he is still at large. This is not to say that any information about his is available, but is a precaution adopted in the case of all personnel reported missing.

            It may give you some satisfaction to know that your husband was regarded as a particularly good navigator and that his loss is a severe blow, not only to ourselves as his colleagues, but to the Squadron as an operational unit. Please accept, on behalf of all his friends here, my most sincere sympathy in your present anxiety. We join you in hoping that Douglas and his crew are safe and well and that good news will not be long in coming through.

In late July 1945, Ivy Mae, still living on Stuart Street, received another letter, this one from the R.C.A.F. Casualty Officer, for Chief of the Air Staff in Ottawa:

Dear Mrs. Pole:

            It is with deep regret that, in view of the lapse of time and absence of any further information concerning your husband, Flying Officer Douglas Campbell Pole, since he was reported missing, the Air Ministry Overseas now proposes to take action to presume his death for official purposes.

            Will you please confirm by letter that you have not received any further evidence or news concerning him. The presumption of death will proceed after hearing from you, and on completion you will receive official notification by registered letter from Chief of the Air Staff.

            May I extend to you and the members of your family my sincere sympathy in this time of great anxiety.

Doug Pole’s death was later officially recorded as Previously reported missing after air operations, now for official purposes, presumed dead, overseas (over Essen Germany).

In February 1947, the Wing Commander for Chief of the Air Staff in Ottawa sent this letter to Ivy Mae:

Dear Mrs. Pole:

            It is a privilege to have the opportunity of sending you the Operational Wings and Certificate in recognition of the gallant services rendered by your husband, Flying Officer D.C. Pole. I realize there is little which may be said or done to lessen your sorrow, but it is my hope that these “Wings”, indicative of operations against the enemy, will be a treasured memento of a young life offered on the altar of freedom in defence of his Home and Country.

            In July 1952, more than seven years after her son’s death, Grace received the following letter from the Wing Commander, R.C.A.F. Casualties Officer, for Chief of the Air Staff:

Dear Mrs. Pole:

            It is with reluctance that after so long an interval, I must refer to the loss of your son, Flying Officer Douglas Campbell Pole. A report has, however been received from our Missing Research and Enquiry Service which states that their efforts to locate your son’s grave have been unsuccessful. Under the circumstances, therefore, it must be regretfully accepted and officially recorded that he does not have a “known” grave.

            Due to the extreme hazards attending air operations there are, unhappily, many thousands of British aircrew boys who do not have “known” graves and all will be commemorated on General Memorials that will be erected at a number of locations by the Imperial War Graves Commission (of which Canada is a member), each Memorial representative of a theatre of operations. One of these Memorials will be erected at Runnymede, England, and the name of your son will appear on that Memorial.

            I realize that this is an extremely distressing letter and that there is no manner of conveying such information to you that would not add to your heartaches. I am fully aware that nothing I may say will lessen your great sorrow, but I would like to express to you and the members of your family my deepest sympathy.

Douglas Pole, 21, has no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Runnymede War Memorial, Surrey, United Kingdom, Panel 247. His name is also inscribed on the Sarnia Refinery Plaque. Unveiled in 1949, the plaque has the names of 24 Sarnia Imperial Oil employees who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War II.

Douglas left behind his wife of just over one year, Ivy Mae Pole. Years later, Ivy Mae remarried, becoming Ivy Mae Palmer and residing at Oakwood Corners, R.R.#3 Sarnia.

For parents Willard and Grace Pole, tragedy struck twice. Doug was their second son lost in the war; their eldest son Ross of the RCAF was killed only four months earlier when his Lancaster bomber was shot down over France. Ross is buried in Meharicourt Communal Cemetery in Somme, France.

For their youngest son Neil, the loss of his two older brothers was devastating. He was certainly successful in life. A graduate of Sarnia Collegiate, in the 1946 SCITS yearbook, he was part of the Senior WOSSA football team, listed as Neil “Homer” Pole, who played flying wing. He went on to graduate from the University of Western Ontario, and the School of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. He then worked in Montreal as a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company for two years. While in Montreal, he went to a Grey Cup game in Toronto and on a blind date he met who would be the love of his life, Fay Terry. Neil was transferred to St. Catharines and in 1955, he and Fay were married in Burlington.

One year later, Neil and Fay moved to Sarnia where Neil took over his father’s pharmacy at the corner of Mitton and Wellington. He enlarged and modernized the store as Neil Pole Pharmacy, and later expanded with a second store in the Oak Acres Plaza on Cathcart. They had three children together: their first-born Ross Douglas, Janet and Dianne. Neil purchased the family cottage on Lake Huron, the same one he filled his childhood summers swimming and sailing at. He built a home there where he and his family lived for 45 years—enjoying all that lake living had to offer plus a wonderful place for their grandchildren to visit.

Neil and Fay subsequently moved to an apartment on Sandy Lane, and over the years, travelled extensively, visiting six of the seven continents. Neil was an early member of the Seaway Kiwanis Club, a long-time member of Grace United Church, and a member for 62 years of the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club. For many years he attended the International Symphony Orchestra and the Sarnia Concert Association, and he was an ardent supporter of Sarnia General Hospital. Neil Pole was a proud Sarnian, a well-respected pharmacist and business man, and also a gentleman—a kind, caring person with a great sense of humour and a clever wit. 

But the loss of his brothers was something that affected him deeply for the rest of his life. Neil always remembered the day in June 1944 when his father closed up the drug store and walked over to SCITS to pick him up. When they got home, his mother Grace was distraught, sitting on her bed crying and praying, having just received the news of Ross’ death. Four months later, they received the news of Douglas’ death overseas.

Neil never talked about his brothers. Parents Willard and Grace were much the same. Neil Pole’s daughter, Janet Pole Cousineau, recalled that for the remainder of Willard and Grace Poles’ lives, they refused to take a plane trip anywhere because they felt that it was the allure of flying that led their two boys to joining up with the RCAF. She also recalled that after losing his two sons, Willard Pole, though a staunch Canadian, was an anti-royalist—he had no love for the queen and king after what happened.

For Neil, every June 13 (his birthday) after 1944, was a poignant reminder of Ross’ death, a painful memory of him being shot down over France on June 13. Until he passed away in 2024, the memories of his brothers still evoked strong emotional responses for Neil.

The Pole family’s lives were forever changed by the loss of the two boys. Every birthday, every holiday, every Remembrance Day, and every anniversary of their deaths were perpetual reminders of what they had lost.

Grace Pole, age 83, passed away on June 26, 1976. Willard Pole, age 92, passed away on February 3, 1985. Both are buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Sarnia. Neil Pole passed away in February 2024 at the age of 97. 

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Ross Pole was born in Windsor, Ontario, on September 24, 1920, the eldest son of Willard Harford and Muriel Grace (nee Proctor) Pole. Willard, the son of Charles and Mary Pole, was born August 4, 1892, in Strathroy, Ontario, and served in WWI.

At the age of 24, Willard Pole enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on February 19, 1917, in London, Ontario. He stood five feet nine-and-a-half inches tall, had blue eyes and light brown hair, was single and was living with his parents at 440 Wellington Street, Sarnia at the time. He recorded his next-of-kin as his mother, Mary, who was living on Wellington Street and later 194 Kathleen Avenue. He listed his trade or calling as druggist. He was appointed the rank of sergeant, with Canadian Army Medical Corps (C.A.M.C.) at Training Depot, No. 1, of the CEF. Less than two months later, on April 12, 1917, he embarked overseas from Halifax and arrived in Liverpool on April 29.

One month later, on May 31, 1917, Sergeant Willard Pole arrived in Havre, France, as a member of the CAMC. He served as a medic initially with the 5th Canadian Field Ambulance and in late August 1917 was transferred to the 29th Company, Canadian Forestry Corps. In the early part of 1919, he returned to England and was attached to No. 9 Canadian Stationary Hospital. He was discharged on July 17, 1919, in Halifax, because the war was over or, as the military put it, a “demobilization consequence upon cessation of hostilities”.

Willard Pole graduated from the College of Pharmacy the same year and returned to Sarnia. He married Sarnia-born Muriel Grace Proctor Pole on October 11, 1919, in Sarnia. Muriel Grace, who went by her middle name, Grace, was born January 29, 1893, in Sarnia, the daughter of George and Harriet Proctor. Willard and Grace were blessed with three sons: the eldest, Ross Norman (born Sept. 24, 1920 in Windsor); Douglas Campbell (born Oct. 15, 1923 in Sarnia); and the youngest, Neil Proctor (born June 13, 1927 in Sarnia). The Pole family lived at 208 Essex Street and Willard was a druggist in Sarnia, operating the successful Pole’s Drug Store.

Janet Pole, the daughter of Neil Pole, many years later, recalled a story about the three boys when they were young: when George Proctor passed away in 1930, Neil was about 2 ¹/₂ years old. His two older brothers dared him to go visit his grandpa at the funeral home. So, he did, walking to the funeral home by himself, in December. When he was found, the funeral home called Grace and asked, “Are you missing a child?”

Janet recalled that she wasn’t sure who got in more trouble.

Ross Pole attended Lochiel Street Public School from 1926 to 1933, and then Sarnia Collegiate from 1933 to 1938. While at school, he was active in track, basketball, hockey, and swimming. At Sarnia Collegiate, he also earned the title of Field Day Champion and was the business manager of the High School magazine. Ross was a member of both the Central United Church and of the Central Century Club.

After completing high school, he attended the University of Western Ontario in the Business Administration program beginning in 1938. He completed three years of the program and during his fourth year, while working on his Honours degree, he enlisted to serve. While at Western, Ross took the Canadian Officer Training Course (COTC), from 1940 until he enlisted, and passed his 1st and 2nd Lieutenant exams. He was not shy about working and had an industrious spirit. During his summers, Ross worked a number of jobs to earn some extra money. He was a clerk and deliveryman at his father’s pharmacy, Pole’s Drug Store, while he was in high school; a clerk and deliveryman at Dominion Stores in Sarnia, June-September 1939; a sheet metal worker at H.H. Robertson Company in Arvida, Quebec, June-September 1940; and a deck steward at Canadian Steamship Lines in Sarnia, aboard the passenger steamship SS Hamonic, June – September 1941 (Historical Note: the ship was destroyed by fire on July 17, 1945, while docked in Point Edward).

On December 19, 1941, Ross Pole, age 21, enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in London, Ontario (his younger brother Douglas enlisted three months later). Ross stood five feet nine inches tall, had brown eyes and medium brown hair, was single, and was a student at the time residing at 1040 Patricia Street, London (he recorded his permanent address as 208 Essex Street, Sarnia). After the war, he planned to complete his education and then seek employment in accounting or selling. He requested flying duties, with a preference to be a pilot or observer. The Recruiting Officer recorded Ross as being Clean cut, alert, intelligent, young man, amiable & well poised. Sr. Matriculation, will complete four year Business Administration course at University of Western Ontario in Jan. 1942. Splendid aircrew & officer material.

From #9 Recruiting Centre in London and #1 Manning Depot in Toronto, Ross received his air training at #1

Initial Training School (ITS) in Toronto; at #9 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) in St. Catharines; at #16 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) in Hagersville, Ontario; and then at #4 Air Observer School (AOS) in London, Ontario. Ross Pole was awarded his Air Navigators Badge and commission as Pilot Officer on August 6, 1943, graduating from the #4 AOS in London. After his 14-day pre-embarkation leave, he was posted to #1 Y Depot in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

On August 26, 1943, Ross Pole embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom. There, he was initially posted to #3 Personnel Reception Centre before being transferred to #9 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit (AFU) on October 19, 1943. On December 28, 1943, he was transferred to #24 Operational Training Unit (O.T.U.), and in late May 1944, was transferred to #1659 Heavy Conversion Unit (H.C.U.). On May 19, 1944, Ross became a member of RCAF #419 Moose Squadron “Moosa Aswayita” (written in Cree, not Latin, means Beware the moose-a ferocious fighter), part of Bomber Command. Ross was also promoted to the rank of Flying Officer Navigator.

During the course of the war, one of this country’s most significant contributions was the approximately 50,000 Canadians who served with the RCAF and RAF in Bomber Command operations. Next to Britain, Canada was the largest contributor to Bomber Command, making up more than a third of all of Bomber Command personnel. The men who served in Bomber Command faced some of the most difficult odds of anyone fighting in the war.

The Bomber Command Museum of Canadain Nanton, Alberta reports that of every 100 airmen who joined the Command, “45 were killed, six were seriously wounded, eight became prisoners of war and only 41 escaped unscathed (at least physically). The fatality rate in Bomber Command was more than 45 percent. It is a loss rate comparable only to the worst slaughter of the First World War trenches.”

Both Pole boys belonged to squadrons that were part of No. 6 Bomber Group—Ross Pole was a member of RCAF #419 Moose Squadron (in May 1944), while Doug Pole was a member of RCAF #429 Bison Squadron (in June 1944).

RCAF #419 Squadron was formed at RAF Mildenhall, England in December 1941, and named after its first

commanding officer, Wing Commander John “Moose” Fulton. The unit moved to various bases throughout the war,

including Leeming, Topcliffe, Croft, and Middleton St. George. Initially operating Wellington bombers, in November 1942 the squadron converted to Handley Page Halifax bombers, and in March 1944 to Avro Lancasters.

The Battle of Normandy began for the Canadians with the June 6, 1944, D-Day landings at Juno Beach. After breaching the “Atlantic Wall” of “Fortress Europe”, Allied armies, supported by the navy and air force, began their break out from the narrow Normandy bridgehead to carve out a foothold on the French mainland. To accomplish this took a whole summer of tenacious fighting that saw the Canadians pushing against fierce and ruthless German forces to advance east across France.

On June 12, 1944, one week after the invasion of Europe and in the early stages of the breakout from Normandy, Flying Officer-Navigator Ross Pole was aboard Lancaster Mk. 10 aircraft KB714 (markings VR-Y) that took off from its’ Middleton St. George base at 21.35 hours. It was one of a 671 aircraft force that was tasked that night with further hampering lines of communications leading to the Normandy area. Ross Pole’s Lancaster KB714 was targeting the marshaling yards at Cambrai, France. This was Flying Officer Ross Pole’s sixth operation.

After take-off, no further word was received from the aircraft that was scheduled to return to base at approximately 02.35 hours. It was determined later that the aircraft had been shot down by a night-fighter near

Courcellette, France. The aircraft was hit while returning after successfully completing its bomb run, and crashed between 0130 and 0200 hours about one kilometre south of Courcellette. 

Along with F/O Ross Pole, also killed were F/Os. Russel Nelson Wilson, Charles Robert McOrmond, and Douglas James McMullen; P/Os. Max Ennis Gates, and Richard William Francis; and Sgt. Captain Clayton White. It was a costly raid for 419 Squadron, with the loss of three Lancaster aircraft: KB714, KB731 and KB726 (the latter included P/O A.C. Mynarski, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in the damaged aircraft). Of the 671 aircraft involved in the operation, 23 aircraft were lost.

In mid-June of 1944, Willard and Grace Pole on Essex Street received a telegram from Ottawa informing them that their eldest son FLYING OFFICER ROSS POLE WAS REPORTED MISSING ON JUNE 13 AFTER ACTIVE OPERATIONS OVER ENEMY TERRITORY.No other details were given. Days later, Willard received the following letter from the Wing Commander of No. 419 (R.C.A.F.) Squadron:

Dear Mr. Pole:

            I deeply regret the necessity of confirming the information, which you have already received, that your son, Flying Officer Ross Norman Pole, is missing from operations on the night of 12/13th June, 1944. This operation was an attack on a very important objective in enemy occupied territory, which has since proved to have been very effective. Unfortunately, nothing has been heard of your son’s aircraft since time of take-off and its loss can only be attributed to enemy action. There is still quite a possibility that all or part of the crew may have escaped or, at worst, be prisoners of war, but news of this could not be expected for some considerable time.

            Your son was with us for a period of three weeks, during which time he took part in five successful attacks on

the enemy. He was a cheerful, quiet, hard-working Navigator who produced very good results and certainly had the

complete confidence of his crew and was invariably trying to improve his knowledge.

            If any further news comes to hand, you may rest assured you will be notified immediately. F/O Pole’s kit and personal effects have been collected and forwarded to the Central Depository, Colnbrook, Slough, Bucks. who, after completion of necessary details, will communicate with you as to their disposal. May I convey my sincere sympathy to you in your great loss and hope with you that better news may follow.

In mid-July of 1944, Flying Officer Ross Pole’s name appeared on the Department of National Defence for Air casualty list as Missing on active service after air operations overseas. Ross Pole’s death was later officially recorded as Previously reported missing after air operations, now for official purposes, presumed dead, overseas (over Cambrai France).

After the war, the RAF Missing Research and Enquiry Unit (MREU) conducted an investigation into the crash of Lancaster KB714. Following are portions of the investigator’s reports from August and October 1946:

…It was evidently the custom of the Germans at Rosieres to send out crash parties to bring back bodies etcetera after crashes occurred possibly for checking by intelligence sections, then bury them at Meharicourt…

Place of Crash: 1 kilometre South of Courcellette

Place of Burial: Believed Communal Cemetery of Meharicourt

1. I checked details of this crash as given in your letter…, with inhabitants of Courcelette, and also went to the scene of the crash. All debris was gone, having been removed by the Germans.

2. Monsieur HENRIEUX, Secretary to the Mayor of Courcelette, told me that six bodies were collected by the Germans about two days after the crash and taken away, it was believed, to ROZIERES EN SANTERRE.

3. The seventh body was found on about 21st June 1944 by PIERRE JONSE, Courcelette, Somme. From this body, which was about 300 yards from the crash in a cornfield JONSE took a pair of underpants marked “WILSON” This body was again taken away by the Germans to ROZIERES

4. A helmet marked “POLE” was also found at the crash but this has since been lost.

5. At the Communal Cemetery of Meharicourt close to ROZIERES EN SANTERRE the Germans buried in Graves Nos. 41-48 inclusive eight airmen who were killed on 13/6/44…

(After later exhuming the graves, the MREU determined that Grave 44 was that of Ross Pole, as the identity disc of F/O R.N. Pole was in the coffin).

Casualty Enquiry of Lancaster KB726 and Lancaster KB714

1. Canadian officer P/O A.C. Mynarski (of Lancaster KB726) has recently been awarded the Victoria Cross. It is essential that final burial details for this officer be ascertained immediately, and you are therefore requested to investigate this case under the highest possible priority…

2. Both the above aircraft were missing on the night of 12/13th June, 1944. KB726 was airborne from Middleton-St-George at 2144 hours, and KB714 from the same station at 2135 hours. The target in each case was Cambrai.

3. German documents report two crashes on the 13th June in the vicinity of Albert, situated on the River Ancre, 25 kilos. N. of Amiens. Unfortunately the German documents confused the two crashes, and it is not possible to sort

them out with any certainty, or gain from them exact information….

KB726 crashed at 0035 hours, near Acheux. This aircraft is known to have been on the outward journey when shot down by a night fighter, as it was still carrying bombs, one of which exploded when the aircraft crashed in flames…. The body of a Canadian airman was recovered 10 days after the crash on the 23rd June, and was reported to have been buried in the cemetery at Meharicourt near Rosieres….

4. The second aircraft (KB714) crashed between 0130 and 0200 hours, when returning from the attack, which was evidently successfully completed. The location of this crash is given as one kilometer south of Courcelette. The body of Sgt. White was identified by his identity discs and together with six unknown he was buried in the cemetery at Meharicourt….

In December 1946, Willard received the following letter from the Wing Commander for Chief of the Air Staff in Ottawa:

Dear Mr. Pole:

            It is a privilege to have the opportunity of sending you the Operational Wings and Certificate in recognition of the gallant services rendered by your son, Flying Officer R.N. Pole. I realize there is little which may be said or done to lessen your sorrow, but it is my hope that these “Wings”, indicative of operations against the enemy, will be a treasured memento of a young life offered on the altar of freedom in defence of his Home and Country.

In August 1948, more than four years after his eldest son’s death, Willard received the following letter from the Wing Commander, R.C.A.F. Casualties Officer, for Chief of the Air Staff in Ottawa:

Dear Mr. Pole:

            I would like to refer please, to my letter of June 27, 1947 concerning the resting place of your son, Flying Officer Ross Norman Pole, whose grave was located in Meharicourt Communal Cemetery, Meharicourt, Department of Somme, France.

            A report has been received from our Overseas Headquarters that the re-arranging of the cemetery has been completed and your son’s grave is numbered 44. The members of his crew are resting beside him, Sergeant C.C. White in Grave No. 43, Flying Officer C.R. McOrmond Grave No. 45, Flying Officer R.N. Wilson Grave No. 47 and Flying Officer D.J. McMullen, Pilot Officer R.W. Francis and Pilot Officer M.E. Gates (who could not be individually identified) are resting in collective graves numbered 48 and 49.

            The resting place of your son and his crew will be reverently and perpetually maintained by the Imperial War Graves Commission (of which Canada is a member). The Commission will also erect a headstone at your son’s grave. Unhappily, there are great numbers of these headstones to be erected and it will quite naturally take considerable time. It is not necessary to write to the Imperial War Graves Commission as you will be contacted by them before the stone is prepared.

            May I take this opportunity of again extending to you and the members of your family my deepest sympathy in the loss of your gallant son.

Ross Pole, 23, is buried in Meharicourt Communal Cemetery, Somme, France, British Plot, Grave 38.

Four months after Ross’ death, Willard and Grace Pole received more tragic news: they lost another son, RCAF Flying Officer Douglas Pole, who was shot down in a Halifax bomber over Germany. He has no known grave.

Douglas Pole’s story is included in this Project.

For their youngest son Neil, the loss of his two older brothers was devastating. He was certainly successful in life. A graduate of Sarnia Collegiate, in the 1946 SCITS yearbook, he was part of the Senior WOSSA football team, listed as Neil “Homer” Pole, who played flying wing. He went on to graduate from the University of Western Ontario, and the School of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. He then worked in Montreal as a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company for two years. While in Montreal, he went to a Grey Cup game in Toronto and on a blind date he met who would be the love of his life, Fay Terry. Neil was transferred to St. Catharines and in 1955, he and Fay were married in Burlington.

One year later, Neil and Fay moved to Sarnia where Neil took over his father’s pharmacy at the corner of Mitton and Wellington. He enlarged and modernized the store as Neil Pole Pharmacy, and later expanded with a second store in the Oak Acres Plaza on Cathcart. They had three children together: their first-born Ross Douglas, Janet and Dianne. Neil purchased the family cottage on Lake Huron, the same one he filled his childhood summers swimming and sailing at. He built a home there where he and his family lived for 45 years—enjoying all that lake living had to offer plus a wonderful place for their grandchildren to visit.

Neil and Fay subsequently moved to an apartment on Sandy Lane, and over the years, travelled extensively, visiting six of the seven continents. Neil was an early member of the Seaway Kiwanis Club, a long-time member of Grace United Church, and a member for 62 years of the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club. For many years he attended the International Symphony Orchestra and the Sarnia Concert Association, and he was an ardent supporter of Sarnia General Hospital. Neil Pole was a proud Sarnian, a well-respected pharmacist and business man, and also a gentleman—a kind, caring person with a great sense of humour and a clever wit. 

But the loss of his brothers was something that affected him deeply for the rest of his life. Neil always remembered the day in June 1944 when his father closed up the drug store and walked over to SCITS to pick him up. When they got home, his mother Grace was distraught, sitting on her bed crying and praying, having just received the news of Ross’ death. Four months later, they received the news of Douglas’ death overseas.

Neil never talked about his brothers. Parents Willard and Grace were much the same. Neil Pole’s daughter, Janet Pole Cousineau, recalled that for the remainder of Willard and Grace Poles’ lives, they refused to take a plane trip anywhere because they felt that it was the allure of flying that led their two boys to joining up with the RCAF. She also recalled that after losing his two sons, Willard Pole, though a staunch Canadian, was an anti-royalist—he had no love for the queen and king after what happened.

For Neil, every June 13 (his birthday) after 1944, was a poignant reminder of Ross’ death, a painful memory of him being shot down over France on June 13. Until he passed away in 2024, the memories of his brothers still evoked strong emotional responses for Neil.

The Pole family’s lives were forever changed by the loss of the two boys. Every birthday, every holiday, every Remembrance Day, and every anniversary of their deaths were perpetual reminders of what they had lost.

Grace Pole, age 83, passed away on June 26, 1976. Willard Pole, age 92, passed away on February 3, 1985. Both are buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Sarnia. Neil Pole passed away in February 2024 at the age of 97. 

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Stephen Bruce Powell was born at Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie, Ontario, on January 23, 1922, the eldest son of Ernest John “Ernie” Powell Jr., a railroad switchman at the time, and Cora Irene (nee Court) Powell. Stephen Bruce Powell went by his middle name Bruce, and was known as “Buster” to his family and friends. Bruce’s story can be linked to his father, for Ernest or “Ernie” served in the Great War when he was a teenager.

Ernie Powell was born on August 3, 1899, in Waltham Abbey, Essex, England, but was living in Barrie, Ontario, when the Great War started. Weeks before his 17th birthday, on July 21, 1916, Ernie enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 177th Overseas Battalion at Camp Borden. The minimum age to join the military at that time was 18, although 17-year-old applicants were accepted with parental consent, with the promise that their sons would not see front line action (the military later changed the minimum age to 19).

Ernie was residing in Barrie at the time, and recorded his birthplace as Reading, England, his occupation as expressman, and his next-of-kin as his father Ernest Powell (Sr.) in Barrie, Ontario. Approximately three months later, Ernie was discharged from the 177th, CEF at Camp Borden.

On September 4, 1917, when he was 18 years old, Ernie Powell enlisted again in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, this time at the Railway Construction & Forestry Depot in Toronto with the York and Simcoe Foresters, CEF. He was still residing in Barrie, Ontario at the time, and recorded his birthplace as Middlesex, England, his occupation as chauffeur, and his next-of-kin as his father Ernest Powell (Sr.) at 147 Peel Street, Barrie, Ontario. He also recorded that he had prior military experience, serving for three months with the 177th Battalion. He stood five feet seven-and-three-quarter inches tall, had blue eyes and light brown hair, and was single. It was also recorded that his mother was no longer alive. Though it was recorded on his file that he was, “not to be sent overseas until 19 years of age”, 18-year-old Private Ernie Powell embarked overseas from Halifax aboard the SS Metagama on December 4, 1917.

Private Powell of the Canadian Forestry Corps (CFC) arrived in Liverpool, England, on December 14, 1917, and was initially posted at C.F.C. base depot at Sunningdale. The CFC established its English headquarters at Smith’s Lawn, Sunningdale, Berkshire, in the midst of Windsor Great Park. The Canadian Forestry Corps cut trees in England’s forests, where the timber was squared, sawed, and transported. The cut wood was used on the Western Front including for duckboards, trench construction, railway ties, corduroy roads, ammunition crates, and barracks and hospitals. In mid-July 1918, Ernie Powell was hospitalized at Beech Hill, Englefield Green, for eight days as a result of influenza. Private Powell’s entire service was in the United Kingdom. Seven months after the Great War ended, on June 7, 1919, he embarked for Canada, where he was discharged on demobilization on June 18, 1919, in Toronto.

In early 1921, Ernie Powell, 22, was residing at 147 Peel Street in Barrie, Ontario, with his 13-year-old sister, Ellen Laura, and their 47-year-old widowed father, Ernest Powell Sr. Living in the Powell household was their 20-year-old servant, Cora Irene Court (she was born in Woodstock on September 1, 1901, and had been a house maid since the age of 14).

In that same year, on August 2, 1921, Ernie Powell married Cora Irene Court at The Rectory in Barrie, Ontario. Ernie was employed with the railroad at the time. Cora and he were blessed with five children together: the eldest, Stephen Bruce (born January 23, 1922); Allan John (born October 28, 1924); Robert Grant (born October 28, 1926); and twins Ernest James and Mary Ann (born October 1, 1933).

During the war, both of Bruce’s younger brothers also served: Allan with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Newfoundland; and Robert served as a “Boy Soldier” in Canada.

The Powell family moved to Sarnia in 1929, when Bruce was seven years old. They lived at 462 Cromwell Street and later at 433 Lydia Street. Ernie had come to Sarnia to work with the Canadian National Railroad and later found work with Canada Customs as a Customs Officer at the Post Office. When World War II began, Ernie, now 40, was eager to enlist again; however, being a Customs Officer, the government refused to allow him to join.

Undoubtedly Bruce, his oldest child, was influenced by his father’s service in the military.

Stephen Bruce (“Buster” or “Bus” to his family) Powell was educated in Sarnia public schools and then at Sarnia Collegiate for two-and-a-half years, where he completed a course in electricity. Bruce was a responsible student who did well in school and he was also a successful runner. He was a member of the Servers’ Club of St. George’s Anglican Church and was active in much of the young people’s work in the church. He was a member of the 26th Lambton Field Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery, Non-Permanent Active Militia in Sarnia from April 12, 1937 to April 19, 1939. At one point during his militia training in 1938, he was stationed at Petawawa. While there, he wrote the following on a postcard with a two-cent stamp attached, to his grandfather Ernest Powell Sr., in Orillia:

Dear Grampa

This is a typical soldier. Having a good time. Fired the guns for the first time today and fell off the gun seat. I’ll be home Monday. Write.         

Bus

Even at 15 years old, Bruce was eager to join the Navy. In January 1937, his father Ernie wrote the following letter to the Naval Secretary, Department of National Defence in Ottawa:

Dear Sir:

Will you please send me a list of age limitations, educational qualifications and physical requirements necessary for enlistment in the Canadian Navy. If you have application forms will you also send me a set?

In August 1938, Sarnia M.P. Ross W. Gray wrote the following letter (on House of Commons stationery with its distinctive letterhead) to the Department of National Defence, Naval Service:

Dear Sirs,

            I am writing on behalf of Stephen Bruce Powell, a young man of this City who is anxious to join the Royal Canadian Navy. The recommendations from his teachers and all others who have known him intimately are very fine and I desire to add my own recommendation that he be given every possible consideration as soon as his name is reached. Circumstances prevent his being able to return to school this Fall and I am wondering if you can give me any encouragement as to his name being reached before he becomes seventeen in January.

Following is the Assistant Naval Secretary’s reply to Sarnia M.P. Ross W. Gray:

            I am directed to acknowledge your letter of 23rd August regarding the application of Mr. Stephen Bruce Powell of Sarnia, Ontario, candidate for entry in the Royal Canadian Navy as a Boy (Seaman Class). As Mr. Powell does not reach the minimum age limit of 17 years required for entry until the 23rd January, 1939, consideration cannot be given to his application until after that date. I assure you, however, that your recommendation of the above-mentioned candidate has been noted and same will be borne in mind when his name is reached and he is being considered for entry.

On February 4, 1938, Bruce Powell, age 16, standing five feet seven-and-a-half inches tall, completed his “Application for Entry in the Royal Canadian Navy” forms. The application required a written consent paper to be signed by a parent, which his father Ernie provided (Ernie was not yet 17 when he enlisted in the Great War).

At the outbreak of World War II, the military set requirements for volunteers, one being that they had to be, at minimum, 18 years of age. For overseas service, the minimum age was 19. At recruiting centres, birth and baptismal certificates were not required—those in line were simply asked to state their age. Enlistees aged 17 required a written letter of consent from a parent.

On April 24, 1939, more than a year after completing his RCN application, 17-year-old Bruce Powell became an official member of the Royal Canadian Navy. It was more than four months before Canada declared war on Germany. Bruce stood five feet eight-and-three-quarter inches tall, had blue eyes and blonde hair, was single, and was a student residing at home on Cromwell Street with his parents at the time.

Initially given the rank of Boy Seaman, he received his Navy training in Halifax at HMCS Stadacona base, and on HMCS Venture (a three-masted schooner). On August 27, 1939, while still in Halifax, Bruce wrote the following on a postcard to his father Ernie at 462 Cromwell Street, Sarnia:

Dear Dad,

            I won’t be writing for a while as it will be impossible.

                                                                                    Love to all, Bus

On November 1, 1939, Bruce attained the rank of Ordinary Seaman. Two months later, on January 11, 1940, Ordinary Seaman Bruce Powell became a member of the crew of HMCS Fraser.

Beginning on the opening day of the Second World War, the Battle of the Atlantic would be the longest continuous campaign of the war, and one in which Canada played a central role. The Royal Canadian Navy, along with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Canada’s Merchant Navy, played a vital role in defending the country’s eastern coast and escorting convoys of ships carrying men and essential machinery, arms, fuel, and basic resources between North America and Europe.

Even with the protection of armed escorts, it was always a treacherous voyage for the dozens of merchant ships traveling in a zig-zag fashion across enormous tracts of ocean. Captains had to manoeuvre in crowded ranks, without lights, wireless or navigational aids, and using haphazard communication. Not to mention the constant risk of fierce attacks by German U-boats or air attack; the danger of collision; underwater mines; rough water; and the hazardous weather—the fog, gales and ice conditions—in the North Atlantic. Maintaining formation was always difficult, especially in the dark, and in tumultuous waters.  

HMCS Fraser (H48) was a C-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy and was launched in September 1931, originally named the HMS Crescent. In late 1936, it was sold to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed HMCS Fraser. Initially stationed on the Canadian west coast, with the outbreak of war in September 1939, she was transferred to the Atlantic coast for convoy escort duties with the Halifax Force. In March 1940, the Fraser was orderd south to Jamaica where she was assigned further convoy duties in the Caribbean. Soon after arriving, the Fraser received urgent orders to head to Europe in late May.

The situation in Europe had become more dire as the so-called “Phoney War” (October 1939-April 1940) came to an end. Having already taken countries like Czechoslavaki and Poland, in April 1940 German forces launched their surprise “blitzkrieg” attacks invading Denmark and then Norway. They continued their rapid strikes through Luxembourg, then the Netherlands and then Belgium. On May 12, German forces entered France, and by mid-June, Paris had fallen.

After arriving at Plymouth, England, on June 3, 1940, the Fraser served as a convoy escort protecting ships carrying vital supplies and Canadian soldiers to the United Kingdom, as well as being ready to protect British shores against a possible invasion.

By the third week of June, the Fraser had been sent to St. Jean de Luz, a fishing town on the west coast near the Franco-Spanish border. She, along with several other ships, carried out anti-submarine patrols and worked to shepherd the boatloads of defeated soldiers and destitute civilians streaming out from the jetties to the throngs of ships waiting to evacuate them to England. The frightening and tireless process was completed toward noon on June 25.

On that same day, HMCS Fraser then proceeded to Bordeaux, France, in the Girone River estuary to help in the rescue of an estimated 4000 refugees trapped in the area by German military forces. Accompanying HMCS Fraser were the Canadian destroyer HMCS Restigouche and the British cruiser HMS Calcutta. The three ships travelled to their destination at top speed, always on alert for attacks by U-boats or the Luftwaffe. It had been a particularly stressful and fatiguing week for the officers and men of the three ships—rescuing troops and refugees—while always wary of a possible attack at any time. 

Later that night, Fraser was off the starboard bow of Calcutta, a mile and a half distant, and Restigouche was on Calcutta’s port quarter, a mile and a half to the left of her and slightly astern. At 10:30 p.m., in rough seas and in poor visibility, the Calcutta signalled for “single line ahead”, and the captain of the Fraser, deciding that the three ships should move closer together, ordered a turn to port to bring his ship behind HMS Calcutta. When the cruiser turned to starboard in reaction to the Fraser’s turn to port, the two rapidly moving ships were on a collision course. The ships covered the last 200 yards separating them in just over 10 seconds.

 In the darkness and rolling sea, the two ships collided, and the bow of the 4300-ton Calcutta sliced into the starboard side of the 1400-ton Fraser. She cut through the centre line of the destroyer and stopped inside the crushed wheelhouse. The Fraser’s bow broke clean off at the forecastle and floated away bottom up. The destroyer was cut into three pieces, with her entire bridge lifted onto Calcutta’s bow. HMCS Fraser sank in the early morning hours of June 26, 1940. She was Canada’s first naval loss of the war.

The rescue efforts of the crews of the Restigouche and the Calcutta, as well as those aboard the Fraser, saved many; however, 45 members of the Fraser and 19 men on the Calcutta lost their lives in the collision.

Bruce Powell survived this incident.

Following the sinking of the Fraser, now back in the U.K., Bruce took a course in anti-aircraft gunnery. Just 10 weeks after his first brush with death, he had another close call. On September 6, 1940, Bruce and many of the Fraser survivors were transferred to duty aboard HMCS Margaree, which was being refitted at the Albert Docks in London. On September 17, as part of their ongoing Blitz campaign, the Luftwaffe targeted the London docks and dropped a series of incendiary bombs and hit the Margaree. The ship was salvageable, but a number of her crew members were killed.

Bruce Powell escaped death a second time, but not for long.

The following month, the HMCS Margaree would meet the same fate as the Fraser.

HMCS Margaree (H49) was a D-class destroyer launched as HMS Diana in June 1932. Originally with the Royal Navy, she had spent most of her career as part of the Mediterranean Fleet. She was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy on September 6, 1940, and was renamed HMCS Margaree and served as a River class destroyer. She had been transferred to the RCN to replace HMCS Fraser, the RCN C-class destroyer, which had been lost in the tragic accident on June 25, 1940.

On October 20, 1940, HMCS Margaree left Londonderry, Northern Ireland, to escort for convoy OL8 bound for Canada. She was the sole escort for a small, fairly fast OL8 convoy of five ships heading for Halifax. The five-ship convoy was disposed in two columns: freighters MV Port Fairy and Jamaica Planter on the port side; and the other three vessels in column to starboard. At over 14 knots, the speed of the convoy was comparatively fast and for that reason OL8 did not zig-zag.

On the evening of October 21, the Margaree was 1 ½ miles ahead of the convoy’s port column and the weather had started to deteriorate. By midnight, in rough squalls, driving rain, and poor visibility, the Margaree and the convoy had lost track of each other.

Then, at 1:00 a.m. on October 22, as the Margaree veered to port, she suddenly appeared crossing the Port Fairy’s bow, much too close for the freighter to avoid her. So only two days at sea, in the mid-Atlantic 450 miles northwest of Ireland, the 8300-ton Port Fairy collided with the 1370-ton Margaree.

The Port Fairy’s bow sliced through Margaree just under the bridge, severing the forward section of the ship. The whole bow and bridge portion of the Margaree sank almost immediately, taking virtually everyone in the forward section—142 seamen, swallowed by the sea in an instant. Of those, 86 of them were survivors of the HMCS Fraser collision of just four months earlier.

For Ordinary Seaman Bruce Powell, this was the second sea disaster in which he had been involved—he did not escape this time.

When Lieutenant Bill Landymore, who was off duty in the wardroom during the collision, came forward he heard only the whistling of the wind and the slam of the sea against Margaree’s hull. He later reported, “There was no noise at all. No shouts even in the after part. Not even the sound of escaping steam.”

Others recalled the grinding of steel on steel, as what was left of Margaree rubbed against the towering sides of Port Fairy. Only six officers and 28 ratings survived the collision. The 34 survivors were all aboard the aft section, which remained afloat until the men were rescued by the Port Fairy. Thirty-two of them scrambled safely up the side of Port Fairy, the two others slipped from the ropes and were crushed between the vessels. By dawn, the stern of Margaree was still afloat, despite attempts by Port Fairy’s little four-inch gun to sink it. The wreck was last seen adrift and sinking slowly by the stern. The survivors were dropped off by the Port Fairy at Bermuda.

No reason for the collision has ever been determined since all the officers who were in a position to know were in the bridge or bow.

Ordinary Seaman Bruce Powell was one of the 142 who were lost in the tragedy. Although the official casualty list cited him as an Ordinary Seaman, he had received his Able Seaman papers while on the Fraser, but these records were lost with that ship.

Bruce’s parents Ernie and Cora Powell in Sarnia were notified of the loss of their son by telegram from the Minister of National Defence for Naval Affairs, just prior to the release of the public announcement of the sinking of the destroyer by the Canadian naval authorities. A day later, they received a dispatch from Ottawa that drew attention to the fact that errors were possible in the naval list of survivors and the missing, owing to the difficulties of wireless communication at sea in wartime. The Powells hoped that their son had survived, but felt the chances were remote in view of the fact that only 31 survivors (at that time) were reported accounted for.

Bruce Powell had been home the previous Christmas. In two letters received by his parents days after learning of his death, Bruce had expressed the hope that he might get a trip home to Sarnia soon. It was indicated in dispatches that many of the crew of the Margaree were looking forward to spending Christmas with their families.

Bruce Powell left behind his parents Ernie and Cora, and his younger siblings Allan, Robert, and twins Ernest and Mary Ann. Able-Bodied Seaman Bruce Powell was Sarnia’s first casualty of the Second World War.

In early November 1940, Ernie Powell received the following letter from the Naval Secretary at his home on Lydia Street:

Dear Sir:

            It is with deep regret that I must confirm the telegram sent out by the Minister of National Defence, reporting that your son, Stephen Bruce Powell, Ordinary Seaman, O.N. 3333, R.C.N., was missing, believed killed.

            Few details are available, but it is known that H.M.C.S. “MARGAREE” was sunk in collision in the North Atlantic whilst steaming without lights, on convoy duty, and in the submarine zone. 142 Officers and ratings are missing and must be presumed lost at sea.

            I am requested to express to you the sincere sympathy of the Minister of National Defence for Naval Services and the Chief of the Naval Staff in your bereavement. Any further information, which is received, will be at once communicated to you.

One month after Bruce’s death, a memorial service was held at St. George’s Anglican Church, where he had

been active in the organizations for the young people in the church. At the memorial service, Rev. F.G. Hardy stated that We will remember Stephen Bruce Powell because of his uprightness and splendid physical, mental and spiritual characteristics. After speaking of the fact that it is often the youngest and best who are taken from the world, Rev. Hardy quoted from “In Flanders Fields” and urged the congregation to hold the torch high and go out to establish God’s Kingdom in society so that war might not happen again.

Even decades later, Bruce’s sister, Mary, could still recount the details of her parents learning of Bruce’s fate. In the summer of 1940, Mary recalled as a young girl, aged six, the children all out on the street playing when a telegraph boy, in uniform, rode his bike down their street. All the children stopped playing and became silent as they watched the boy go down the street. They waited expectantly to see at which house he would stop. He pulled into the Powell house and delivered the news that the Fraser had been damaged, but that Bruce was O.K.

Mary recalled the events months later when another telegraph boy rode his bike down their street and stopped in front of their Lydia Street home. Mary entered her home to find her mother slouched in a chair, clenching the crumpled telegram and sobbing. Cora ordered Mary to cross the Gordon Street Park and to get Mrs. Worsley, a neighbour. Mrs Worsley came and saw the telegram that informed Cora that the Margaree had been sunk, and that her son Bruce was missing. For the next week, Mary and her twin brother, Jim, were sent to live with the Baldwin family, friends from their church.

A few months later, around Christmas 1940, Ernie and Cora Powell went out to a local movie theatre. Preceding the movie, as was customary, were a newsreel and a cartoon. On this particular night, the newsreel showed a series of war clips, one of them being a scene of three young sailors in their pea coats (wool outer jackets) on the deck of a bobbing ship in stormy weather, walking toward the camera. One of those sailors was Bruce Powell.

Cora Powell fainted right there.

The next night, a Sunday in which the theatre was always closed, the theatre manager invited the Powells back for a private viewing of the newsreel footage and movie.

In July 1941, a Memorial Cross was issued by the Government of Canada to Cora Powell on Lydia Street for the loss of her son. Also referred to as the Silver Cross, it was engraved with Bruce’s name, rank, and service number. The card accompanying the Memorial Cross read as follows: This Memorial Cross is forwarded to you by The Minister of National Defence for Naval Services, on behalf of the Government of Canada, in memory of one who died in the service of his Country. In April 1945, Ernie and Cora Powell received a War Service Gratuity of $196.42 for the loss of their son.

During the war, Ernie and Cora Powell did their best to support the war effort. At their home, they billeted sailors who were in town to build the sub-chasers at Mac-Craft. On Sunday nights at the Imperial Theatre, Ernie led sing-songs to help raise money for the war effort. Cora was active with the local Navy Mother’s Auxiliary and the local Red Cross—knitting Afghans and squares of cloth for the inside of soldiers’ helmets; wrapping up bandages; and collecting milkweed pods (the silk was used to stuff into life vests and to provide insulation for flight suits).

In the years after the war, British-born father Ernie Powell, a veteran of the Great War, evinced the “stiff upper lip” approach and never talked about the war or Bruce. He spoke to children in their schools about the war. At Canon Davis Church where he was a parishioner, every year on the Sunday closest to Remembrance Day he read the list of soldiers who had been killed in action. Ernie was one of the originators of the local Sarnia Air Cadets—he was a Flying Officer with the Air Cadets from 1942 – 1955; and he was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch #62, and for a time was on the Board of Directors. He would retire from Canada Customs after 35 years of service.

Cora Powell spent hundreds of hours compiling a detailed scrapbook of memories of her son. Cora always held out hope that her son would someday return home. She passed away on September 10, 1978, in Sarnia at the age of 77.

Her daughter Mary said this of her mother, “Perhaps it’s because Buster’s body was never found, but I will always picture my mother sitting in the living room, looking at the front door, and expecting Buster to walk in at any moment.”

Ernie John Powell passed away on July 22, 1986, in Sarnia at the age of 86. At the time of his death, Ernie left behind his four children: Mary, Robert, Allan, and James; and 14 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. Both Cora and Ernest Powell were interned at Grandview Memorial Gardens.

Stephen Bruce Powell, 18, has no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia, Canada, Panel 4.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

More information on this soldier is available in

Valour Remembered: Sarnia-Lambton War Stories by Tom Slater and Tom St. Amand

Thomas Powell was born in Sarnia on April 21, 1918, the only child of Edward Scott (born December 6, 1889, in London, England) and Annie May (nee Dobbie, born September 16, 1893, in Halton, Ontario) Powell.

Edward Powell was a British Home Child, who was sent by Barnardo Homes in Liverpool, England, in 1900 to Canada. In 1901, Edward, then age 11, was recorded as being a domestic who was residing with the Morton family in Plympton Township. The Morton family consisted of parents Evan, a farmer, and Elizabeth Morton, as well as their two young children George (age 3) and Alice (age 2). Ten years later, in 1911, Edward was rooming at 171 Victoria Street, Sarnia, and was employed as a sailor on a steamer.

On December 25, 1916, Edward Powell, age 27, then a teamster residing in Sarnia, married 23-year-old Annie May Dobbie in Kitchener, Ontario. They had only the one child together, Thomas Edward Powell.

In 1921, Edward was working as a labourer at Imperial Oil to support Annie and their three-year-old son. The Powell family were residing at 160 Bright Street and later moved to 218 Proctor Street, Sarnia.

Edward’s two brothers were also British Home Children—Barnardo Boys, who found homes in Canada. Their sister (Thomas’ aunt), Ada Louisa Powell, was born in 1896 and immigrated to Canada (and Lambton) in 1911, along with their widowed mother Fanny (nee Bennett) Powell. Years later, on May 22, 1935, in Sarnia, Ada Powell, age 38, then a cook, residing at 109 N. MacKenzie Street, married 33-year-old Nelson Roy Yeates. Nelson was a farmer in Sarnia Township at the time. Nelson passed away in 1966, and Ada Louisa (nee Powell) passed away in 1978. Both are buried in Blackwell Cemetery, Sarnia.

Edward Powell’s two brothers (Thomas’ uncles) were John Henry (born August 13, 1894, in England), and Thomas Edwin (born February 22, 1892, in England), and both boys were sent from England to Canada by Barnardo Homes. John arrived in 1902 aboard the ship New England at the age of seven, and Thomas arrived in 1904 aboard the ship Southwark at the age of 12. Both brothers served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I – and both were killed in action. For Edward, he lost his two brothers in the First World War I, and he would lose a son in the Second World War.

John Henry Powell enlisted in August 1915, in Niagara, Ontario. He was a member of the 87^th Battalion when he was killed in action on August 15, 1917, during an attack on the Lens in France. The 23-year-old has no known grave, and his name is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial in France.

Thomas Edwin Powell was the first to enlist, in September 1914, in Valcartier, Quebec. He was a member of the 1^st Battalion when he was killed in action on April 30, 1915, during an attack on St. Julien in Belgium. The 23-year-old has no known grave, and his name is inscribed on the Menin Gate Memorial in Belgium. His name is also inscribed on the Sarnia cenotaph and his story is included in the WW I section of this Project.

Thomas Edwin Powell and his brother John Henry Powell are two of at least 677 Barnardo Boys who lost their lives while serving in the Great War.

Thomas Edward Powell was educated at Confederation Street and Johnston Memorial Public Schools in Sarnia from 1923 to 1931. He then attended Sarnia Collegiate from September 1931 until June 1938. At Sarnia Collegiate he was a member of the Cadet Corps and was very active in athletics, especially gymnastics. He also participated in track, basketball, tennis, rugby, hockey, and marksmanship (was Senior All-round champion). His life wasn’t only sports though. He graduated with Honour standing in English Composition and Literature, algebra, geometry and trigonometry, physics, chemistry, and French. Thomas also worked part time as a delivery boy for seven years for Praills Flower Shop in Sarnia from 1931 to 1938. From October 1938 until he enlisted in late 1940, Thomas worked as a chemist’s laboratory assistant at Imperial Oil Limited Research Lab in Sarnia.

Thomas had originally applied to join the R.C.A.F. in 1938 in London, Ontario, before the war began. He was accepted then but turned it down. In September 1940, he started his studies in the maths and physics at the University of Toronto; however, after being there for a month-and-a-half, he was called by the R.C.A.F.

On November 7, 1940, Thomas Powell, 22, enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force in London, Ontario. He stood five feet seven-and-a-half inches tall, had hazel eyes and brown hair, was single, and was residing at home on Proctor Street with his parents at the time. He requested flying duties, with a preference to be a pilot. After enlisting, his co-workers at Imperial Oil presented him with a wallet.

From the Recruiting Centre in London, #1 Manning Depot in Toronto, and then #22 Manning Depot in Debert, Nova Scotia, Powell began his air training at #3 Initial Training School (ITS) in Victoriaville, Quebec. His Commanding Officer at #3ITS had this to say about the Sarnian: This man is bright and shrewd. He saved enough money working to put himself through University and interrupted his freshman year to join R.C.A.F. Quick and sound reactions.

Thomas continued his training at #17 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) in Stanley, Nova Scotia, and at #8 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) in Moncton, New Brunswick. He was awarded his Pilot’s Flying Badge at #8SFTS in Moncton on September 13, 1941, where he stood seventh in the class of 31 students. His Squadron Leader at #8SFTS remarked that Thomas was Very intelligent and [had a] keen sense of humour. Serious and responsible. Conscientious worker. In mid-September 1941, Thomas Powell was transferred to #13 Operational Training Unit (OTU) and weeks later was posted to #1 Y Depot in Halifax.

Thomas Powell embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom on October 7, 1941. Initially posted to #3 Personnel Reception Centre, he received further training in the U.K., including at #3 Service Flying Training School (SFTS), based at RAF South Cerney; at #23 Operational Training Unit (OTU), based at RAF Pershore; and then at #1651 Heavy Conversion Unit (CU) based at RAF Wratting Common. On July 24, 1942, Thomas became a member of RCAF #419 Moose Squadron “Moosa Aswayita” (written in Cree, not Latin, means Beware the moose-a ferocious fighter), part of Bomber Command, with the rank of Warrant Officer Class II-Pilot.

During the course of the war, one of this country’s most significant contributions was the approximately 50,000 Canadians who served with the RCAF and RAF in Bomber Command operations. Next to Britain, Canada was the largest contributor to Bomber Command, making up more than a third of all of Bomber Command personnel. The men who served in Bomber Command faced some of the most difficult odds of anyone fighting in the war.

RCAF #419 Squadron was formed at RAF Mildenhall, England, in December 1941, and was named after its first commanding officer, Wing Commander John “Moose” Fulton. The unit moved to various bases throughout the war, including Leeming, Topcliffe, Croft, and Middleton St. George. Initially, the squadron was equipped with Vickers Wellington bombers—twin engine, long-range, medium bombers. In November 1942 the squadron converted to Handley Page Halifax bombers, and in March 1944 to Avro Lancasters—both four engine, heavy bombers.

Approximately 10 weeks after becoming a member of #419 Moose Squadron, on October 5, 1942, Thomas was part of a crew aboard Wellington III aircraft BJ729 (markings VR-R) that set off from Croft at 18:21 hours on a Nickels raid (dropping leaflets). Along with other #419 Squadron aircraft, their target that night was Aachen, Germany (80 km southwest of Cologne). A total of 237 aircraft were involved in the operation. The conditions for taking off, let alone flying, were less than ideal. Wartime operations, however, continued in spite of the terrible weather.

The squadron ran into very heavy cloud cover over the south of England that forced back a number of the Wellingtons. Severe icing had been reported by the four aircraft returning to base after encountering an electrical storm. Not only icing but damage to electrical equipment forced the aircraft to return early to base. One of the Wellingtons forced back fell 2,000 feet because of the loss of control due to icing. Its rear turret became completely frozen and was inoperable, so it returned to base. The returning aircraft also experienced electrical problems with intercoms, wireless sets, and the Gee system after passing through these electrical storms.

Warrant Officer Thomas Powell and his crew aboard BJ729 continued to the target after passing through the severe icing conditions. The bad weather continued into Germany. Their aircraft was only one of four Moose Squadron Wellingtons to continue to the target. Sometime before 22:30 hours, BJ729’s crew came under attack from enemy night fighters. The attack brought down Powell’s aircraft at Maastricht (Limburg), Netherlands, at 22:30 hours. The entire crew of five was killed.

Perishing in BJ729 with Warrant Officer Class II-Pilot Thomas Powell were FSs Joseph Leonard O’Grady, Guy James Herman McElroy, and Howard Broom; and P/O Francis Lionel Todd. Originally the crew of Wellington aircraft BJ729 were buried at Venlo, Netherlands (close to the border with Germany, 80 km northeast of Maastricht and 60 km west of Essen). The fallen aircrew were later carefully exhumed and reverently reburied in Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Nijmegen.

The Squadron summary records show that of the eight aircraft assigned to the Aachen operation, only two aircraft took part in bombing runs—one on the primary target and one on the secondary target. Four aircraft returned due to damaged electrical equipment and/or mechanical problems due to icing. Of the 237 aircraft that took part in the operation, 10 were lost and a further 6 were lost on take-off from England due to the severe weather.

In late October 1942, Edward and Annie Powell on Proctor Street in Sarnia received information that their son and only child Thomas was reported missing as the result of air operations. Eight months later, in June 1943, Thomas Powell’s death was officially recorded as Previously reported missing after air operations, now for official purposes, presumed dead, overseas.

Thomas Powell, 24, is buried in Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Netherlands, Coll grave 20.C.1-3.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

James Quinn was born in Sarnia General Hospital on December 6, 1921, the eldest son of William Edward (born in Mooretown, Ontario) and Marjorie Jean (nee Raeburn, born in Port Franks, Ontario) Quinn. William and Marjorie Quinn were blessed with nine children together: daughters Dorothy Isabella (born 1913); Marjorie Jean (born 1916); Mary Louise (born 1931); Katherine Ann (born 1935); and Frances Emma (born 1938). They also had four sons: James Edward; David Gerald (born 1924); William Donald (born 1927); and Maurice Allen (born 1929). The Quinn family lived at 364 Shepherd Street, and William supported his large family working as a boilermaker at Imperial Oil in Sarnia.

James attended Wellington Street public school in Sarnia from 1927 to 1935 and then Sarnia Collegiate from 1935 to 1940-41. His high school years were busy. He took general technical courses and specialized in drafting and was very active in tennis, basketball, and baseball. James participated in hockey and sport shooting and found time to enjoy his hobbies of model building, woodworking, and hunting. While at Sarnia Collegiate, he was also a member of the Cadet Corps for five years with the rank of sergeant-major. He was at one time a carrier boy for the Canadian (Sarnia) Observer and, before enlisting, was employed at the Imperial Theatre in Sarnia as a doorman (night duty, as he was still a student) for a year-and-a-half in 1939 to 1941.

On January 28, 1941, James Quinn, age 19, enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in London, Ontario. He stood five feet eight-and-a-half inches tall, had blue eyes and dark brown hair, was single, and was residing at home with his parents on Shepherd Street at the time. He requested flying duties with a preference to be an air gunner. After the war, he planned to take up drafting. The Recruiting Officer in London wrote that James was a smart country youth, very quick and keen… Will develop rapidly under training and should make excellent air gunner material. Well dressed, clean, bright and very enthusiastic, will measure up I’m sure.

From #2 Manning Depot in Brandon, Manitoba, James Quinn received his air training at #3 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) and later at #2 Wireless School (WS), both in Calgary, Alberta. He was then stationed at #7 Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) in Paulson, Manitoba, followed by a stint at Composite Training School (KTS) in Trenton, Ontario. In a written report, the Chief Instructor at #7B&GS considered James to be Confident and alert, keenly interested and thinks for himself. Has a good basic knowledge of subject.

From November 11-23, 1941, James spent his 12-day pre-embarkation leave with his parents and friends in Sarnia. In early December 1941, he was posted to #1 Y Depot RAF Trainees Pool in Halifax, where he celebrated his 20th birthday.

James embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom on December 9, 1941. From #3 Personnel Reception Centre, he continued his air training in the U.K., at #7 Air Gunnery School (AGS) at RAF Stormy Down, and then at #19 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF Kinloss. On June 4, 1942, he became a member of RAF #106 Squadron “Pro Libertate” (For freedom), part of Bomber Command, with the rank of Warrant Officer Class II, Air Gunner.

During the course of the war, one of this country’s most significant contributions was the approximately 50,000 Canadians who served with the RCAF and RAF in Bomber Command operations. Next to Britain, Canada was the largest contributor to Bomber Command, making up more than a third of all of Bomber Command personnel. The men who served in Bomber Command faced some of the most difficult odds of anyone fighting in the war.

When the war began, RAF #106 Squadron was a training unit, based at RAF Cottesmore, and was equipped with Handley Page Hampden and Avro Anson aircraft. In September 1940, the squadron became an operational bomber squadron, carrying out mine-laying duties, before joining the strategic bombing campaign over Germany. The squadron operated from a number of bases over the course of the war, including RAF Finningley, Coningsby, Syerston, and Metheringham. Early in 1942, RAF #106 became one of the small number of squadrons equipped with the flawed twin-engine Avro Manchester heavy bomber. By May 1942, the much superior four-engine Avro Lancaster began to arrive that the squadron used until the end of the war.

James flew in 17 bombing operations in a number of Lancaster Bombers as a tail gunner. The majority of the missions took place at night and ranged from seven to ten hours of flying time. Targets included locations mostly in Germany—Bremen, Wismar, Aachen, Osnabruck, Cologne, Hamburg, and Mannheim; however, Le Creusot, France was targeted, as were Genoa, Milan, and Turin in Italy.

As a tail-gunner or a mid-gunner, his job was challenging, dangerous, and vital for the crew. Wedged into his hydraulically powered turret and completely vulnerable to the enemy and the elements, he sat alone and cramped in this position for the entire mission. Squeezed into his metal and Perspex cupola, the rear gunner had no access to any heating system during the mission. Adding to a gunner’s discomfort were the constant noise, the risk of hypoxia (lack of oxygen), and buffeting winds. Air crews recognized it as “the coldest and loneliest place” during night operations. He continually scanned the black abyss of the night sky for enemy fighters. If he spotted an enemy fighter, or more likely the flash of fire from an enemy night fighter, he then instructed the pilot to take evasive action. A Lancaster had virtually no defensive armour—the gunners were their sole defense—at their disposal was a total of eight .303 calibre machine guns.

In a collection of letters that James wrote to his father, he indicated that he took part in almost 30 raids over enemy territory and was slated for furlough to Canada soon. He described raids over Italy and Germany, including the historic raid in late May 1942 that blasted the historic city of Cologne. The attack on the night of May 30/31, 1942, on Cologne, was the first ever “Thousand Bomber Raid.”

Nearly eight months later, on January 13, 1943, Warrant Officer II-Air Gunner James Quinn took part in what would be his final mission. He was aboard Lancaster I aircraft W4261 (markings ZN-C) that took off from RAF Syerston. The Lancaster was on a night bombing raid targeting Essen, Germany. Unfortunately, the aircraft was shot down over Dusseldorf, Germany, and the entire 7-man crew was killed.

Perishing with James Quinn were Warrant Officers Maurice Andrew Phair, Russell C. Zavitz, and Joseph Aleo; and Pilot Officer Duncan Hugh Alexander Dewar. Two of the crew, not Canadians, were initially reported missing but that was later amended to “killed in action”: F/S Leslie William Cronk (RAFVR), and Sgt. George Ernest Patrick O’Connor (RAFVR).

Not long after the crash, William and Marjorie Quinn in Sarnia received a telegram from the R.C.A.F. Casualty Officer informing them that their son WO JAMES EDWARD QUINN WAS REPORTED MISSING AFTER AIR OPERATIONS.He had been reported missing a few days after British and Canadian air forces staged a devastating raid on Essen, Germany.

Several days later, the Quinns received another telegram from the Casualties Officer of the R.C.A.F. in Ottawa with a message that the International Red Cross Society received confirmation from German sources that Flight Sergeant Quinn had been killed in the Essen raid. German information had stated that Flt. Sgt. Quinn was shot down over Essen on January 13 and was buried at Military Burial Field in North Dusseldorf, Germany, on January 18. The R.C.A.F. Casualty Officer said that further information would follow in a letter.

After a time when no further information was received, William and Marjorie continued to live in the hope that their son James was still alive, that he may have escaped and was confined as a prisoner of war in Germany. Some time later, William and Marjorie received a telegram informing them that their son James PREVIOUSLY REPORTED MISSING AFTER AIR OPERATIONS NOW FOR OFFICIAL PURPOSES PRESUMED DEAD OVERSEAS.

In mid-November 1944, William and Marjorie Quinn received word that their son James was promoted from Flight Sergeant to Warrant Officer in the autumn of 1942. Six months later, in May 1945, they received a War Service Gratuity of $344.92 for the loss of their son.

James Quinn, 21, was originally buried in Grave No. 202, Section 111, in the Military Cemetery at Dusseldorf, Germany. His remains were later carefully exhumed and reverently reburied in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Germany, Grave 8.G.13. 

In the early 1990s, Sarnia Council decided to rename the easterly most section of Guthrie Drive (south of Highway 402) to “Quinn Drive” in honour of him.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Edward Ramesbottom was born in Byng Inlet, Parry Sound, Ontario, on March 25, 1888, the son of Jonathan and Mary Jane (nee Pilon) Ramesbottom. [Note: The 1891 census incorrectly records Edward’s birth year as 1883. However, his Military Service Records including his Occupational History Form, Death Certificate, Circumstances of Casualty Card, and gravestone record his birth year as 1888].

Jonathan (born 1846 in Weston, Ontario, a mill labourer) and Mary Jane (born 1860 in Algoma, Ontario) Ramesbottom were blessed with 12 children together: Robert (born 1875); John (born 1876); James (born December 1877, died 1938, buried Lakeview Cemetery, Sarnia); Mary-Margaret (born 1881); Percival (born 1885); Jennie (born March 1890, died 16 days later); Edward (born 1888); Leah (born 1891); Harvey (born 1893); Earl Ernest (born March 28, 1896 in Parry Sound); Lola (born 1899); and Gertrude (born 1900).

In March 1911, when Edward was 23 years old, he lost his father Jonathan to heart disease. Seven years later, in 1918, he suffered the loss of his mother Mary Jane. Both Jonathan and Mary Jane Ramesbottom are buried in Byng Inlet, Parry Sound.

Edward’s younger brother, Earl Ramesbottom, served in the Great War. On July 27, 1916, Earl, age 20, enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Parry Sound, becoming a member of the 162 Battalion. He recorded his next-of-kin as his mother, Jane, in Byng Inlet. He stood five feet five-and-a-half inches tall, had gray eyes and dark hair, was single and living in Byng Inlet at the time. He was employed as a lumber inspector in the lumbering trade. In November 1916, he was transferred to the 234th Battalion in Toronto. Nine months after enlisting, in mid-April 1917, he sailed from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom, arriving in Liverpool on April 29.

Five weeks later, on June 7, 1917, Earl Ramesbottom arrived in France as a member of the Infantry, 75th Battalion with the rank of private. On several occasions in the latter part of 1917, he was treated for a painful, chronic ear infection. In the summer of 1918, he was embroiled in the Hundred Days Campaign (August 8 – November 11, 1918, in France and Belgium). This campaign was the “beginning of the end” of the Great War. Canadians were called on again and again over the three-month period to lead the offensives against the toughest German defences. The series of victories repeatedly drove the Germans back, culminating in Germany’s unconditional surrender on November 11, but it came at a high price: approximately 46,000 Canadians were killed, wounded, or missing.

On September 30, 1918, Earl Ramesbottom was seriously wounded during the Battle of Cambrai. This battle in France, known as the Battle of Canal-du-Nord and Cambrai (September 27-October 11, 1918) was the third offensive in Canada’s Hundred Days Campaign. Against seemingly impossible odds and a desperate and fully prepared enemy, the Canadians fought for two weeks in a series of brutal engagements. They successfully channelled through a narrow gap in the canal, punched through a series of fortified villages and deep interlocking trenches, and captured Bourlon Wood and the city of Cambrai. General Arthur Currie would call it “some of the bitterest fighting we have experienced” and it came at a cost of 14,000 Canadian casualties.

On that September 30, Earl was unconscious lying on the field for 24 hours before being admitted to #33 Casualty Clearing Station “dangerously wounded” by a gun shot wound to the head (frontal region of his skull). He was operated on the first time in France and then sent to England. He was operated on again, treated, and remained in various hospitals there until after the war ended in November 1918. In February 1919, he was invalided back to Canada.

On arrival in Canada, he was admitted to Spadina Military Hospital in Toronto and was eventually discharged from St. Andrew’s Military Hospital in mid-September 1919. He was discharged from the CEF as “medically unfit” on September 18, 1919, in Toronto. Only one-and-a-half years later, on March 17, 1921, Earl Ramesbottom died in Davisville Hospital, Toronto, the result of his military service. He is buried in Byng Inlet, Parry Sound.

On September 29, 1913, Edward Ramesbottom, age 25, a marine engineer residing in Kenora at the time, married Marion Hutchinson, age 23, in Kenora, Ontario. Marion, the daughter of Frank and Annie (nee Heslop) Hutchinson, was born in Southport, England, and had immigrated to Canada in 1911, initially residing in Ottawa. Edward and Marion Ramesbottom had only one child together, a son, John Edward, born in 1915. At some point, the Ramesbottoms moved to Sarnia. In 1921, the Ramesbottom family were living at 192 Lochiel Street, and later moved to 150 Talfourd Street, Sarnia.

Years later, their son John Edward, was employed for a time on Great Lakes ships. John Edward also served in World War II, joining the Royal Canadian Navy, and attaining the rank of Chief Stoker. In October 1940, Petty Officer John Edward Ramesbottom was transferred from HMCS St. Francis to HMS Eyebright. So for a time, both Edward, and his son John Edward, were serving in the Royal Canadian Navy at the same time.

Prior to enlisting, Edward Ramesbottom was employed for a time as a marine engineer on a Standard Oil tanker, and before that, he had been on the SS Maplecourt, which operated out of Sarnia for a time.

The SS Maplecourt was well known in this city—it was owned by United Towing and Salvage Company Limited which had a branch in Sarnia. In May 1940, the 3,388-ton steam merchant vessel left Sarnia for overseas service. Nine months later, in early February 1941, on its way from Montreal to Preston, England, the Maplecourt was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the North Atlantic. Her entire crew of 37 was lost. Though none of the crew on board were from Sarnia, the attack on the Maplecourt made big news in Sarnia.

Prior to enlisting, Edward was working as an engineer, on Lightship No. 24, Halifax, Nova Scotia. On October 17, 1940, Edward wrote the following letter from his Talfourd St. home in Sarnia to Department of National Defense, Naval Service in Ottawa;

Dear Sirs

            Would it be possible for me to get a recommendation to commander Morrison at Halifax to enter as E.R.A. 3^rd Class, R.C.N.R.

I have a months leave ashore off of Light Ship No. 24 at Halifax. I applied Oct. 1^st, 1940 for entry into the Naval Service as E.R.A. 3^rd Class R.C.N.R. and was refused on account of the ex-Ray plate taken at Halifax.

I have had another taken since coming home here & it has been forwarded to Ottawa. There was a shadow on the first plate I believe & that was caused from a few broken ribs which I had some few years ago.

I don’t feel satisfied at being rejected & would like the chance of proving myself. In 1915 I went out to Light Ship No. 15 when chief engineer with an extra chiefs ticket & a man with a Board of trade certificate left her in a terrible condition. I went out & fitted her up & kept her in service. I was out on No. 24 Light Ship during this last storm three weeks ago & stood by her all during the storm.

I was on the Sheba in the early part of 1915 during the trip to Hudson Bay when breaking ice she tore a whole in her bow. I went down & repaired [source?] with wedges ashes & cement, & we made a round trip afterwards. During this war since last January I have been engineer on one of the oil tankers (on the Elisha Walker) & was on her till they layed her up. Then I went in Light ship 24 outside of Halifax. I feel that I’d like to be where there is more action & can do my bit for my country. I think my record will prove that I am capable of fulfilling a position with the R.C.N.R. I would like very much to serve in the Navy during this war…

I will be leaving Sarnia for Halifax Oct 26^th. Could I have a reply from you before I leave. I would be ever so grateful. Thanking you.

                                                Yours Respectfully

                                                Edward Ramesbottom

On October 23, 1940, Edward Ramesbottom enlisted in Ottawa, Ontario, becoming a member of the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve (RCNR), with the rank of Engine Room Artificer (ERA), Third Class. The 52-year-old stood five feet one-and-a-half inches tall, had a stocky build, had blue eyes and dark brown-graying hair, and recorded his residence as 150 Talfourd St., living with his wife Marion (who he listed as his next-of-kin). He recorded his educational history as leaving school at age 9 after completing four years public school. He recorded his current employer as the Dept. of Transport in Halifax; his current trade as Engineer, Lightship No. 24, Halifax; and that he had 34 years experience as marine engineer.

Beginning on the opening day of the Second World War, the Battle of the Atlantic would be the longest continuous campaign of the war, and one in which Canada played a central role. The Royal Canadian Navy, along with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Canada’s Merchant Navy, played a vital role in defending the country’s eastern coast and escorting convoys of ships carrying men and essential machinery, arms, fuel, and basic resources between North America and Europe.

Edward began his service on October 28, 1940, at HMCS Stadacona, an RCN shore establishment in Halifax. Soon after, on December 3, he was serving aboard Oil Barge #1. On June 24, 1941, he returned to HMCS Stadacona. On March 9, 1942, he became a member of HMCS Moonbeam, as Chief Engineer Room Artificer (ERA), Third Class.

The Quebec-built ship, originally the M & F Hopper Barge No. 1,was launched in 1913, later becoming the Department of Transport D.M. Hopper Barge No. 1. Early in the war, she was acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed. The RCN acquired two Department of Transport hopper barges in December 1940, converting them to fuel oil carriers, commissioning them HMCS Moonbeam and HMCS Sunbeam. Based out of Halifax, they carried fuel oil for use on the east coast and at St. John’s, Newfoundland. After the war, HMCS Moonbeam was sold in 1946 and became the Oakbranch. In 1960, she was sold again, becoming the B.L.L. 24. She was eventually scrapped in 1971.

On Christmas Day, in the morning of December 25, 1942, Edward Ramesbottom, age 54, died aboard the Moonbeam in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Following is a portion of the report from E.A. Cooper, the Surgeon Lieutenant, RCNVR, “At 0930 hours on December 25^th, 1942, I was called to HMCS “Moonbeam” to examine the body of a rating that had been found dead on board earlier that morning…I could not ascertain the cause of the rating’s death nor could I give a reasonable opinion as to the cause of death.”

Only days later, his wife Marion at 150 Talfourd St. in Sarnia received the following telegram from Ottawa: THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE FOR NAVAL SERVICES DEEPLY REGRETS TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR HUSBAND EDWARD RAMESBOTTOM ENGINE ROOM ARTIFICER THIRD CLASS ROYAL CANADIAN NAVAL RESERVE OFFICIAL NO. A-2858 SUDDENLY DIED, LETTER FOLLOWS.

When Marion received the message, their son John Edward of the R.C.N. was at home on convalescent leave as the result of an injured hand.

On December 29, 1942 Marion received the following letter from the Secretary, Naval Board;

Dear Mrs. Ramesbottom:

            I deeply regret I must confirm the telegram of the 27^th of December, 1942, from the Minister of National Defence for Naval Services informing you that your husband, Edward Ramesbottom, Engine Room Artificer Third Class, Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, Official Number A-2858, died suddenly.

            According to reports received, your husband was found dead in a cabin on board H.M.C.S. “MOONBEAM” at 8:15 in the morning of the 25^th of December, 1942. The cause of his death is as yet unknown, and no further details are available at this time. An official investigation is being conducted and immediately a further report is received in this Department you will be notified.

May I express sincere sympathy with you in your bereavement on behalf of the Minister of National Defence for Naval Services, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Officers and men of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Following Edward’s passing, a post mortem examination was conducted to investigate the cause of his death. On February 1, 1943, Marion wrote a letter to the Naval Board requesting the long awaited report on her husband’s death.

Released in late February 1943, evidence from the proceedings determined that the cause of death was due in part to natural causes and attributable to his Naval service. His death was related to a combination of “Toxaemia (alcoholic), Cardiac Involvement (marked hypertrophy), and Asphyxia (as a complication).”

In March 1945, Marion, then residing at 209 Talfourd St., received a War Service Gratuity of $310.11 for the loss of her husband. Edward was posthumously awarded the 1939-45 Star, the C.V.S.M. and Clasp, and the 1945 War Medal.

Edward Ramesbottom, 54, is buried in Forest Road Anglican Cemetery, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Plot 24 Section D, Grave 25. On his headstone are inscribed the words EDWARD RAMESBOTTOM E.R.A. 3RD CLASS, RCNR A/2858 H.M.C.S. “MOONBEAM” 25TH DECEMBER 1942 AGE 54  SADLY MISSED BY WIFE AND SON. REST IN PEACE.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Melvin Ramsay was born in Sarnia on April 1, 1914, the youngest son of Percival (Percy) Earl and Jean Frances (nee Burr) Ramsay. Both born in Wanstead, Ontario, Percy and Jean were married on September 14, 1910, in Wyoming, Ontario. Percy and Jean were blessed with four children together: sons Robert Drummond (born March 20, 1912), and Melvin Henry (born April 1914); and daughters Dorothy Jean (born 1915), and Marion Earline Ramsay (born 1918). Percy supported his family working as a C.N.R. locomotive fireman, and the family lived at 147 Kathleen Street, and later at 294 Mitton Street, Sarnia.

Tragedy struck the Ramsay family when Melvin was three years old—his father Percy was killed in a railway collision east of Hamilton on December 18, 1917. Melvin’s older brother Robert also served in the war. He became a major in the Canadian Army and lost his life in service (see below). Melvin’s sisters, Dorothy Jean, later became Mrs. Allan Douglas, of London, Ontario; and Marion Earline Ramsay became a teacher at Johnston Memorial School.

Melvin was educated at Lochiel Street Public School from 1921 to 1929 and then at Sarnia Collegiate from 1929 until 1934. In his upper school year, he took courses in English literature and composition, history, algebra, geometry, physics, Latin, trigonometry, and French. He was very active in athletics, particularly tennis and badminton, along with bowling, skating, and swimming. He spent five years training in the Sarnia Collegiate Cadet Corps, and in the last year he was second in command of the corps. While at Sarnia Collegiate, he was also president of the Debating Club which, shortly after its inception, won the WOSSA Championship in 1933-34. Later he became president of the Alexander MacKenzie Club, an organization of young liberals interested in politics. From 1930 to 1934, Melvin worked part-time after school when Willard Pole, a Sarnia druggist and owner of Poles Drug Store, hired him as a clerk. [Note: Willard Pole, a veteran of the Great War, married Grace (nee Proctor) Pole and they were blessed with three sons. Two of the boys lost their lives serving in World War II. Their stories are included in this Project]. 

After graduating high school in December 1934, Melvin began his work to become a promising young “barrister-at-law”. He was employed as a student-at-law with the firm Pardee, Gurd, Fuller and Taylor Barristers in Sarnia from 1934 to 1939. He attended Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto for three years where he graduated with Honours in Law in 1939. While at Osgoode, he was also the president of the Gladstone Liberal Club.

Melvin was called to the bar on September 21, 1939. Until he enlisted, he was a barrister-at-law with the staff of the same law firm where he had articled. H.M. Taylor, of H.M. Taylor, Barrister and Solicitor, Crown Attorney and Clerk of the Peace for the County of Lambton, wrote the following reference letter on behalf of Melvin, as part of his RCAF application:

The bearer of this letter Melvin H. Ramsay of Sarnia, Ontario, is well-known to me and I can recommend his as a proper man for enlistment in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He is a barrister practicing in the City of Sarnia

and has been practicing here for one year and at this date is the Acting Crown Attorney of the County of Lambton. 

He was born at the City of Sarnia and at the present time is twenty-six years of age, and has a splendid record as to character.

Following is a portion of another reference letter, this one written by Harold Fuller, of Pardee, Gurd, Fuller and Taylor Barristers and Solicitors, on behalf of Melvin:

During his employment here (1934 to 1939) he has always carried out his work in a proper and efficient manner. He is a man of the highest character, conscientious and with a good deal of ability and I have no hesitation whatever in giving him the very highest recommendation possible as a fit and proper person to become a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On December 18, 1940, Melvin Ramsay, age 26, enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in London, Ontario. He stood five feet nine-and-a-half inches tall, had brown eyes and brown hair, was single, and was living at home with his mother on Kathleen Street at the time. He requested flying duties with a preference to be a pilot. The Recruiting Officer wrote the following in reference to Melvin: This chap has everything, fine physique, splendid appearance, poise, culture, highly intelligent, forceful personality, aggressive fighter type, will make splendid Air Crew and has all qualifications for commissioned rank. Highly recommended.

From #1 Manning Depot in Toronto and Auxillary Manning Depot in Picton, Melvin received his air training at #31 Air Observer School (AOS) in Mount Hope; then at #1 Initial Training School (ITS) in Toronto; and at #6 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) in Prince Albert; followed by RCAF Station Trenton; then #5 Air Observer School (AOS) in Winnipeg; continuing at #7 Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) in Paulson, Manitoba; and finally at #1 (Advanced) Air Navigation School (ANS) in Rivers, Manitoba.

At #1 ANS on December 20, 1941, Melvin was awarded the A.W. Starrett Memorial Award for Proficiency in Navigation, along with his Air Observers Badge and commission as Pilot Officer. In mid-January 1942, Melvin received a 10-day leave. In February 1942, he continued his training at an advanced Navigation Reconnaissance Course at #31 General Reconnaissance School (GRS) in Charlottetown, PEI.

In mid-March 1942, Melvin Ramsay was transferred to #31 Operational Training Unit (OTU) in Debert, Nova Scotia. Three months later, he was attached to RAF Ferry Command at Dorval, near Montreal, Quebec.

RAF Ferry Command formed in July 1941 to “ferry” aircraft from American and Canadian factories to the front line squadrons overseas. Aircraft were first transported to Dorval and then flown to RCAF Station Gander in Newfoundland for the trans-Atlantic flight to the United Kingdom. The Command’s operational area was over the North Atlantic, bringing the larger planes, the twin-engine and four-engine aircraft that had the range to fly over the ocean. This was pioneering work in 1940: the distance, inadequate navigation instruments, and frequent bad weather over the Atlantic were considered too much of a risk. The program became so successful that in 1941 a second route was created for smaller-range aircraft that called for re-fueling at bases in Labrador, Greenland and Iceland. A third route, the South Route, would link the U.S. to Egypt.

In March 1943, Ferry Command was reorganized when all ferrying functions were grouped under a single command, so Ferry Command became No. 45 (Atlantic Transport) Group of the RAF’s Transport Command, still headquartered in Dorval. Once the planes were delivered overseas, the crews were flown back to Canada for the next run. Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA) bought a few Lancasters and modified them to carry passengers and freight. This was the forerunner of Air Canada and the company’s first transatlantic flights. During the war, over 9,000 aircraft were ferried across the Atlantic to Allied fighter, bomber, maritime patrol, and transportation squadrons.

Melvin made his first trip across the Atlantic in mid-July 1942. In one of his August 1942 trips flying new bombers across the Atlantic, he was able to meet up with his older brother Robert in England.

During his annual 14-day leave in late October-early November 1942, Melvin Ramsay married Dorothy Lorraine Brittain in London, Ontario, on October 31, 1942. Dorothy Lorraine, was the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Brittain, of London, and formerly of Sarnia. Dorothy was employed at Canada Trust Company in London.

To receive the required “military permission” to marry, Melvin submitted the following reference letter written by the Canada Trust Company on behalf of Dorothy Brittain: Miss Dorothy Brittain has been in the employ of this Company for several years, and at all times has been very highly regarded. I have always been impressed with the fine moral character of Miss Brittain, and have no hesitation in recommending her as a young lady of the highest standards in every respect.

After their marriage, Melvin and Dorothy lived in an apartment on Queen Mary Rd. in Montreal.

Melvin soon returned to duty, ferrying aircraft across the ocean. Eleven months after getting married, in mid-September 1943, Melvin was able to visit his family and friends in Sarnia while on another 14-day leave.

On October 10, 1943, he attained the rank of Flying Officer-Navigator, as a member of the newly reorganized Ferry Command RAF No. 45 Group (Atlantic Transport). Late in 1943, Dorothy Ramsay joined her parents at their home at 181 Devonshire Avenue in London, Ontario. She was there to celebrate Melvin’s upcoming Christmas homecoming.

On December 18, 1943 in Iceland, Melvin Ramsay was the navigator in a Mitchell aircraft FW165. This was Melvin’s final trip before taking his Christmas leave. At the end of the flight, at approximately 3:10 p.m., the Mitchell aircraft inexplicitly crashed into marshy ground two miles north-west of the airfield at Reykjavik, Iceland. Perishing with Melvin Ramsay was Captain W.V. Walker of Ingersoll and another occupant.

Several days later, his widowed mother Jean Ramsay in Sarnia received an official telegram from Ottawa informing her that her son FLYING OFFICER MELVIN H RAMSAY WAS REPORTED MISSING WHILE FLYING FROM CANADA TO ENGLAND AS A MEMBER OF THE RAF FERRY COMMAND.

One day later, Melvin’s wife Dorothy in London received a telegram from Ottawa informing her that her husband MELVIN RAMSAY HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY REPORTED KILLED AND THE BOMBER IN WHICH HE WAS FLYING AND THE BODIES OF THE CREW HAVE BEEN FOUND WHERE THEY CRASHED IN ICELAND ON DECEMBER 18.

In December 1943, a few days before Christmas, Dorothy received the following letter from a Flight Lieutenant, Personnel Staff Officer:

Dear Mrs. Ramsay,

            It is with very deep regret that a telegram was sent to you yesterday informing you that your husband Flying Officer Melvin Henry Ramsay had been listed as missing believed killed. Please let me express the very sincere sympathy that all the personnel of this Group feel with you in your sorrow.

            The aircraft on which your husband was navigator crashed near Reykjavik, Iceland at 3.10 p.m. Greenwich Hour Time on the 18th December 1943. It crashed into marshland and I am very sorry to say that there is no doubt that your husband and his companions were killed instantly. The forepart of the fuselage was buried in the marshland and despite all the efforts that have been made it has not so far been possible to recover your husband who has therefore been listed as missing believed killed. Immediately any further information is received a telegram will be sent to you giving all the information available.

            The cause of the accident has not so far been ascertained and this is being investigated by an official Court of Inquiry. If there are any other matters of any description of which I can be of assistance to you please do not hesitate to write.

Flying Officer-Navigator Melvin Ramsay’s death was later officially recorded as Killed in flying accident, overseas (Iceland).

Melvin died three years to the day he enlisted in the air force and 26 years to the day after the death of his father Percy in a tragic railway accident. In February 1945, Dorothy Ramsay in London, Ontario, received a War Service Gratuity of $610.56 for the loss of her husband.

At the time of Melvin’s death, his widowed-mother Jean Ramsay was living at 147 Kathleen Avenue, Sarnia. Eight months after Melvin’s death in December 1943, she lost her second son, Major Robert Ramsay, who was killed while serving with the Canadian Army in France in August 1944.

In November 1944, Jean Ramsay offered a Sarnia Collegiate Institute scholarship in memory of her two sons who lost their lives in the war. The Sarnia Board of Education gratefully accepted the gift of $50, to be an annual scholarship in memory Robert and Melvin Ramsay. Both young men had graduated from the Collegiate Institute and both had belonged to the Central United Church. Mrs. Jean Ramsay expressed that she would like the annual gift to be awarded to the boy attaining the highest standing in any nine Sarnia Collegiate departmental exams.

Melvin Ramsay, 29, is buried in Reykjavik (Fossvogur) Cemetery, Iceland, Grave C48.6. On his headstone are inscribed the following words HUSBAND OF DOROTHY L. BRITTAIN, SON OF PERCY & JEAN RAMSAY, SARNIA, CANADA.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Robert Ramsay was born in Sarnia on March 20, 1912, the oldest son of Percival (Percy) Earl and Jean Frances (nee Burr) Ramsay. Both born in Wanstead, Ontario, Percy and Jean were married on September 14, 1910, in Wyoming, Ontario. Percy and Jean were blessed with four children together: sons Robert Drummond (born March 1912), and Melvin Henry (born April 1, 1914); and daughters Dorothy Jean (born 1915), and Marion Earline Ramsay (born 1918). Percy Ramsay supported his family working as a C.N.R. locomotive fireman, and the family lived at 147 Kathleen Street, and later at 294 Mitton Street, Sarnia.

Tragedy struck the Ramsay family when Robert was five years old— his father was Percy was killed in a railway collision east of Hamilton on December 18, 1917. Robert’s younger brother Melvin also served in the war, becoming a flying officer-navigator in the Royal Canadian Air Force and also losing his life in service (see above). Robert’s sisters, Dorothy Jean, later became Mrs. Allan Douglas, of London, Ontario; and Marion Earline Ramsay became a teacher at Johnston Memorial School.

Robert Ramsay was educated at Lochiel Street Public School from 1918 to 1925 and then Sarnia Collegiate in 1925 until he graduated in 1930. Robert then worked at Imperial Oil Limited in Sarnia for four years. In 1934, he attended Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario, where he obtained his Bachelor of Science degree and graduated as a Mechanical Engineer in 1938. While in Kingston, Robert was a member of the militia, Queen’s University Contingent, Canadian Officers Training Corps-Artillery, attaining the rank of second lieutenant.

Robert took a position with the Canadian General Electric Company in Peterborough and was employed there for two years as the assistant to chief engineer. He continued in the militia, a member of the 4th Field Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery with the rank of lieutenant.

On April 17, 1940, Robert Ramsay, age 28, enlisted in the Canadian Army in Ottawa, Ontario. He stood five feet ten-and-a-quarter inches tall, had blue eyes and dark brown hair, was single, and was living at 234 Reid Street, Peterborough, Ontario, at the time. He began his training in Ottawa as a member of the No. 1 Artillery Holding Unit, Royal Canadian Artillery, with the rank of lieutenant. After training there for less than two months, he embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom on June 9, 1940.

Initially posted to #1 Canadian Army Reinforcement Unit (CARU), and then #2 CARU, Robert continued his army training in the U.K. at Bordon Military Camp. He earned qualifications as a driver (motorcycle) and trained with #3 Anti-tank Regiment, where he was promoted to the rank of captain. In July 1942, he was attached to the 1st Canadian Army Head Quarters.

In August 1942, Captain Robert Ramsay was able to visit with his younger brother Melvin of the RCAF while he was also in England.

In March 1943, Captain Ramsay was a member of the 7th Army Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery. In May 1943, he attended a 16-week staff course at Camberly Military College. Standing highest among the Canadians, he received First Class honours while at the college in September 1943. He was promoted to the rank of Acting Major on October 8, 1943, where he became Chief of Staff to the Commander of the Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA) attached to Head Quarters 2nd Canadian Division.

Acting Major Robert Ramsay embarked from the U.K. on July 3, 1944, and arrived in France two days later (one month after D-Day).

The Battle of Normandy began for the Canadians with the June 6, 1944, D-Day landings at Juno Beach. After breaching the “Atlantic Wall” of “Fortress Europe”, Allied armies began their break out from the narrow Normandy bridgehead to carve out a foothold on the French mainland. To accomplish this took a whole summer of tenacious fighting that saw the Canadians pushing against fierce and ruthless German forces to advance east across France. In a brutal campaign of attrition, the Canadian army, supported by the navy and air force, faced fierce battles and vicious counterattacks as they clawed their way forward to liberate villages and towns including Bretteville, Carpiquet, Caen, and Falaise.

After the Allied breakout from Normandy, in late August 1944, the Canadian forces were assigned the Long Left Flank, the less glamorous but vital tasks that included clearing coastal areas in the north of France and Belgium of German occupiers; opening the English Channel ports for supplies essential to the Allied advance; and capturing the launching sites of German V-1 rockets. In a series of stop-and-start advances against stiff resistance in fortified positions, that continued into early October, the Canadians liberated ports and villages including Rouen, Dieppe, Dunkirk, Boulogne, and Calais.

In mid-August 1944, Robert Ramsay was promoted to the rank of Major. He served with the 7th Army Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, as they advanced through Normandy and into the Long Left Flank of France.

Less than three months after arriving in France, Major Robert Ramsay lost his life in battle. On August 31, 1944, he was killed in action during the fighting in Rouen, France. Robert’s remains were originally buried at a location recorded on the Army Field Service Card as “France M.R. 223089 near Rouen”. His remains were later carefully exhumed and reverently reburied in Calais Canadian War Cemetery.

In early September 1944, his widowed mother Jean Ramsay in Sarnia received a telegram from Ottawa informing her that her eldest son MAJOR ROBERT RAMSAY WAS KILLED IN ACTION IN FRANCE ON AUGUST 31.Beyond the fact that her son went to France early in July, she had no further indication of where he might have met his death.

Major Robert Ramsay’s death was later officially recorded as Overseas casualty, killed in action, in the field (France).  

Eight months prior to Robert’s August 31, 1944 death, Jean Ramsay had lost her first son, RCAF Flying Officer Melvin Ramsay, who had been killed in a flying accident in Iceland in December 1943.

In October 1944, Jean received the following letter from the Major-General, Adjutant-General:

Dear Mrs. Ramsay:

            It was with deep regret that I learned of the death of your son, Major Robert Drummond Ramsay, who gave his life in the Service of his Country in the Western European Theatre of War, on the 31st day of August, 1944.

            From official information we have received, your son was killed in action against the enemy. You may be assured that any additional information received will be communicated to you without delay.

            The Minister of National Defence and the Members of the Army Council have asked me to express to you and your family their sincere sympathy in your bereavement. We pay tribute to the sacrifice he so bravely made.

In November of 1944, Jean Ramsay offered a Sarnia Collegiate Institute scholarship in memory of her two sons who lost their lives in the war. The Sarnia Board of Education gratefully accepted the gift of $50, to be an annual scholarship in memory Robert and Melvin Ramsay. Both young men had graduated from the Collegiate Institute and both had belonged to the Central United Church. Mrs. Ramsay expressed that she would like the annual gift to be awarded to the boy attaining the highest standing in any nine Sarnia Collegiate departmental exams.

In July 1945, Jean Ramsay received a War Service Gratuity of $1512.07 for the loss of her second son to war, Robert. In May 1946, she received a letter from the Colonel, Director of Records, for Adjutant-General. Following is a portion of that letter:

Dear Madam:

Information has just been received from overseas that the remains of your son, Major Robert Drummond Ramsay, have now been carefully exhumed from the original place of interment and reverently reburied in grave 7, row C, plot 8, of Calais Canadian Military Cemetery, St. Inglevert, France. Marked map is enclosed. This is a recognized military burial ground and will receive care and maintenance in perpetuity.

The grave will have been marked with a temporary cross which will be replaced in due course by a permanent headstone suitably inscribed. While it cannot now be stated when this work of permanent commemoration will begin, before any action is taken you will be communicated with and an opportunity will be given you to submit a short personal inscription of your own choice for engraving on the headstone.

Major Robert Ramsey was posthumously awarded the decoration: Mention in Dispatches, the award stating that The King has been graciously pleased to approve the award of Mentions in Dispatches in recognition of gallant and distinguished services.

In September 1946, Jean Ramsay wrote the following letter to the Director of Records, Department of National Defence in Ottawa:

Dear Sir,

            I would like to acknowledge receiving the Certificate denoting that my son, Major Robert D. Ramsay, was mentioned in despatches. Thank you for forwarding this certificate to me. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the Department of National Defence for the fine way they looked after my late son’s effects. Also all the letters of sympathy from the Department, and those that came through the Department, also photographs sent to me at different times. I do appreciate all this.

Robert Ramsay, 32, is buried in Calais Canadian War Cemetery, Leubringhen, France, Grave 8.C.7. On his headstone are inscribed the following words THEY SHALL RECEIVE A GLORIOUS KINGDOM.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Charles Richards was born in Sarnia on September 12, 1915, the youngest child of William and Maud Charlotte (nee Punchard) Richards, who were both born in Devonshire, England. William, a farmer, immigrated to Canada in 1905, and Maud immigrated to Canada in 1906. William and Maud were married in Cathcart, Brant County, Ontario, on August 30, 1906. They had four children together: Edith Kathleen (born 1907); William George (born 1909); Harry John (born 1913); and Charles Valentine (born 1915). The Richards family moved to Sarnia sometime between 1911 and 1913 and lived at 152 John Street. William Richards supported his family working as a brakeman.

Tragedy struck the Richards family on August 4, 1930, one month before Charles’ 15th birthday, when the matriarch of the family, Maud, passed away at the age of 50.

Charles graduated from Sarnia Collegiate in 1934. He was very active in the work of St. John’s Anglican Church, Devine St. He was secretary of the Sunday school for some years and an active member of the Dramatic Club. Charles was also an active member of the old Sarnia Drama League in its heyday before the war. Prior to the war, Charles was employed for several years at Imperial Oil Company as a laboratory assistant. He was also a member of the Non-Permanent Active Militia (N.P.A.M.) for six years and was qualified as a sergeant, Infantry and Engineering.

On September 1, 1939, German forces swept into Poland in a “blitzkrieg” attack and the Second World War began. Two days later in Canada, a Sunday at 11:00 a.m., Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and France declared war on Germany. 

On September 4, 1939, one week before his 24th birthday, Charles Richards enlisted in Sarnia for active service in the Canadian Army on the first day of mobilization.

One week after Britain declared war on Germany, on Sunday, September 10, Canada officially entered the war against Germany.

At his enlistment, Charles stood five feet eight-and-a-half inches tall, had blue eyes and light brown hair, was single, and was living at home with his widowed father William on John Street at the time. As a member of the 11^th (Lambton) Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers (R.C.E.), Charles trained in Sarnia and London and attained the rank of acting lance sergeant.

Charles embarked overseas with the main body of the company from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom on August 8, 1940. He continued his training in Aldershot as a member of the 11th Field Company, R.C.E., Canadian Army. In mid-February 1940, he attained the rank of lance sergeant. In addition to individual and unit training, the main work of the sappers in England was preparing the United Kingdom’s defences in the eventuality that it was invaded. They constructed beach obstacles, pill-boxes, anti-tank ditches, and minefields, as well as improving roadways for military traffic and building military facilities, hospitals, and air bases.

In November 1942, Charles returned to Canada for further training, first to #1 District Depot in London. In December 1942, he was transferred to A6 Canadian Engineering Training Center (CETC) in Chilliwack, British Columbia, where he was appointed to the rank of acting sergeant. He continued his training in the new year at CETC Chilliwack and then at Canadian Small Arms School (CSAS) in Nanaimo, British Columbia. In early July 1943, now with the rank of sergeant, Charles was posted to No. 1 Transit Camp in Windsor, Ontario.

On August 28, 1943, Sergeant Charles Richards embarked overseas again from Canada bound for the United Kingdom. He was initially posted with #1 Canadian Engineers Reinforcement Unit (CERU), where he continued his training. By late September 1943, he was again a member of the 11th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE). In late June 1944, Charles Richards of the 11th Field Company, R.C.E., sailed from the U.K. to France and arrived there on June 27, 1944.

Sergeant Charles Richards served with 11th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, part of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, as they moved across the Northwestern European theatre of war. The Royal Canadian Engineers performed dangerous and vital work. The RCE troops enabled the army to continually advance—they repaired and built roads, airfields and bridges; cleared mines and road blocks; established and maintained lines of communication; and filled in craters and anti-tank ditches—all while working alongside combat troops at the front and often under fire.

The Battle of Normandy began for the Canadians with the June 6, 1944, D-Day landings at Juno Beach. After breaching the “Atlantic Wall” of “Fortress Europe”, Allied armies began their break out from the narrow Normandy bridgehead to carve out a foothold on the French mainland. To accomplish this took a whole summer of tenacious fighting that saw the Canadians pushing against fierce and ruthless German forces to advance east across France. In a brutal campaign of attrition, the Canadian army, supported by the navy and air force, faced fierce battles and vicious counterattacks as they clawed their way forward to liberate villages and towns.

After the Allied breakout from Normandy, in late August 1944, the Canadian forces were assigned the Long Left Flank, the less glamorous but vital tasks that included clearing coastal areas in the north of France and Belgium of German occupiers; opening the English Channel ports for supplies essential to the Allied advance; and capturing the launching sites of German V-1 rockets. In a series of stop-and-start advances against stiff resistance in fortified positions, that continued into early October, the Canadians liberated ports and villages.

In early October 1944, the Canadians entered the Battle of the Scheldt, October 1 – November 8, 1944. It was one of the most gruelling struggles in the war as Canadians fought to liberate the German-controlled estuary. Taking place in northern Belgium and the Netherlands, it was the beginning of the Liberation of the Netherlands. The bitter fighting in the Scheldt estuary against a well-fortified and heavily entrenched enemy was made worse by the harsh conditions. Bitter winter temperatures in a wet and muddy quagmire proved challenging, but the Allies prevailed.

After the Battle of the Scheldt, over the winter of 1944-1945, most of the weary Canadians were given a rest, although the front was never quiet, with patrols and large-scale raids remaining constant. Canadian troops were stationed along the Nijmegen sector in the Netherlands. They were tasked to hold and to defend the Nijmegen salient and a small piece of Allied-held territory north of the Maas River. The Germans did their best to push the Canadians out of “the island” by flooding the area and constantly harassing them with mortar fire, artillery, and aggressive patrols. Constantly vigilant, the Canadians tried to keep warm from the snow and cold during one of the most frigid winters on record in northern Europe.

In February 1945, the Allies launched a great offensive, the Battle of the Rhineland that was designed to drive the Germans eastward back over the Rhine River. There would be two formidable thrusts: one by the Ninth U.S Army; and one by the First Canadian Army, strengthened by the addition of Allied formations. The resilient Germans had spent months improving their defences; winter rains and thaw had turned the ground into a thick, muddy quagmire; and the enemy fought fiercely to defend their home soil. During one month of fighting, the Canadians succeeded in clearing the Reichswald Forest, in breaking the Siegfried Line, and in clearing the Hochwald Forest. But victory came at a high cost—between February 8 and March 10, 1945, over 5,300 Canadians were killed, wounded, or captured.

On March 16, 1945, 11^th Field Company began to check a stretch of ground near Cleve, Germany, for mines in order to make it safe for occupancy by The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada. By the evening of March 17, the mine-clearing parties had found a number of German Riegelmine 43 anti-tank mines that they safely lifted and stored in two dumps.

The next day, March 18, at 1300 hrs., Sergeant Charles Richards, Lieutenant Owen Howard Taylor, and seven sappers set out from HQ to destroy the mines in the dumps a few hundred yards down the road. A half-hour later, something went terribly wrong. There was a terrific explosion and everyone in the party was killed. No evidence was ever recovered to indicate why the tragedy occurred.

Members of the 11^th Field Company, RCE, who perished in the explosion were Sgt. Charles Richards, Lt. Owen Taylor, and Sappers Erik Anderson, Albert Brown, Harold Inkpen, Donald McLellan, Neil Sponagle, Alphonse Steffler, and Urban Mayo.

Charles Valentine Richards’ remains were buried on the day he was killed at a location recorded on the Army Field Service Card as “Germany Canadian Temporary Cemetery at Bedburg, 932527 Calcar 4203 1/25,000”. [Bedburg is approximately 60 kms from the Dutch border]. His remains were later carefully exhumed and reverently reburied in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery. 

On March 22, 1945, William Richards in Sarnia received the following telegram from the Director of Records in Ottawa: REGRET DEEPLY A20124 SERGEANT CHARLES VALENTINE RICHARDS HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY REPORTED KILLED IN ACTION EIGHTEENTH MARCH 1945 STOP YOU SHOULD RECEIVE FURTHER DETAILS BY MAIL DIRECT FROM THE UNIT IN THE THEATRE OF WAR STOP TO PREVENT POSSIBLE AID TO OUR ENEMIES DO NOT DIVULGE DATE OF CASUALTY OR NAME OF UNIT.

In late March 1945, a short memorial service for Charles was held during the regular evening service at St. John’s Church, Devine Street, Sarnia.

In early April 1945, William received the following letter from the Major-General, Adjutant-General:

Dear Mr. Richards:

            It was with deep regret that I learned of the death of your son, A20124 Sergeant Charles Valentine Richards, who gave his life in the Service of his Country in the Western European Theatre of War on the 18th day of March, 1945.

            From official information we have received, your son was killed in action against the enemy. You may be assured that any additional information received will be communicated to you without delay.

            The Minister of National Defence and the Members of the Army Council have asked me to express to you and your family their sincere sympathy in your bereavement. We pay tribute to the sacrifice he so bravely made.

In September 1945, William received the following letter from the Colonel, Director of Records, for Adjutant-General:

Dear Sir:

            Information has now been received from the overseas military authorities that your son A20124 Sergeant Charles Valentine Richards, was buried with religious rites in a temporary cemetery located at Bedburg, approximately one and a half miles South-East of Cleve, Germany. Marked map is enclosed.

            The grave will have been temporarily marked with a wooden cross for identification purposes and in due course the remains will be reverently exhumed and removed to a recognized military burial ground when the concentration of graves in the area takes place. On this being completed the new location will be advised to you, but for obvious reasons it will likely take approximately one year before this information is received.

In August 1946, William received another letter from the Colonel, Director of Records, for Adjutant-General. Following is a portion of that letter:

Dear Sir:

Information has just been received from overseas that the remains of your son, A20124 Sergeant Charles Valentine Richards, have been carefully exhumed from the original place of interment and reverently reburied in grave 11, row D, plot 5, of Nijmegan Canadian Military Cemetery, four miles South-East of Nijmegen, Holland. Marked map is enclosed. This is a recognized military burial ground and will receive care and maintenance in perpetuity.

The grave will have been marked with a temporary cross which will be replaced in due course by a permanent headstone suitably inscribed. While it cannot now be stated when this work of permanent commemoration will begin, before any action is taken you will be communicated with and an opportunity will be given you to submit a short personal inscription of your own choice for engraving on the headstone…

Charles Richards’ death was later officially recorded as Overseas casualty, killed in action, in the field (Germany).

Almost two months after Charles’ death, the war in Europe ended in May 1945.

In January 1948, the Director, War Service Records in Ottawa sent William Richards a photograph of the grave and marker over the burial place in Holland of his youngest son Charles.

Charles Valentine Richards, 29, is buried in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Netherlands, Grave V.D.11. His name is also inscribed on the Sarnia Refinery Plaque. Unveiled in 1949, the plaque has the names of 24 Sarnia Imperial Oil employees who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War II.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

George Riddoch was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, on August 19, 1924, the second son of Andrew and Georgina (nee Harrison) Riddoch. Both born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Andrew Riddoch (born July 1889) and Georgina Harrison (born May 1899) were married in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on August 18, 1917. Andrew and Georgina had nine children together: sons Andrew Jr. (“Andy”, born 1918); George (born 1924); John McKenna (born 1929); Gilbert Harrison (born 1931); Robert T. (born 1933). Their two daughters were Elsie McRae (born 1919, later Mrs. Neil Chalmers, 265 Cobden Street); and Jessie C. (born 1922, became a Corporal with the RCAF in Toronto). There were two other Riddoch children, but they died at an early age: James, born in Scotland in March 1920, died less than three months later; and Douglas, born in Sarnia in October 1934, was stillborn.  

The Riddoch family immigrated to Canada when George was just nine months old. They departed from Glasgow, Scotland, aboard the passenger ship Letitia and arrived at a port in Quebec on May 31, 1925. Patriarch of the family Andrew Riddoch recorded his occupation as farmer. The Riddoch family moved to Sarnia, living at 187 Cobden St., where Andrew supported his large family working as a labourer.

George Riddoch was educated at S.S. #17 Public School in Warwick, Ontario, from 1930 to 1938 and left after completing grade eight. He was active in hockey, rugby, and swimming, and was a member of the Sea Cadets for one year. He then worked at a farm in Watford (B. McKay) in 1938-39, and then at a farm in Sarnia (H. McEwen) in 1939-40. Finally, he worked as a service station attendant from 1940 to 1943 at Rakirk Service Station on the corner of Russell and Wellington Streets.

On August 16, 1943, just days before his 19th birthday, George Riddoch enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in London, Ontario. He stood five feet eight inches tall, had brown eyes and black hair, was single, and was living with his parents on Cobden Street at the time. He requested flying duties and hoped to be a pilot, but with his limited education, George knew this might not happen; however, he was willing to serve in any capacity with an air crew.

From #1 Manning Depot in Toronto and then Technical Training School (TTS) in St. Thomas, George received his initial air training at #4 Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) at Fingal, Ontario; and then at #9 B&GS at Mont Joli, Quebec where he was awarded his Air Gunners Badge on February 25, 1944. He graduated as a Sergeant-Air Gunner. His Commanding Officer recorded that George was a Good type of student, states what he means clearly, has no difficulty in understanding. Willing to help others, shows good initiative.

In March 1944, George continued his training at #3 Aircrew Graduate Training School (AGTS) in Three Rivers, Quebec. One month later, in April, he was posted to #1 Y Depot in Lachine, Quebec. On May 3, 1944, nine months after he enlisted, George Riddoch embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom for further air training.

In the U.K. he was initially posted to #3 Personnel Reception Centre and then continued his training with #82 Operational Training Unit (OTU). On September 6, 1944, he was transferred to #61 (Training Base) with RCAF #1659 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) at R.A.F. Station Topcliffe, England.

With the introduction of new heavy bombers, the four-engine Stirling, Lancaster, and Halifax, the Royal Air Force introduced heavy conversion units in late 1941 to qualify crews trained on medium bombers to operate the heavy bombers before final posting to operational squadrons. Along with training recruits, some of the heavy conversion units carried out roles that included planting mines, patrolling for submarines, and bombing enemy targets.

RCAF #1659 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) formed at RAF Leeming in October 1942 as a Canadian conversion unit with the Handley Page Halifax, a four-engine heavy bomber. In March 1943, it moved to RAF Topcliffe. In November 1944, the unit received some Avro Lancasters.

During the course of the war, one of this country’s most significant contributions was the approximately 50,000 Canadians who served with the RCAF and RAF in Bomber Command operations. Next to Britain, Canada was the largest contributor to Bomber Command, making up more than a third of all of Bomber Command personnel. The men who served in Bomber Command faced some of the most difficult odds of anyone fighting in the war.

There was no easy way to learn how to fly the heavy bombers, and training crews suffered a litany of disasters, crashes and deaths. By the end of the war, Bomber Command lost over 8,000 Allied airmen who were killed in training or by accidents alone.

On October 22, 1944, only five months after arriving overseas, Sergeant-Air Gunner George Riddoch was part of an 8-man crew aboard a Halifax Mark V Bomber LL505 FD-S, nicknamed “S for Sugar”. On this evening, the aircraft was on a navigation cross-country training exercise. The flight plan would have had the crew navigate to various turning points in the UK before returning back to base. The aircraft took off from her base at Topcliffe, Yorkshire, at approximately 1402 hours. The estimated time of arrival was 1909 hours, but at approximately 1900 hours, the aircraft was heard calling “DARKY”. The bomber had run into thick cloud and lost her bearings. Instructions were passed on to the aircraft to maintain 4000’ and fly 090^o. Topcliffe Control made a request to Church Fenton airfield that a Mosquito be scrambled to assist the Halifax crew—a first #307 Squadron Mosquito was despatched at 1950 hours.

Though the instructions were received and acknowledged by Halifax LL505, the directions were not carried out. The eight young men would have been filled with a sense of foreboding as their aircraft, cloaked in a shroud of darkness in the cold night air, was enveloped by thick cloud and fog. They were lost, continued to circle slowly and continually, fuel was critically low, and they were waiting and hoping for just a fleeting break in the cloud to get a fix on their position.

The Mosquito crew were successful in locating the Halifax but literally as they located it, they observed the bomber circling at very low altitude before it crashed into the hillside of Great Carrs at approximately 2015 hours. Great Carrs, with a summit of 788 metres, is a fell (a high and barren landscape feature) in the English Lake District of northern England. Located near Haverigg, Cumbria, England, it was near RAF Station Millom, Cumberland, Scotland.

A fighter was dispatched but arrived only in time to observe the crash. The Halifax aircraft burned and disintegrated on impact and left a trail of wreckage. It is believed that the aircraft became lost in the thick fog and descended with the hope of getting a visual fix on the ground; however, they came down too low over the western shoulder of Great Carrs and hit the hillside.

The entire crew was killed. Sergeant-Air Gunner George Riddoch sustained multiple injuries and died. His remains were buried on October 28, 1944 in Chester Cemetery, Cheshire.

Perishing with George Riddoch were F/Os. Robert Newton Whitley and John Armstrong Johnston; P/O. Frank Aubrey Bell; Sgts. Calvin George Whittingstall, Harvey Ellsworth Pyche, and Donald Fraser Titt; and Sgt. William Brisbane Ferguson (RAF).

In late October 1944, Andrew and Georgina Riddoch on Cobden St., received a telegram from the Casualty Officer in Ottawa informing them that their son SERGEANT GEORGE RIDDOCH HAS BEEN KILLED ON ACTIVE SERVICE ON OCTOBER 22. No other details were given.

Andrew and Georgina presumed that their son was killed in an accident. In a letter that they had received the previous week from their son, George told them of flying in a Halifax bomber and intimated that he had not completed his training.

In early November 1944, Andrew and Georgina received the particulars of the flying accident in Britain that had cost their son’s life. In a letter written from Air Vice Marshall J.A. Sully, he confirmed, with regret, that the Sarnia boy had been killed on active service. He revealed that George Riddoch was a member of the crew in an R.C.A.F. plane that crashed into a hillside near Millon, Cumberland County, England, during flying operations. The R.C.A.F. Officer stated I realize that this news has been a great shock to you and I offer you my deepest sympathy. May the same spirit which prompted your son to offer his life give you courage. You may be assured that any further information received will be communicated to you immediately.

In the same week that they received the above letter from Vice Marshall Sully, the Riddochs also received a letter from George, dated October 20, and posted the next day, only 24 hours before he flew on the fatal mission. In it, George referred to mail from home, and spoke of plans for Christmas and difficulties he was experiencing in finding suitable presents for his relatives. He closed with the observation that it was about 10 minutes to 10 p.m. and time for him to be heading for bed and a final line, “Oh, I lead a good life now. So-long for now.”

In November 1944, Andrew received a letter from the Group Captain, Commanding No. 1659 RCAF

Conversion Unit. Following is a portion of that letter:

Dear Mr. Riddoch,

            Before you receive this letter you will have had a telegram informing you of the very sad loss of your son, Sergeant George Riddoch.

            Your son, along with a full crew, took off on a normal training exercise at 2.00 o’clock on the afternoon of October 22nd. They had been airborne and carrying out the exercise for over six hours when a message was received that the aircraft had crashed into a hillside. It has not yet been ascertained what caused the accident – death was instantaneous to your son and the rest of the crew.

            Owing to the time taken to communicate under present conditions, it was not possible to ascertain your wishes regarding the funeral in the time available, and arrangements were, therefore, made for his burial without reference to you. I thought that you would like your son to be buried beside his comrades, who were buried at the

same time, and I arranged accordingly. I am sure that you will understand the necessity for the action that was taken, and I sincerely trust that the arrangements we were able to make were what you would have wished.

            The funeral took place at 1100 hours on Saturday October 28th at the R.A.F. Regional Cemetery in the City of Chester, county of Cheshire. The service was conducted by S/L E.L. Curry, Protestant Padre of R.C.A.F. ‘R’ Depot. Full Service honours were accorded. Officers and airmen were in attendance and the coffin was carried by aircrew personnel. A wreath was sent by the officers of this Unit as well as by the Sergeant’s Mess. Your son’s grandmother, Mrs. A. Riddoch, of New Machar, Aberdeenshire, was immediately contacted and notified of the funeral arrangements but she was unable to attend the ceremony. Photographs of the service are enclosed.

            You will wish to know that all War Graves are taken care of by the Imperial War Graves Commission, who will erect a temporary wooden cross, pending provision of a permanent memorial. I am instructed to explain that the question of reinterment, if this were desired, could be considered only at the conclusion of hostilities…

            May I now express the great sympathy which all of us feel with you in the sad loss which you have sustained. Your son, along with his crew, was just about to join an Operational Squadron. I sincerely believe that he had the makings of an excellent Air Gunner and I have no hesitation in saying that the crew as a whole, the members of which came from all parts of Canada and Scotland would have been outstanding.

            Please believe me when I say that the sense of loss which you feel is shared by all of us. George was very popular with the other members of this Unit, and highly regarded by all. I can only say, in closing, how extremely sorry I am to have to write this letter to you. I hope you will find consolation in the fact that your son has sacrificed his life in the cause of Freedom, and in the service of his Country. If there is anything that I can do for you at any time, please do not hesitate to advise me.

George Riddoch’s death was later officially recorded as Killed in flying accident, overseas (England). George’s funeral was held on October 28, 1944, at the R.A.F. Regional Cemetery in Cheshire, England. At the same time of George’s funeral in England, a private service was held for relatives and close friends at his parents’ Cobden Street home. Rev. James Milroy of Rogers Memorial Presbyterian Church, Toronto, and the Rev. Charles E. Ficher of Corunna, conducted the service.

The exact location of the crash is a ridge known as Top of Broad Slack, which lies between the summits of Swirl How and Great Carrs. The aircraft wreckage remained remarkably intact, and because of its high and remote location, RAF salvage teams were unable to remove the wreckage. Eventually, it had to be cut up and pushed down into the deep gully of Broad Slack so as to stop continual reports of sightings by passing aircraft. Much of the wreckage remains there to this day.

A permanent memorial to the crew is set up at the crash site, where all eight crew members died. The memorial comprises a stone cairn, an engraved slate memorial stone, a wooden cross, and portions of the aircraft’s undercarriage.

In October 2014, The Westmorland Gazette, a weekly newspaper in Kendal, England, wrote a story on the 70^th anniversary of the crash. On the trail of wreckage that can still be found on the summit, the article stated that For years these remains, along with the memorial cairn and plaque on the summit, have made it one of the most poignant spots in the fells. Following is a portion of that story;

Windermere resident Margaret Tyson remembers the aftermath of the foggy night when the plane ploughed into the hillside. The night it happened her father (Fred Bowness), along with local farmers and other people from the area tried to mount a rescue effort.

“He went along with the local farmers to try and find it that night, but they couldn’t get up because of the heavy mist,” said Mrs. Tyson.

“They were eventually found the next morning.”

As the plane was fully armed when it came down, servicemen from the Royal Air Force were sent to guard the site until all the ammunition and weaponry had been recovered, she said.

“We had about five airmen sleeping on the floor in our parlour until they were able to set up a proper base,” she said. “There was quite a buzz in the village for a while.”

Don Greaves from Windermere took an active role in maintaining the memorial. His family business, a slate company, made a new plaque and installed it in the cairn in 2005. A dedication ceremony was held at the site on Armistice Day that year and included representatives from the RAF and RCAF.

Don Greaves, who regularly visits the site, said, “I am not the only one who cares. I go there every year and there are quite a lot of poppies and wreaths up there.”

Mr. Greaves said he hoped future generations would take up the mantle of maintaining the memorial to the tragic night. “We are not the first ones to show our respects by maintaining this site and hopefully we won’t be the last.”

George Riddoch’s citations include the Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, and War Medal 1939-1945.

George Riddoch, 20, is buried in Chester (Blacon) Cemetery, Cheshire, United Kingdom, Section A, Grave 1028. On his headstone are inscribed the words HE WILL NOT AGE HIS SONG IS SUNG AND HE REMAINS FOR EVER YOUNG. REST IN PEACE. 

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

While overseas as a member of the Royal Canadian Artillery, 3rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Gunner Maurice James Roberts met a young Englishwoman, fell in love, and was engaged to be married. Sadly, the nuptials would never happen. In May 1944, Maurice lost his life in a tragic vehicle accident, one in which he made a valiant effort to save his comrade. He left behind his grieving mother in Toronto and a distraught fiancée in England.

Maurice James Roberts was born in Brantford, Ontario, on June 16, 1920, the only child of Herbert James and Doris May (nee Jefferies) Roberts. Herbert and Doris were married in Collingwood, Ontario, on December 24, 1919, but things became unsettled between them by 1929. After ten years of marriage, Herbert left Doris and his nine-year-old son, Maurice. Herbert, a salesman, moved to Wolverly Bld. in Toronto, while Doris and Maurice resided at Cambridge Avenue and later Dearbourne Avenue in Toronto.

Doris raised her son by herself. Maurice received his schooling in Collingwood (1933-37) and Welland, Ontario, (1937-39), completing two years of technical school in 1939. Soon after, Maurice moved to Sarnia where he was employed as a grocery store clerk at Loblaw’s Groceteria on North Christina Street. He was working there to help support his mother financially.

On March 19, 1941, Maurice Roberts, age 20, enlisted in the Canadian Army in London, Ontario. He stood five feet eleven-and-three-quarter inches tall, had brown eyes and dark brown hair, was single, and was residing at 176 ½ Front Street, Sarnia at the time. He recorded his employment history as two years at Loblaw’s Groceteria in Sarnia and his next-of-kin as his mother, Doris, on Cambridge Avenue in Toronto. After the war, he planned to return to his job at the grocery store in Sarnia and possibly to a career in draughting (drafting).

From #1 District Depot in London, Maurice received his army training at #10 Basic Training Centre (BTC) in Kitchener, and at A2 Canadian Artillery Training Centre (CATC) at Camp Petawawa. In July 1941, Gunner Maurice Roberts was posted to Debert, Nova Scotia. He continued his training there as a member of the 3rd Anti-Tank Regiment, 94th Battery.

Approximately seven months after enlisting, in early October 1941, Maurice embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom.

Maurice disembarked in Liverpool, England, on October 6, 1941, as a member of the Royal Canadian Artillery, 3rd Anti-Tank Regiment, with the rank of Gunner. He continued his training and service in the U.K. and by November 1942, had risen in rank to Bombardier, stationed near Ringwood.

While in the U.K., Maurice met and fell in love with a British girl, Miss Pitt, who was in her early 20s. By the spring of 1944, they had even made plans to marry. Maurice applied to the military for permission to marry her, but the marriage, tragically, would not come to be.

During training that mid-spring of 1944, Bombardier Maurice Roberts was involved in a tragic vehicle accident and was killed while trying to save a comrade.

On May 13, 1944, Maurice was killed in Romsey, Hampshire, England, in a Mortar Carrier tracked vehicle accident that happened at approximately 13.30 hours. He was the passenger in the vehicle that was descending a steep hill when it swerved to avoid hitting on oncoming vehicle. The vehicle he was in left the road, went over an embankment, and fell down a slope, rolling over twice. Before both Maurice Roberts and the driver were thrown from the vehicle, Roberts made a valiant attempt to save the driver—that selfless split-second decision likely cost him his life.

An enquiry was held into the circumstances of the crash afterwards. Investigators determined the following facts about the accident:

Maurice Roberts was the passenger in the tracked vehicle #C.T. 163562 (like a Bren Gun carrier) driven by another soldier (Gunner Doucett) travelling along the Southampton Road; the vehicle was part of a convoy that was travelling at a moderate speed of 15 to 20 m.p.h.; the qualified driver was a good driver but hadn’t much experience in this type of vehicle; the road was clear and dry; about one mile out of Romsey while driving down a long fairly steep hill and taking a right hand bend, the driver saw a truck coming from the opposite direction; the driver applied the brakes causing the vehicle to swerve a little to the right; the driver steered to the left and the vehicle left the road on the left; the vehicle went through a hedge and momentarily balanced on the crest of a hidden steep embankment, before tipping over and falling down the slope, a drop of 20 feet; Maurice Roberts shouted to the driver to jump when the vehicle crashed through the hedge; Maurice Roberts went to jump out but came back for the driver as the carrier rolled over; the carrier rolled over twice and the two men were thrown out; an unconscious Maurice Roberts was brought by ambulance to the Camp Reception Station, Halterwworth, Romsey, in the Parish of Romsey Extra; he was bleeding, with weak pulse, and not breathing; Maurice Roberts died about forty minutes later (between 1410 and 1420 hours), evidence of cerebral hemorrhage and internal injuries consistent with his having been crushed by the heavy vehicle; death was due to loss of blood and shock subsequent to his internal injuries; the driver suffered a fracture of the right arm, dislocation of the right shoulder and other injuries; cause of accident was determined to be unknown.

One of the witnesses who gave testimony was the driver of the vehicle. Following is a portion of Gunner Regis Doucett’s own words:

I was driving a Carrier down a long fairly steep hill,,. near Romsey. I was almost half way down the hill when I saw a truck coming from the opposite direction. I brought the carrier into my near side of the road and applied the brakes which caused the carrier to swerve a little to the right. I brought it back to the side of the road, but it went through the hedge and came to a standstill before it tipped over. Bombardier Roberts (the deceased) who was with me, shouted for me to jump when we crashed through the hedge.

He went to jump but came back for me and at the same time the carrier rolled over. It rolled over twice, we were thrown out the first time.

On May 14, 1944, Doris Roberts, then on Dearbourne Avenue in Toronto, received the following telegram from the Director of Records: REGRET DEEPLY A28520 BOMBARDIER MAURICE JAMES ROBERTS OFFICIALLY REPORTED DIED THIRTEENTH MAY 1944 DUE TO MORTAR CARRIER ACCIDENT WHILST ON DUTY STOP FURTHER INFORMATION FOLLOWS WHEN RECEIVED.

Maurice Roberts’ remains were buried on May 19, 1944, in Brookwood Cemetery, England. In late May 1944, Doris received the following letter from the Major-General, Adjutant-General:

Dear Mrs. Roberts:

            It is with deep regret that I learned of the death of your son, A28520 Bombardier Maurice James Roberts, who gave his life in the Service of his Country in the United Kingdom on the 13th day of May, 1944.

You may be assured that any additional information received will be communicated to you without delay. The Minister of National Defence and the Members of the Army Council have asked me to express to you and your

family their sincere sympathy in your bereavement. We pay tribute to the sacrifice he so bravely made.

In late January 1945, the Colonel, Acting Director of Records, for Adjutant-General mailed a letter to the grieving Doris. Following is a portion of that letter:

Dear Madam:

With reference to the regretted death of your son, the marginally named, as you are probably aware his remains have been buried in grave 3, row B, plot 49, of Brookwood Military Cemetery, near Woking, Surrey, England.

The grave will have been marked with a temporary wooden cross which will be replaced in due course by a permanent headstone suitably inscribed. While it cannot now be stated when this work of permanent commemoration

will begin, you may rest assured that before it is carried out you will be communicated with and given an opportunity of submitting a short personal inscription for engraving at the foot of the memorial…

Maurice Roberts’ death was later officially recorded as Overseas casualty, accident, crushed by a mortar carrier vehicle when it left the highway and rolled down an embankment. Cause of death was loss of blood and shock from internal injuries (England).

Soon after Maurice’s death, Miss Pitt, his fiancé, learned that she was pregnant with their child. The 23-year-old was devastated at the loss of her future husband and her condition.

Among the items Maurice left behind were two diaries, a New Testament, 40 snapshots, and two letters addressed to him yet unopened. In February 1946, Doris Roberts received from the Colonel, Director of Records, for Adjutant-General, a photograph of the grave and marker over the burial place in England of her only son.

Maurice Roberts, 23, is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey, United Kingdom, Grave 49.B.3.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

John Douglas Carlisle Ross was born in Sarnia, on September 1, 1923, the only son of John James and Martha Anne (nee Maxwell) Ross. John and Martha, both born in Durham, England, were married there on December 15, 1901. At some point the Ross family immigrated to Canada and resided at 252 Emma Street, Sarnia.

John supported his family with his work as an electrical machinist in Sarnia. He had many mouths to feed, for Martha and he had seven children together—their only son, John Douglas, and six daughters. The six girls later became Mrs. W. Walker (Wallaceburg); Mrs. E. Rowe (Detroit, Michigan); Mrs. W.R. McNeil (Detroit, Michigan); Mrs. D. Abrams (Toronto); Miss L. Ross (Sarnia); and Miss Jean R. Ross (Sarnia). Jean Ross also served during the war. She joined in July 1942, and became a sergeant with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC). She embarked overseas on the same transport as her brother.

John Douglas Ross was educated at Devine Street Public School from 1929 to 1935 and then at Sarnia Collegiate from 1935 to 1942. He was an avid sportsman who was active in baseball, volleyball, tennis, bowling, basketball, and swimming. After completing high school, John found work in Sarnia as a part-time clerk at Agnew Surpass shoe store from 1939 to 1942. He then worked as a carman’s helper at C.N.R. for six months in 1942 and later as a Lab Helper (student) at Imperial Oil Company in 1942 for six months until he enlisted.

On November 12, 1942, John Ross, age 19, enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Sarnia, Ontario. He stood six feet tall, had blue eyes and light brown hair, was single, and was residing at home with his parents on Emma Street at the time. After the war, his ambition was to attend college to become an apprentice in Tool and Dye making. He requested flying duties, eager to be part of an air crew.

From #9 Recruiting Centre in London, John then moved to #2 Manning Depot in Brandon, Manitoba. He received his air training at #20 P/A E.D. and at #7 Initial Training School (ITS), both in Saskatoon. Following further training at #7 Air Observer School (AOS) in Portage la Prairie, John attended #1 Aircrew Graduate Training School (AGTS) in late February 1944.

In mid-June 1943, he had been able to spend part of a 7-day leave visiting his parents and sisters on Emma Street in Sarnia before returning to duty. Eight months later, on February 11, 1944, John was awarded his Navigator Badge. Days later, he received his 14-day pre-embarkation leave.

On April 10, 1944, Flying Officer John Ross embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom. From #3 Personnel Reception Centre in the U.K., he continued his training at #8 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit (AFU) and at #86 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF Gamston. He then received further instruction at #22 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF Wellesbourne Mountford.

On March 8, 1945, John Ross became a member of RCAF #426 Thunderbird Squadron “On Wings of Fire”, part of Bomber Command, with the rank of Flying Officer-Navigator.

During the course of the war, one of this country’s most significant contributions was the approximately 50,000 Canadians who served with the RCAF and RAF in Bomber Command operations. Next to Britain, Canada was the largest contributor to Bomber Command, making up more than a third of all of Bomber Command personnel. The men who served in Bomber Command faced some of the most difficult odds of anyone fighting in the war.

No. 426 Squadron was established at RAF Dishforth, Yorkshire, on October 15, 1942, as part of No. 4 Group. In January 1943, it was transferred to No. 6 (RCAF) Group. The squadron was equipped with twin-engine Vickers Wellington aircraft to deliver bombs and mines to the enemy. In June 1943, the squadron transferred to RAF Linton-on-Ouse and switched to the heavy four-engine Avro Lancaster bombers. Later, in April of 1944, the squadron began to convert to Handley Page Halifax aircraft, also four-engine heavy bombers, that they used until the end of the war in Europe. The thunderbird crest used by the squadron originates from North American natives and, according to myth, signifies disaster and death to anyone on the ground who perceives it. No. 426 Squadron took part in many daring raids over enemy territory, including raids on Berlin, Leipzig, and Frankfurt.

One year after arriving overseas, on April 25, 1945, John Ross was part of a crew aboard Halifax Mk. VII aircraft NP820 (markings OW-W). The heavy bomber took off at 15.04 hours from RCAF Station Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire. Circling the airfield for the last time, Halifax NP820 climbed to her designated flight altitude and, from there, followed the navigator’s course to Wangerooge. Along with some 482 aircraft (20 from #426 Squadron), the Halifax was part of an operation to carry out a bombing mission on Wangerooge, Germany. The mission’s goal was to destroy coastal batteries that controlled the approaches to Breman and Wihelmshavaen.

During the flight to their target, the crew may have been preoccupied with rumours about a possible end to the war that were making the rounds and that #426 Squadron might be back in Canada before summer was out. They were excited about the prospect of going home and seeing their families again.

Unfortunately, nothing further was heard from Halifax NP820 after she left the base. Airmen who returned from the mission reported that approximately one hour from the target, Halifax NP820 was in a mid-air collision over the North Sea with #408 Squadron Halifax aircraft NP796. Both aircraft disintegrated in the air and crashed into the sea.

F/L Mercer of #426 Squadron, an eyewitness flying in Halifax NP824 who saw the collision and watched the aircraft crash into the sea said this of Jim Tuplin’s aircraft (NP820): When the plane over Jim’s hit that air pocket, it crashed Tupp’s kite into the North Sea. His Halley* was on my right side, but we had to keep going to drop our bombs on Wangerooge. On the way back to England, we dropped low over the crash area and saw no survivors.

* Halley is a nickname for a Halifax bomber

F/L Mercer who safely returned to base later wrote The accident on April 25 happened about 3:30 (p.m.). We went in and bombed and turned around, coming straight back to the accident. We were the first to notify air-sea rescue about it. There was nothing to be seen but two little rubber dinghies and bits of two aircraft. The flying boat (air-sea rescue) arrived about an hour and a half after the accident and whether they landed (on the North Sea), I am not in a position to say as they were not from our station.  

Less than two weeks after the crash, the Wing Commander of #426 Squadron wrote a letter to the wife of Jimmie Tuplin, one of the airmen aboard NP820. A portion of the letter read Your husband and his crew were detailed, along with other members of the squadron, to carry out an attack on enemy installations at Wangerooge, Germany. Before reaching their objective, other crews from the squadron saw your husband’s aircraft collide with an aircraft from another squadron that also operates from this station. Both aircraft were seen to disintegrate in the air and crash into the sea. From the information obtained from other crew participating in this operation, I cannot hold very much hope for the survival of your husband and the members of his crew.

Perishing in Halifax NP820 with Flying Officer-Navigator John Douglas Ross were P/Os. Stanley James Teskey (also of Sarnia, and his story is included in this Project), James Chester Tuplin, Dennis Rupert Humphrey Curzon, and Earl William Hicks; F/Sgts. Ronald Roberts (RAF), and Reginald Gordon Evans (RAF).

All seven airmen in Halifax aircraft NP796 were also lost: F/L Arthur Ely; Sgts. Albert Rutter, Vernon Hovey, James Hughes (RAF); W/O2 James Brambleby; F/Os. James Stanley, and Allan Boyd.

Seven aircraft were lost on this operation and six of them were due to collisions, despite weather conditions being almost perfect. This was the last operation of the war for RCAF #426 Squadron.

On April 26, 1945, John Ross Sr. on Emma Street in Sarnia received the following telegram from the RCAF Casualties Officer: REGRET TO ADVISE THAT YOUR SON FLYING OFFICER JOHN DOUGLAS CARLISLE ROSS J FOUR ONE SIX SEVEN NINE IS REPORTED MISSING AFTER AIR OPERATIONS OVERSEAS APRIL TWENTYFIFTH STOP LETTER FOLLOWS.

Two weeks after John’s death, the war in Europe ended.

John Ross’ death was later officially recorded as Previously reported missing after air operations, now for official purposes, presumed dead, overseas (Germany).

In mid-June 1946, John Sr. and Martha Ross received a War Service Gratuity of $411.80 for the loss of their only son. In mid-February 1947, Martha received the following letter from the Wing Commander for Chief of the Air Staff in Ottawa:

Dear Mrs. Ross:

            It is a privilege to have the opportunity of sending you the Operational Wings and Certificate in recognition of the gallant services rendered by your son, Flying Officer J.D.C. Ross. I realize there is little which may be said or done to lessen your sorrow, but it is my hope that these “Wings”, indicative of operations against the enemy, will be a treasured memento of a young life offered on the altar of freedom in defence of his Home and Country.

John Douglas Carlisle Ross, 21, has no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Runnymede War Memorial, Surrey, United Kingdom, Panel 279.

His name is also inscribed on the Sarnia Refinery Plaque. Unveiled in 1949, the plaque has the names of 24 Sarnia Imperial Oil employees who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War II.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Ernie Russell was born in Sarnia, on September 12, 1919, the son of James Ernest and Annie May (nee Benstead) Russell. James (born in 1880, in Providence, Rhode Island), married Annie (born July 1880, in Deep St. Nicholas, Lincolnshire, England), on April 12, 1905, in Strathroy, Ontario. Annie May had immigrated to Canada in 1885. In 1911, James and Annie, along with their four children at the time, were residing in Strathroy, Middlesex County. By 1915, the expanding family was residing at 240 Essex Street in Sarnia.

James found work as a tinsmith and later at the railway as a brakeman, and fortunately he did, for Annie and he had 10 children together. Their sons were Joseph William (born 1906); James Herbert (born October 1917); and Ernie Russell (born September 1919). The births of their seven daughters were spread out over 14 years: Marion Marguerite (born 1907); Grace Adeline (born 1909); Agnes Jean (born 1910); Lillian Loreen (born 1913); Helen Louise (born 1915); Ruth A. (born 1916); and Anna Lois (born 1921).

At the time of Ernie’s death, six of his sisters were married and residing in Sarnia. They were known individually as Mrs. Joseph Simmons, Mrs. Ivan Wise, Mrs. Frederick Gray, Mrs. Maurice Edginton, Mrs. Orville Whitsitt, and Miss Anna Russell, along with Mrs. Robert Doyon who lived in Collingwood.

Ernie’s brother, James Russell, also served in the war. He enlisted in Sarnia with the 26th Battery in September 1939, just three days after the outbreak of war. James Russell married Kathleen Pascoe of Camlachie who served as a WREN stationed at Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. James embarked overseas in September 1940. At the time of Ernie’s death, James was a sergeant in the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Artillery, 26th Battery, serving in France. During his time overseas, including time in Germany, James was wounded once, in August 1944. James Russell returned to Sarnia on furlough in May of 1945 after five years of overseas service.

His younger brother Ernie would not be as fortunate.

Ernie Russell attended Central United Church and was educated in Sarnia until he completed grade eight. After completing his education, he was employed by B. Neal as an assistant manager of a bowling alley in Sarnia from 1937 to 1939. Anything to do with sports, especially bowling, suited Ernie just fine. According to the Sarnia Observer, Ernie was one of the best bowlers that the city had ever produced at that time. He was also well known in the local rugby circle as he played City League rugby. Ernie was also active in swimming, softball, golf, and he enjoyed hunting and fishing. From 1939 to 1940, he was employed in Kirkland Lake as a pipefitter. He returned to Sarnia in 1940 and found work as a machine operator at Electric Auto-Lite until he enlisted. 

On June 5, 1941, Ernie Russell, age 21, enlisted in the Canadian Army in London, Ontario. He stood five feet ten inches tall, had hazel eyes and dark brown hair, was single, and was residing at home with his parents at the time. He recorded his next-of-kin as his father, James, at 240 Essex St. After the war, he planned to get into gold mining.

Ernie was initially posted to the 62nd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery, in London, Ontario, for training. Just over two months later, on August 23, 1941, Ernie embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom as a member of the 4th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (4LAA).

Disembarking in Glasgow on September 2, 1941, he continued his army training in the U.K. Almost a year- and-a-half later, in February 1943, he was transferred to the 11th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (11LAA). During his training in England, he won the tabloid sports championship medal in 1943. In January 1944, he was transferred to #3 Canadian Army Reinforcement Unit (3CARU), and then in March 1944 to #2 CARU. On April 1, 1944, he was transferred to 8th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (8LAA), Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA).

Almost three years after arriving overseas, on July 22, 1944, Gunner Ernie Russell arrived in France. The 8LAA, RCA, were one of the units comprising the 4^th Canadian (Armoured) Division. This 4^th Canadian Division had arrived in the United Kingdom in the late summer and autumn of 1942 and spent almost two years training there before crossing to Normandy in July 1944.  

The Battle of Normandy began for the Canadians with the June 6, 1944, D-Day landings at Juno Beach. After breaching the “Atlantic Wall” of “Fortress Europe”, Allied armies began their break out from the narrow Normandy bridgehead to carve out a foothold on the French mainland. To accomplish this took a whole summer of tenacious fighting that saw the Canadians pushing against fierce and ruthless German forces to advance east across France. In a brutal campaign of attrition, the Canadian army, supported by the navy and air force, faced fierce battles and vicious counterattacks as they clawed their way forward to liberate villages and towns including Bretteville, Carpiquet, Caen, and Falaise.

After the Allied breakout from Normandy, in late August 1944, the Canadian forces were assigned the Long Left Flank, the less glamorous but vital tasks that included clearing coastal areas in the north of France and Belgium of German occupiers; opening the English Channel ports for supplies essential to the Allied advance; and capturing the launching sites of German V-1 rockets. In a series of stop-and-start advances against stiff resistance in fortified positions, that continued into early October, the Canadians liberated ports and villages including Rouen, Dieppe, Dunkirk, Boulogne, and Calais.

Gunner Ernie Russell served with the 8th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RCA, part of the 4^th Canadian (Armoured) Division, as they advanced through Normandy and northern France towards Belgium.  

Less than two months after arriving in France, and just five days before his 25^th birthday, Gunner Ernie Russell was killed in action on September 7, 1944. It was during fighting on the “long left flank” on the border of France and Belgium. His remains were buried on September 8, 1944, at a location recorded on the Army Field Service Card as “Cemetery in village of Quaedypre France 281725 sheet 40”.

His remains were later carefully exhumed and reverently reburied in Calais Canadian War Cemetery.

On September 16, 1944, Annie May Russell on Essex Street received the following telegram about her son: MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE DEEPLY REGRETS TO INFORM YOU THAT A57044 GUNNER ERNEST FREDERICK RUSSELL HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY REPORTED KILLED IN ACTION SEVENTH SEPTEMBER 1944 STOP IF ANY FURTHER INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE IT WILL BE FORWARDED AS SOON AS RECEIVED.

On that same day, James and Annie Russell received another telegram—this one informing them that their other son, SGT JAMES HERBERT RUSSELL WAS WOUNDED AUGUST 23 WHILE IN FRANCE WITH THE ARTILLERY UNIT. So, he had been wounded two weeks before his brother was killed, both in France.

In early October 1944, the Brigadier, Vice Adjutant-General mailed this letter to the grieving mother;

Dear Mrs. Russell:

            It was with deep regret that I learned of the death of your son, A57044 Gunner Ernest Frederick Russell, who gave his life in the Service of his Country in the Western European Theatre of War on the 7th day of September, 1944.

            From official information we have received, your son was killed in action against the enemy. You may be assured that any additional information received will be communicated to you without delay.

            The Minister of National Defence and the Members of the Army Council have asked me to express to you and your family their sincere sympathy in your bereavement. We pay tribute to the sacrifice he so bravely made.

Ernie Russell’s death was later officially recorded as Overseas casualty, killed in action, in the field (France). In October 1945, James and Annie May Russell received a War Service Gratuity of $628.24 for the loss of their son.

Two years later, in mid-October 1947, the Director, War Service Records in Ottawa, sent Annie Russell a photograph of the grave and marker over the burial place in Calais, France of her late son Ernest.

Ernie Russell, 24, is buried Calais Canadian War Cemetery, Leubringhen, Pas de Calais, France, Grave 4.A.11. On his headstone are inscribed the words ASLEEP IN JESUS.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo