Private John Dennis Kelly—Accidentally Killed August 19, 1945

 John Dennis Kelly was born in Mulgrave, Guysborough County, on January 24, 1918, the seventh of John Sr.and Bridget Anastasia (Keay) Kellly’s nine children. John Sr. was the son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Kavanaugh) Kelly, while Bridget Anastasia was the daughter of Dennis and Sarah (Breen) Keay. Both of John Dennis’s parents were St. Francis Harbour natives.

Private John Dennis Kelly, Mulgrave, NS

John Sr. and Bridget Anastasia were married in St. Francis Harbour on June 27, 1906. The couple settled in Mulgrave, where John worked as a brakeman on the Intercolonial—later Canadian National—Railway. Their first child, Alonzo James “Lon,” was born on May 22, 1907. A second son, Thomas Matthew, arrived on January 4, 1909. Another seven children joined the Kelly household during the ensuing years—Augusta Marie “Gussie” (DOB June 24, 1911); Mary Elizabeth (DOB March 7, 1913); Kathleen Sarah “Kay” (DOB November 2, 1914); Josephine Mary (DOB June 14, 1916); John Dennis; Bernard Ambrose (DOB December 12, 1920); and Daniel Jerome “Danny” (DOB September 4, 1922).

John Dennis Kelly completed Grade IX at Mulgrave Public School before leaving in June 1934 at age 16. After working as a tractor and truck driver in the local community for several years, he obtained a job as a locomotive fireman with Canadian National Railways, Mulgrave, in 1939. That year, John celebrated his 21st birthday on January 24, making him an ideal candidate for military service after the outbreak of war overseas in September 1939.

On January 29, 1941—five days after his 23rd birthday—John underwent a National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA) medical examination at Mulgrave and was placed in “Category A”—fit for military service. Another year passed before NRMA authorities contacted him. As he had severely sprained an ankle while playing hockey in January 1942, officials recommended that he be “recalled” in three months.

On May 18, 1942, military authorities completed a Certificate of Medical Unfitness for Enrolment at No. 61 (Basic) Training Centre, New Glasgow, placing John in “Category D”—temporarily unfit for service for another three months. Finally, on August 21, 1942, a third medical examination concluded he was fit for military service and recommended he commence training in preparation for posting to a Royal Canadian Artillery anti-tank regiment.

John formally attested for military service at No. 6 District Depot, Halifax, on September 9, 1942. Eight days later, he reported to No. 61 (Basic) Training Centre, New Glasgow for initial instruction. In mid-November 1942, he proceeded to A2 (Advanced) Training Centre, Petawawa, ON, where he commenced artillery training.

While an initial assessment recommended a posting to the Home Defence Establishment (HDE),  John expressed a strong desire “to get Overseas.” In response, military officials recommended “further training in Artillery as a Driver,” after which “he should be returned to [the] Army Examiner for further review.” On January 20, 1943, John qualified as Driver Class III and was awarded a two-week furlough shortly afterward.

During John’s absence, military authorities re-evaluated his circumstances. A note from a Petawawa official described “a history of weak spells” and pains under the heart…,” raising concerns about his suitability for overseas service. While John had expressed a “desire… to serve as a stoker in the Navy,” officials recommended that “he be employed as [a] fireman on HDE [Home Defence Establishment]” and requested that a Medical Board reassess his fitness category.

In early February 1943, John returned to Petawawa, where he awaited a final decision on his military future. Due to a low score on the PULHEMS System—Physique, Upper body, Lower body & Locomotion, Hearing, Eyes, Mental capacity and Stability—a Medical Board placed John in Category C-1—fit only for “home defence” duty—on June 1, 1943. Two weeks later, he was assigned to duty at a “Field Experimental Station” located in Suffield, AB.

Suffield Experimental Station was established to replace a similar British/ French facility that operated at Beni Ounif, approximately 300 kilometres south of Oran, Algeria, until German forces gained control of the French territory in mid-1940. An initial group of British scientists arrived in Alberta in the spring of 1941 and the station commenced operation on June 11, 1941.

During its wartime operation, approximately 600 individuals from a broad spectrum of scientific fields—chemistry, physics, meteorology. pharmacology, veterinary science, mechanical and chemical engineering—conducted chemical and biological defence research in support of the Allied war effort. Their primary focus was the development of countermeasures against the potential use of chemical weapons. During the years after the war, the Station’s work provided the scientific basis for the development of several modern-day chemotherapy cancer treatments.

Canada’s Home Defence Establishment (HDE) provided a detachment of military personnel that guarded the facility and carried out a variety of non-scientific operational tasks. An entry in John’s service file, dated June 14, 1944, assessed his performance during his first year of service there as “efficient, dependable and industrious.” However, the note also indicated that “he had lost interest in the Army since lowered Pulhems [score] prevent[ed] overseas service.”

In fact, John submitted an Application for Discharge from military service on April 4, 1944, requesting a return to employment with the CNR at Mulgrave. While his Commanding Officer, Major R. C. Lister, supported the application, the request appears to have proceeded no further. John was quite likely disillusioned at his inability to serve overseas and failure to receive a discharge, his service file recording several disciplinary infractions during his second year of service at the facility.

On July 4, 1945, John was transferred to No. 29 Company, Veterans Guard of Canada, which was responsible for security at Internment Camp 130, Seebe, Alberta, 330 kilometres west of Suffield. It is not clear whether the change of assignment occurred as a result of John’s disciplinary infractions or the need for additional personnel at the facility.

Guard Tower at Internment Camp 130, Kakanaskis, AB (date unknown)

Situated in the Rocky Mountains approximately 30 kilometers east of Canmore, Internment Camp 130, also known as “Camp K” (Kananaskis), had operated as an “unemployment relief camp” from 1934 to 1936. Temporarily abandoned after that time, the facility accepted its first “civilian detainees” on September 8, 1939, two days prior to Canada’s official declaration of war on Germany.

The facility initially housed “known and suspected enemy [German and Italian] sympathizers” from Ontario and Western Canada. While set in a picturesque location, the camp was remote and provided few programs for its detainees. Eventually, the majority of its internees were given several opportunities to work—improving and enlarging the camp’s facilities, landscaping the site, and cutting wood for winter fuel—in exchange for a small salary

By July 1941, some of Camp K’s initial detainees had been released following clearance by an investigative board. The remaining men were transferred to camps in Fredericton, NB, and Petawawa, ON. Re-designated Camp 130, the facility re-opened in November 1941 as a “prisoner of war” (POW) camp, following the arrival of 500 German “Enemy Merchant Seamen” from a facility in Red Rock, ON.

While detained in Kananaskis, the new arrivals participated in a variety of recreational activities—football (soccer), ice sports, gymnastics, boxing, wrestling, and music—and later took advantage of courses covering a wide variety of subject areas, offered at a wide range of levels. Many of the men were craftsmen who produced handcrafts—model ships, desk sets, cigarette boxes, etc.—that internees traded with one another and were later permitted to sell to staff and guards. Volunteers also cut firewood in the nearby forests, while select inmates received permission to work on farms in the Brooks, AB, area, approximately 200 kilometers east of Calgary.

In mid-1944, the arrival in Canada of increasing numbers of POWs captured during the Normandy campaign resulted in the camp’s transition to a facility for “combatant officers.” Its remaining civilian detainees were relocated to a camp at Monteith, ON, in July 1944 and were replaced by German officers and a small group of “other ranks” POWs who served as orderlies.

As German POWs arrived in Canada, officials categorized them according to their perceived “political opinions.” Camp 130 received individuals considered “Black,” or pro-Nazi. The recreational and educational activities offered to previous detainees continued throughout the duration of its POW operation. After the cessation of hostilities in Western Europe in early May 1945, interested detainees were hired to clear brush at nearby Barrier Lake, where the Calgary Power Company planned to construct a hydroelectric dam.

A combination of Veterans Guard of Canada (VGC) personnel—approximately 100 First World War veterans—and Home Defence Establishment (HDE) men—a similar number of Canadian Infantry Corps recruits and “young soldiers”— were responsible for security at Camp 130. The facility’s perimeter contained eight guard towers, seven of which were manned by three “other ranks” (OR). One Corporal and five OR were responsible for the eighth position, located at the enclosure’s main gate. With the exception of three Lance Corporals, all personnel on guard duty carried loaded weapons.

Guards worked a 12-hour rotation, relief taking place at the main gate at 0600 and 1800 hours daily. On each occasion, personnel commencing and completing shifts followed strict protocols with regard to ammunition. Each soldier reported for duty with five rounds of ammunition on their person, obtained from a quantity of 20 cartridges stored in their quarters. Guards commencing duty loaded their rifles in the presence of the shift’s Guard Officer and Camp Field Officer.

The rifle bolt was closed and the safety engaged during the loading process, eliminating any possibility of a live round being loaded into the firing chamber. Bullets were placed in a magazine, which was then inserted into the rifle. Each weapon bore a unique serial number recorded at the time of issue, allowing officials to distinguish one soldier’s gun from another’s.

While on duty, all ranks were instructed that “at no time is a round to be moved into the chamber unless any emergency calling for the firing of the rifle arises.” After loading and inspection, the new shift assembled at a flag pole in the yard, formed into two groups, and proceeded along a catwalk to their assigned posts. At each location, one soldier commenced sentry duty on the tower’s upper floor, while his comrades awaited their turn in a room below.

At the end of each shift, soldiers returned to the main gate in two groups and unloaded their weapons under a senior officer’s supervision. Personnel extracted the magazines from their rifles, removed the shells and placed them in their pockets. The bullets were then returned to safe storage in their quarters, where soldiers were required to maintain a supply of 20 rounds “available at all times in case of alarm.” Once unloaded, rifles were inspected to ensure that proper procedure had been followed.

Not all soldiers were “dedicated followers” of the Camp’s military procedures. Lt. James Bateman, No. 29 Company, VGC, noted that the “young soldiers” often exhibited a different attitude with regard to the routines than the older, experienced veterans: “I would say that the new personnel are eager and conscientious but do not seem to realize the importance of carrying out the details of the procedure[,] in spite of checking.”

An incident that took place on the evening of August 19, 1945, provided a deadly example of the perils of guard duty with loaded weapons. At 1800 hours that day, the routine guard shift change commenced as scheduled. Among the soldiers being relieved were Privates John Dennis Kelly, Ian Bruce Mathies, Toronto, ON, and Harry Plumb, Hamilton, ON. All three had recently arrived at Camp 130, although at different times. John and Pte. Mathies had been on duty in Tower 3 with a third soldier, Pte. David Lees. The trio were “standing in a ragged line” with a group of comrades near the facility’s Scout Office, awaiting orders to “fall in” prior to dismissal from duty.

Private Plumb had also completed his shift in Tower 1. He had already unloaded his weapon while in the room below his guard tower and placed it on a two-gun rack prior to the arrival of relief shift. As the soldiers coming on duty entered the room, one of the men told those being relieved to “get [your] rifles the hell out of here,” as no space was available on the rack for the new shift’s weapons.

Private Plumb went to retrieve his weapon from the rack and later recalled having seen “a rifle being taken out of the rack” where he thought he had placed his gun. As he had “tightened the sling” on his rifle, he looked around the room and saw one on a nearby bed. It “looked just like mine… [as] the sling was tight so… I took it out.” He then exited the room and “stepped off the step in front of the tower.” As he descended into the yard, he executed a procedure that soldiers with advanced infantry training had been taught to follow, to ensure that their weapons were not loaded:

“I was facing the outer wire. From habit[,] I raised the rifle to the low port [position - butt stock touching the shoulder, muzzle pointed down at the ground in front of one’s feet], opened and closed the bolt and eased the springs. I was not looking at my breech. We had been taught not to look at the bolt or safety catch when easing springs.”

Assuming that his weapon was not loaded, Pte. Plumb then squeezed the trigger to ensure that the chamber was empty. To his horror, the weapon immediately discharged. The round struck two soldiers who had just come off duty and were standing close by—Privates John Kelly and Ian Mathies. The bullet  “through [Mathies’] chest wall from side to side,” striking Private John Kelly under his right arm. Both men immediately fell to the ground.

Personnel standing nearby immediately notified the camp’s Medical Officer, Lieutenant H. Krivel, who quickly arrived on the scene. Krivel later recalled that the builet “had passed through {Pte. Mathies’] chest wall from side to side.” He was “gasping for breath and in an extreme state of shock” as he lay on the ground.

Lt. Krivel checked for vital signs, but a “radial pulse could not be felt.” Both shooting victims were hastily transported by stretcher to the camp’s Medical Inspection Room, where Krivel “again examined [Mathies] and found he was dead.” Meanwhile, John had been “covered in blankets and hot water bottles placed around him.” He was also in a state of shock, with no detectable radial pulse and very shallow respiration.

Medical staff immediately started “continuous intravenous fluid” and “the patient started to rally,” John’s pulse and respiration improving. Lt. Krivel later described what followed in testimony given to a Court of Inquiry:

“This improved period lasted only about three-quarters of an hour. His respirations then became progressively weaker…. At 2020 hours, the heart stopped… [and Private Kelly] was pronounced dead.”

Twenty minutes later, the Commanding Officer of No. 29 Company, VGC, dispatched a telegram to Mr. John Kelly, Mulgrave, stating:
 
“Deeply regret [to] inform you that your son… Pte. John Dennis Kelly died at 2020 hours 19 August 1945 as a result of a rifle accident. You will be notified later [with regard to] arrangements for funeral. Body will be forwarded to Mulgrave unless you desire otherwise[.] Please advise.”

On August 21, military officials convened a Court of Inquiry at Camp 130, to investigate the “circumstances surrounding the deaths of… Pte. Mathies, I. B. and… Pte. Kelly, J. D., both of CIC [Canadian Infantry Corps], posted supernumerary [to] No. 29 Company, VGC.” Over a period of two days, the Court heard evidence from 14 witnesses, including Pte. Plumb. Their testimony allowed officials to determine what had led to the tragic incident.

Private Frederick Stokes, one the soldiers coming on duty at Tower 1, stated that he “automatically went to the two-rifle rack” in the room where Pte. Plumb was waiting to be relieved and there were “two rifles in it.” He “automatically took one rifle out, and put it on the bed, and then put my own in its place.” After the shooting occurred, he asked his comrades in Tower 1 “if they had their own rifles, and they started checking the [serial] numbers.”

One of the pair, Pte. S. Saltmarsh, “took his rifle out of the rack[,]… opened the bolt” and discovered that the gun was empty. Pte. Stokes reported that Pte. Plumb “had not left the tower when I changed rifles in the rack.” Stokes did not see Plumb take a rifle, nor could he say “whether or not the rifle I took out of the rack was loaded. I don’t know whose rifle it was.”

Pte. Saltmarsh also confirmed that he had loaded his weapon prior to entering the guard room below Tower 1 and placed it in the gun rack. When he checked his gun after the incident, he discovered that it was empty. Upon examining the serial number, he realized that it was not his rifle. Using the record of serial numbers recorded at the time of issue, officials determined that the rifle in Pte. Saltmarsh’s possession had been issued to Pte. Plumb, while the weapon from which the bullet had been fired belonged to Pte. Saltmarsh.

From his testimony at the hearing, officials also learned that, contrary to regular procedures, Pte. Plumb had removed the bullets from his gun’s magazine while inside the guard tower, not at the main gate with his comrades, in the presence of a supervising officer. Had he followed the required routine, he would have known that his gun was loaded as he exited the room below Tower 1 and the tragic incident would not have occurred.

John’s remains were transported to Mulgrave, where a military funeral was held on August 30. Following the service, he was laid to rest in St. Lawrence Parish Roman Catholic Cemetery, Mulgrave. John Kelly Sr. died in Mulgrave on November 23, 1955, at 78 years of age, while his wife Bridget Anastasia passed away in the home of her son-in-law, Ernest Miller, Stellarton, on March 5, 1963.

John’s younger brother, Daniel Jerome “Danny,” also enlisted during the Second World War, serving in combat in Western Europe with an unknown unit. Upon returning to Canada, Danny settled in Sept Îles, QC, where he worked as a locomotive engineer while raising a family of five children. He passed away there on January 6, 1982, at 59 years of age.

Josephine Mary Kelly, John Dennis and Danny’s older sister, had married John Theodore “Ted” Chisholm, Mulgrave, prior to the war. Ted’s older sister, Ellen Irene, was born in Hadleyville, Guysborough County, on February 28, 1906, and later completed nursing studies. Ellen was a member of the staff at Camp Hill Hospital, Halifax, when King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth visited the facility during the couple’s May/June 1939 Royal Tour of Canada.

King George VI and Nurse Ellen Irene Chisholm at Camp Hill Hospital, Halifax, 1939

At an unknown time during her youth, Ellen was diagnosed with “diabetes mellitus.” During the spring of 1943, she fell into a diabetic coma and died of anemia in the Halifax Infirmary, Halifax, on June 3, 1943. Ellen Irene Chisholm was laid to rest in St. Francis Harbour, Guysborough County.

Special thanks to twin sisters Eleanor (Chisholm) Smith and Ellen (Chisholm) MacDonald, Antigonish, NS, daughters of Ted and Josephine (Kelly) Chisholm, Mulgrave. Ellen and Eleanor contributed pictures of their uncle John Dennis Kelly and aunt Ellen Chisholm, and provided background information on the Kelly family. 

Private Marsall McLaren Hodgson—Died of Wounds June 23, 1945

 Marshall McLaren Hodgson was born in Country Harbour Mines, Guysborough County, on May 9, 1923, the oldest of Murray Wilbert and Helen Grace (McLaren) Hodgson’s three children. Murray was also a Country Harbour Mines native, the son of Edward James Hodgson and Mary Jane Hudson, while Helen was born in Country Harbour, the daughter of Alexander Douglas McLaren, a Halifax native, and Mary Ann Dickey.

Private Marshall McLaren Hodgson

Murray and Helen were married in Holy Trinity Church, Country Harbour Mines, on September 27, 1922. Marshall, their oldest child, arrived the following spring. A daughter, Florence Louise, was born on July 13, 1924, while their youngest child, Wilmer Stanley “Bill,” joined the family in 1925. Murray worked in the local gold mines and operated a farm at Country Harbour Mines, where the Hodgson children spent their early years.

Marshall attended the local school, leaving at age 12 after completing Grade V. He worked on the family farm for several years and was employed at a gold mine for one year. In early 1943, he commenced work with George Jones, Country Harbour Mines, who operated a general trucking business. Marshall drove a half-ton truck for two months before enlisting with the Canadian Active Service Force at Halifax, NS, on March 18, 1943.

It is not clear whether Marshall had been “called up” under the National Resources Mobilization Act (1940) or decided to volunteer before having to report for compulsory training. On April 29, 1943, he commenced infantry instruction at No. 60 (Basic) Training Centre, Yarmouth, and proceeded to No. 14 (Advanced) Training Centre, Camp Aldershot, on July 1.

At month’s end, Marshall received six day’s pre-embarkation leave. Upon returning to duty, he spent several weeks at Camp Aldershot before departing for overseas on August 26, 1943. Six days later, he arrived in the United Kingdom and was posted to No. 7 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit (CIRU).

Marshall’s arrived overseas at a busy time. In June 1943, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division had departed for the Mediterranean theatre. An Allied force landed in Sicily in early July and moved on to the Italian mainland in September 1943. Meanwhile, the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions spent the autumn and winter of 1943-44 preparing for an invasion of German-occupied Western Europe.

On November 11, 1943, Marshall was transferred to the North Shore Regiment (New Brunswick). Several other Guysborough County men later served with the Maritime unit following its D-Day landing—Andrew Davidson, Goldboro; John Kingston George, Halfway Cove; Robert Leonard Lawrence, Guysborough; William Thomas “Bill” Markie, East Erinville; and Thomas Joseph Richard, Larry’s River. None of them returned home.

The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment traced its origins to the 73rd Northumberland New Brunswick Battalion of Infantry, a Bathurst-based Canadian militia unit established on February 25, 1870. The regiment went through several title changes before it was officially designated the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment (NSR) on April 1, 1922.

While the unit’s predecessor recruited an infantry battalion—the 132nd (North Shore)—for service during the First World War, it never saw combat. After arriving in the United Kingdom in November 1916, the 132nd provided reinforcements for existing Canadian Expeditionary Force units until early 1917, when it was dissolved and its remaining personnel transferred to the 13th Reserve Battalion.

On September 1, 1939, the North Shore Regiment (NSR) was placed on active service and departed for the United Kingdom in mid-July 1941. The battalion was assigned to the 3rd Canadian Division’s 8th Brigade, which also included the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada (Toronto, ON) and Le Régiment de la Chaudière (Chaudière-Appalaches, QC). The 3rd Division spent almost three years performing home defence duties in the UK while training for operations in Western Europe.

During the winter and spring of 1943-44, units in the United Kingdom completed final preparations for tan invasion of German-occupied France. While the timing and location remained a closely guarded secret, training exercises focused on amphibious landings. The NSR was located in Chilworth Camp South, UK, in late May 1944, when its Companies began the move to their designated marshalling areas. The last of its personnel left Chilworth on June 3, 1944.

While weather the following morning was “clear and warm,” the arrival of rain and southeastern winds later in the day resulted in a 24-hour postponement of “Operation Overlord.” Rather than leave the men aboard ship, troops “disembarked and paraded to a reception centre prepared on the docks,” where “they were given meals, a wash, [a] free issue of 25 cigarettes, [and access to a] reading and writing room.”

Later that day, personnel re-boarded their transports. The vessels headed to sea at 0645 hours June 5, sailed around the Isle of Wight and headed toward the coast of Normandy, France. The NSR’s war diary commented, “It was a slow convoy and the swell was indusive to seasickness.” At 1930 hours, word arrived that “the op was on and set to land tomorrow.”

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the 8th Brigade’s Queen’s Own Rifles (QOR) boarded landing craft at 0630 hours and came ashore at Bernières-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, in the first wave of the D-Day landings. At 0745 hours, the North Shore Regiment’s A and B Companies clambered into their LCVPs (landing craft vehicle personnel). Private Marshall Hodgson was among the B Company soldiers who came ashore on the beach at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer 25 minutes later.

According to the NSR’s war diary, “only a few casualties occurred” while the two Companies crossed the beach. A Company, on the right flank, suffered its first losses when a platoon entered several booby-trapped houses along the beach. The Company managed to reach “the line of the beach-head” at 0948 hours, having sustained a total of 24 casualties—killed and wounded—in the process.

B Company’s task proved more challenging, as a major fortified position lay beyond its landing area. The soldiers quickly discovered that a preliminary aerial and naval gun bombardment of German positions had inflicted “no damage to the defences of the strong point.” The Company “nevertheless… proceeded to clear the village,” allowing D Company, which had landed in support, “to get on with their [sic] task.”

By 1007 hours, D Company had advanced “without much opposition, reaching the beach-head report line.” To this point in the fighting, B Company reported an estimated 16 casualties. The unit “called on tanks to assist in the reduction of the strong point” and the combined infantry/armoured assault “gradually reduced” enemy resistance. By 1115 hours. “four hours and five minutes after landing[,] the area was cleared… [and] one of the Atlantic Wall’s bastions which had taken four years to build was completely reduced.”

“A firm base” having been established, C and D Companies passed through their comrades’ lines and advanced toward their D-Day objective, the village of Tailleville. While “the defs [defences] of the town were much stronger than the information had reported,” C Company successfully cleared enemy forces from the location with assistance from a tank troop.

As light was failing and “the troops were weary,” the NSR reorganized at Tailleville for the night. It had been a far more difficult landing than the unit’s officers had anticipated. A total of 34 soldiers were killed, while another 90 were wounded during the day’s fighting. Marshall was among the casualties, suffering a “penetration gunshot wound to the head[,]… spine and left eye.” The exact circumstances in which he was injured are unknown.

Evacuated to a field hospital, Marshall was admitted to a “Neuro unit” on June 11. He received medical care in Normandy until July 29, by which time he had recovered sufficiently to be evacuated to a Neurology facility in United Kingdom. He remained there for 10 days before departing for Canada aboard a hospital ship.

Marshall arrived in Halifax on August 18 and was immediately transported to Debert Military Hospital. At month’s end, he travelled by train to St. Anne’s Hospital, St. Anne-de-Bellevue, Montreal, QC, a Canadian Forces facility. His service file provides no details on his situation or progress while a patient in the hospital’s Rehabilitation Wing.

On December 21, 1944, Marshall was discharged from military service at Montreal, as authorities determined he was “unable to meet the required military physical standards.” He received a $100 clothing allowance and 30 days’ pay as he headed home to Country Harbour Mines. Information in his service file indicates that he also received a $45 “rehabilitation grant.”

Within months of returning home, Marshall’s health began to deteriorate. On May 1, 1945, he was admitted to Camp Hill Hospital, Halifax, where his condition worsened. Private Marshall McLaren Hodgson died in hospital on June 23, 1945. The official cause of death—“meningitis (pneumococcal)”—was attributed to his combat wounds. Military authorities confirmed that his “death [was] due to service.” Marshall’s remains were transported to Country Harbour Mines, where he was interred in Holy Trinity Anglican Cemetery. An official military headstone marks his final resting place.

Pte. Marshall Hodgson's headstone, Holy Trinity Anglican Cemetery, Country Harbour Mines

Marshall’s mother Helen passed away in St. Martha’s Hospital, Antigonish, on July 16, 1961, after a six-month battle with cancer and was laid to rest in Holy Trinity Anglican Cemetery, Country Harbour Mines. Marshall’s father Murray died in Country Harbour Mines on September 23, 1964, at 71 years of age, and was interred beside his wife.

Photograph of Private Marshall McLaren Hodgson courtesy of his niece Theresa Beiswanger, Country Harbour Mines.

Sapper Burnham Edward Boutilier—Died of Illness June 21, 1945

Burnham Edward Boutilier was born in Sherbrooke, Guysborough County, on November 24, 1920. Burnham’s father James was a native of Liscomb, the son of John Uriah Boutilier, a native of St. Margaret’s Bay, Halifax County, and his wife Maria. His mother Susan was the daughter of William Thomas Mortimore and his wife Jemima. Thomas, a native of Blackawton, Totnes, UK, established residence in Sherbrooke, where he worked as a miner and teamster.

Sapper Burnham Edward Boutilier

 

James Boutilier and Susan Mortimore were married in Liscomb on December 20, 1918. Their marriage license lists James’ occupation as “seaman.” The couple’s first child, James Thomas “Jim,” was born the following year. Burnham, the couple’s second child, was raised in a household that grew to include eight more children—William Duncan “Bill” (DOB July 6, 1921 - 1997); Cyril Mortimer ( August 3, 1923 - September 8, 1984); Alfred George (1925 - May 26, 1992); Ralph Huntley (1926 - September 9, 2008); Elsie Florence (c. 1928 - May 6, 2016); Helen M. (1929 - 1932); Leo Allen (September 5, 1931 - October 20, 1944); and Phyllis Marion (1933 - 2000).

Burnham attended the local public school for six years before leaving at age 15. In 1936, he went to work for Scotia Lumber Co., Sherbrooke, as a “deck hand on [a] tug boat,” a vessel later described in his service file as a “pulp boat.” The majority of the Boutilier boys “came of age” during the war years. According to a local news item, all six of the brothers who survived into adulthood enlisted with various branches of the service during the Second World War.

In the spring of 1941, Burnham was “called up” for compulsory military training under the National Resources Mobilization Act (1940) and voluntarily enlisted with the Canadian militia on April 17, 1941. Upon completing the six-week training program, he attested with the Canadian Active Service Force (CASF) on June 2 and immediately commenced basic infantry instruction.

On September 12, Burnham was attached to No. 6 District Depot, Halifax. During a post-training interview, he expressed interest in serving as a “sawyer” with the Canadian Forestry Corps. After further assessment, however, he was assigned to the Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE) and transferred to the RCE Training Centre, Petawawa, on October 1.

Upon completing basic “sapper” training, Burnham received the standard two-week pre-embarkation leave on November 24, 1941. After returning to duty, he was “struck off strength” by the Petawawa Training Centre and departed for overseas on December 13. He arrived in Gourock, Scotland, after a 10-day voyage and spent three months with an RCE Holding Unit before being assigned to the 1st Battalion, RCE, on March 20, 1942.

Burnham’s training continued throughout the following months. On September 29, 1942, he qualified as “Concrete Helper,” Class “C”. In early February 1943, he was “trade tested” and met the requirements for “Concretor” Class “C.” In early June 1943, he received one Good Conduct Badge, having completed two years of military service without a disciplinary infraction.

During the remainder of the year, Burnham was attached to several different units for further training and trade experience. From September 18 to 25, he was assigned to Headquarters, Canadian Engineers (Works), 1st Army, and served with a “Special Increment” attached to the 5th Canadian Armoured Brigade from October 27 to November 23, 1943. 

On March 2, 1944, Burnham was posted to 1st Mechanical Equipment Company, RCE. Three years prior to his overseas arrival, the Canadian government had authorized the formation of a “special section” of 1st Canadian Corps Field Park Company, for the purpose of holding, maintaining and operating “the increased quantity of heavy mechanical equipment… being acquired and used by the RCE.” 1st Mechanical commenced operation in Banstead Wood, Surrey, on the southern outskirts of London, in mid-May 1941.

Throughout its overseas service, 1st Mechanical “had the role of holding, maintaining and operating all Canadian equipment not held by any specific unit establishment.” The unit maintained a central depot for a wide variety of “special engineering equipment” required by RCE units to complete various tasks. Upon request, 1st Mechanical provided a machine and trained operator, both returning to the unit following the task’s completion. This model provided an effective means of giving RCE units access to specialized equipment and experienced personnel while reducing cost and avoiding unnecessary duplication.

At its inception, 1st Mechanical’s machinery inventory included 28 three-ton “tipping lorries,” two 10-ton six-wheeled lorries, six 15-ton trailers, five 20-ton trailers, six equipment transport vehicles, nine tractors, two light tank recovery vehicles, three 3-ton trucks, eight D-7 tractors (bulldozers), 11 five-yard “Letourneaus” (over-sized semi-trailer, all-terrain trucks), nine five-cubic foot concrete mixers, one blade grader, 12 pneumatic tampers, and three excavators. By the time the unit was deployed in Western Europe, its inventory had expanded considerably.

From May to September 1943, 1st Mechanical  assisted with the “rapid construction of temporary airfields” across the United Kingdom, required tor Royal Air Force training and operations. In mid-September 1943, the unit assumed responsibility for establishing and operating a “dump” at Oxshott, while simultaneously operating a second facility at Beaulieu Road, near Horley, and a workshop at Croydon. Experimental work conducted by the unit’s personnel in the UK led to the creation of an armoured bulldozer and “engineer tank” before the end of the war.

At the time of Burnham’s March 2, 1944, arrival, 1st Mechanical was still located in Banstead Wood. The Company had expanded to 12 officers and 366 “other ranks” (OR), divided into four sections. Throughout his service with the unit, Burnham was a member of 3 Section. During the two months following his arrival, the Company was busy delivering and operating various pieces of equipment—tractors, excavators, graders, shovels, dump trucks, a rock crusher and gravel plant—while personnel also underwent military and driver training.

During the first two weeks of May, the “sappers” received instruction on land mines and booby traps, prepared new equipment for operation, completed rifle and PIAT (projector, infantry, anti-tank) training at firing ranges, operated “shovels” at two locations, and sent a dozer to an American Air Base “to fill in [a] rubbish dump.” On May 18, all Sections received orders to cease work and return to Banstead Wood in preparation for an imminent move.

Upon returning to Headquarters camp, personnel commenced the process of “waterproofing” equipment for transport to Western Europe. The process extended into June, when 1st Mechanical’s four sections commenced operation as “semi-independent units, under the titles No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 Mechanical Equipment Sections.” 1st Mechanical “continued to administer [the four Sections] and… submit their field returns.”

1st Mechanical was not part of the initial D-Day landing force. On June 14, its Sections commenced dismantling the Banstead Wood camp and relocated to huts at 1st Mechanical’s main site. Personnel also completed route marches, dug practice slit trenches, completed rifle, Bren and Sten gun training, and conducted final equipment checks in preparation for departure. Equipment operators took a cable-splicing course, while other sappers received bomb disposal instruction from qualified Royal Engineers instructors.

Training and equipment checks continued throughout the first week of July. 1st Mechanical’s personnel and machinery then relocated to a marshalling area near Portsmouth in several separate convoys. Equipment loading commenced immediately and required five days to complete. Finally, on July 12, vessels carrying the unit’s men and equipment headed out to sea in convoy formation and arrived off Juno Beach at 2200 hours. Unloading commenced the following morning, all four Sections coming ashore and gathering in Buron while the unit’s equipment was unloaded.

On July 14, 1944, Burnham’s No. 3 Section established its first Normandy headquarters in Buron, where personnel received their first exposure to German artillery and mortar fire. The sappers spent the following day “burying dead animals in the vicinity” as the unit’s first “dumpers”—dump trucks—were brought ashore. Equipment work commenced on July 16, the Section reporting its first casualties—three men “injured by cannon shell from aircraft”—the following day. All of the Section’s equipment arrived in Buron by July 19 and personnel immediately commenced the “de-waterproofing” process.

No. 3 Section remained in Buron into the following month, its personnel preparing for a “large-scale road maintenance program” in an area north of Caen. Meanwhile, a road-widening project commenced in the Buron area on August 3. Three days later, the Section began work on five kilometers of “secondary tank track paralleling the Basly - Caen Road from Villons-les-Buissons south.”

The project took several days to complete and involved the construction of “deep ditches on either side of a 30-foot crown road” to carry tank traffic during upcoming military operations. Personnel were able to build the 30-foot wide ditches at a “rate of three miles [five kilometers] per day.” Meanwhile, an “extensive road re-construction programme” commenced on August 10, requiring the use of all of the Sections’ equipment and several pieces borrowed from other RCE units.

The project involved widening and paving the existing Basly - La Folie road, one side at a time. The work was “very hard on operators…. As the dust is terrible, goggles have been issued.” Despite the challenges, the men were “very keen and their spirit is high.” Personnel also sprayed water on local dirt roads to reduce dust as vehicles hastily moved equipment and supplies forward, in preparation for major Allied operations along the Caen - Falaise Road.

At mid-month, No. 3 Section commenced work on a “tank bypass” around the village of Authie. Two days later, one of its TD-18 tractors was disabled, “having run over a mine…. The operator was unhurt.” On August 21, personnel relocated to Croissanville, where they entered accommodations in the Château de la Chappelle, “a most comfortable house.” As work proceeded, flies and mosquitoes presented the “biggest problem…, they are really bad and we are afraid of dysentery.” In response, the unit sprayed DDT in the area to control the problem.

Road widening and work on approaches to a nearby bridge kept No. 3 Section’s men busy as combat units began to push northward toward the Seine River, in pursuit of retreating German forces. The unit’s war diary commented, “As we are so far back from the front[,] we have had no indication of battle whatsoever.” In late August, personnel relocated to an area near La Thironnière, 18 kilometers south of the mouth of the Seine River.

During a brief stay there, the sappers built a bridge across a stream beside their camp, “to allow [a] local farmer to leave his property.” The men also “caught a few trout (with hook and line)” to supplement their daily menu. After a brief rest, No. 3 Section relocated inland to Elbeuf, on the banks of the Seine, on September 4. Personnel remained there for several days before heading north to Rainfreville. After a second pause, the unit travelled eastward to a location five kilometers east of Neufchatel on September 11.

One week later, No. 3 Section headed northward, arriving in Poperinge, Belgium, on September 19. While waiting there, the unit received notice of its first major project—repair work on a “damaged tunnel” in Antwerp. Allied forces had secured the strategically valuable Belgian port without significant damage to its facilities and planned to use it as a main supply route into the area.

The following morning, personnel departed for Antwerp. During its time in the city, No. 3 Section occupied accommodations in an old Belgian engineering barracks at Beveren Waas, on the city’s outskirts. A war diary entry described the situation at its work site:

“The tunnel is about two and a half kilometers long under the river. The tunnel had been blown from the insides [sic] about three hundred yards from the entrances. At this point there was about twenty-five (25) feet of silt above the tunnel[,] which ran into the tunnel for a distance of about seven hundred (700) yards with an average depth of five (5) feet. The work to be done was to remove the remaining silt from around the blown portion and drive sheet piling to keep silt and water out and to remove the silt already in the tunnel.”

Work on the project continued throughout the remainder of the month, By October 5, “the tunnel was cleared for one-way traffic” and officially opened to two-way operation the following day. Personnel then tackled a variety of smaller tasks related to the Antwerp project for several weeks. On October 26 and 27, two Le Tourneau cranes lifted a 16-ton section of a “German invasion barge” from the harbour. The following day, the unit officially completed its tunnel assignment.

Shortly after arriving in Antwerp, No. 3 Section was notified that all No. 1 Mechanical sections now bore the official title of “platoon.”  Upon completing the tunnel project, No. 3 Platoon relocated to Pulle, approximately 30 kilometers east of Antwerp. Work on small jobs—mainly roads and docks in the Antwerp area—occupied the first two weeks of November. 

On November 14, No. 3 Platoon relocated to Reil, Netherlands, for several days before moving on to Tilburg, approximately 80 kilometers southeast of Rotterdam. The unit commenced work on an airfield near Schindel on November 18, adding projects in Uden, s’Hertogenbosch and Breda as the month progressed. In mid-December, sappers received leaves to Brussels and Paris in small groups. Personnel were kept busy repairing and maintaining equipment, and completing occasional small tasks as work slowed during the winter months.

On December 25, 1944, personnel enjoyed a traditional Christmas dinner at Platoon Headquarters on a day that was “cold and clear with frost.” Equipment and operator loans to various RCE units continued throughout the month of January 1945. At mid-month, No. 3 Platoon commenced work on an airfield near Mill, Netherlands, and a second project near Veghel.

Burnham was attached to No. 3 Canadian Works Section, another RCE, unit, on January 18. The temporary assignment suggests there was insufficient work to occupy all of No. 3 Platoon’s sappers. At the time of his arrival, No 3 Works was stationed in Turnhout, Netherlands. Among its projects was a water system for No. 7 and No. 10 Canadian General Hospitals. As the area was experiencing prolonged power outages, sappers set up “standby plants” to allow the facilities to operate.

Much of the unit’s work focused on sanding the area’s roads, which were covered with ice due to wintry conditions. In late January, repair work on a bridge near Arendonk commenced, as a truck “had broken one of the tower guys” supporting the structure. During the first half of February, No. 3 Works focused on road repair. At mid-month, its officers inspected a railway yard in Nijmegen to assess the work required to restore its operation.

On February 23, No. 3 Works relocated to the Nijmegen area as rail yard repair commenced. Work on an “ammunition railhead” at Cujik started the following day. Burnham remained with the unit until February 28, when he was temporarily attached to No. 2 Canadian Works Section. No details are available on the unit’s activities during Burnham’s time there.

On March 20, Burnham returned to No. 1 Mechanical’s No. 3 Platoon. One month previously, the unit had relocated to Mill, Netherlands, where personnel began work on “roads through [the] Reichswald Forest. British and Canadian forces had launched “Operation Veritable”—a major offensive into German territory between the Rhine and Maas (Meuse) Rivers—on February 8, 1945.

While the advance made slow progress, roads in the area required constant repair as equipment and supplies continually moved forward in support of the advance. On February 22, all four No. 1 Mechanical platoons moved from Vught, Netherlands, to recently liberated Kleve, Germany, where personnel provided support to II Canadian Corps as the second stage of the offensive—“Operation Blockbuster”—was due to commence four days later.

RCE units focused on repairing and maintaining roads in support of the advance as hundreds of trucks and armoured vehicles pushed toward the Rhine. The operation concluded on March 11, when Allied forces reached the banks of the Rhine opposite the German city of Wesel. Two days later, No. 3 Platoon retired to Brakkenstein, south of Nijmegen, Netherlands, as the Rhineland offensive had ended.

Throughout No. 3 Platoon’s time in Western Europe from July 1944 to March 1945, its war diary made no mention of No. 1 Mechanical Company fatalities. Its first reported deaths occurred on March 19, when two No. 1 Platoon sappers were killed in a traffic accident. 

On March 21, Burnham rejoined No. 3 Platoon’s ranks in Brakkenstein, where the unit remained for several weeks. The men were “appreciative of being close enough to Nijmegen to enjoy a bit of civilized life in the way of baths, shows and even the odd hamburger at the IT Joint [sic].” During the last week of the month, a Platoon softball team was organized, in response to a challenge from No. 1 Mechanical’s No. 2 Platoon.

On April 1, work commenced on a “high-level earth approach to a…bridge across the Rhine at Emmerich.” As German artillery had targeted the area during early morning hours, work “was not to be continued if shelling started again.” One week later, personnel inspected a 1,000-meter breach in a six-meter-high dyke near Arnhem. “Three barges and a tug were stranded in the gap,” requiring the sappers to “build a temporary dam” around the objects before removing them.

Inspection of a second dyke repair project near Nijmegen took place on April 9. As the area was “heavily mined and in a very difficult position to repair,” officials decided to postpone the task. Meanwhile, sappers commenced work on “tank unloading and loading bays” at the ends of two bridges across the Rhine at Emmerich.  

On April 10, another dyke repair project started at Till. A triangular-shaped breach, approximately 60 meters long at the top of the dyke, eight meters deep and 24 meters wide at its base, contained approximately two meters of water, making the task of filling the gap “difficult.” Work on the project commenced the following day.

During the last two weeks of April, No. 3 Platoon personnel “started cutting [the] barges in [the] dyke break near Arnhem.” The fill area was “heavily mined, requiring constant checking by qualified personnel.” The task of removing the barges at Arnhem proved challenging, “due to lack of tackle and suitable ground for tractors to work.” Despite the various challenges, the unit successfully extracted the barges on April 20, “allowing earth moving to continue.”

The following day, personnel inspected another dyke break near Erlekum. The area was also “heavily mined,” further complicating the situation. Engineers estimated that approximately 30,000 yards of fill would be required to fill the gap, which contained approximately 100 meters of water approximately 2.5 meters deep.

While mine clearing commenced on April 24, heavy rains during the following week forced postponement of the filling operation. Meanwhile, sappers completed work on the Arnhem dyke break on April 28 as steady rain brought all work to a halt that extended into the following month. The Erlekum operation resumed on May 7 and was completed within a week.

On May 17, No. 3 Platoon relocated to Leer, Germany, where personnel assumed operation of a rock crusher and tarmac plant located there. Nine days later, the plant was “damaged beyond repair by fire.“ A replacement plant did not arrive until month’s end and commenced production on June 2.

Meanwhile, the unit’s sappers constructed approaches to a bridge across the Leda River near Leer. On June 12, the tarmac plant moved to a new location south of Papenburg, Germany, 20 kilometers south of Leer. Two days later, personnel commenced preparations for dyke repair near Weiner, 14 kilometres southwest of Leer.

As work on the various project in the Leer area continued, Burnham’s name was placed on the RCE’s X-3 list—“all ranks evacuated on medical grounds behind Regimental Aid Posts”—on June 18. HIs service file contains no details as to the preliminary nature of his illness, the location to which he was evacuated, or the treatment he received. 

A subsequent entry in his service file states that Sapper Burnham Edward Boutilier died as a “result of intestinal obstruction” on June 21, 1945. He was initially buried in Almelo General Cemetery, Netherlands, presumably near the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps unit to which he had been evacuated.

On June 23, Department of National Defence officials sent a telegram to Susan Boutilier, Sherbrooke, stating: “Sincerely regret to inform you… [that] Sapper Burnham Edward Boutilier has been officially reported seriously ill [on] 18th June 1945[,] diagnosis intestinal obstruction. When further information becomes available it will be forwarded as soon as received.” The following day, a second telegram informed Susan that “Sapper Burnham Edward Boutilier previously reported seriously ill… now reported to have died 21st June 1945.”

Burnham’s death was the third loss in the Boutilier family during the previous eight months. On October 20, 1944, Burnham’s youngest brother, Leo Allen, died at home from “acute dilatation of stomach,” a condition commonly caused by an obstruction of the the stomach’s outflow into the bowel. Less than one month later—November 1, 1944—Burnham’s father James passed away after a four-month battle with cancer.

On February 4, 1946, Burnham’s remains were reinterred in Holten Canadian Cemetery, Netherlands. Four months later, Canadian authorities notified his mother of this change. Susan Boutilier passed away in Port Bickerton in 1980 and was laid to rest beside her husband James in St. James Anglican Church Cemetery, Sherbrooke.

According to a local news item published during the war years, six of James and Susan’s sons served in uniform during the Second World War. The eldest, James Thomas “Jim,” enlisted with the Pictou Highlanders early in the war and completed a tour of guard duty in Bermuda with the unit. Upon returning to Canada, he was selected for service with 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, a special forces unit with a demanding acceptance standard.

In the spring of 1944, Jim headed to Camp Shilo, Manitoba, where he qualified as a parachutist on June 3, 1944. Three days later, 1st Canadian Parachute personnel already serving overseas  landed in Normandy, France, as part of the 6th British Airborne Brigade. For the next three months, its personnel maintained defensive positions on the D-Day beaches’ northeastern flank.

While it is assumed that Jim departed for the United Kingdom sometime after completing his Canadian training, the details of his overseas are unknown.  While a group of five officer and 85 “other rank” reinforcements joined 1st Canadian Parachute in France on September 2, 1944, the entire unit returned to the UK dour days later, where it reorganized in the aftermath of three months of combat losses.

Before year’s end, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion returned to Europe, in response to a major German counter-offensive through the Ardennes, known as the “Battle of the Bulge.” Personnel departed for Belgium and Holland by ship at 1800 hours December 25, 1944, and entered the front lines near Rochefort, Belgium, one week later.

The unit remained in Belgium and the Netherlands for seven weeks, returning to the UK during the last week of February. Following a period of training and preparation, the paratroopers were assigned to Operation Plunder, an Allied crossing of the Rhine between Rees and Rheinberg, Germany. Part of the attack plan involved an airborne force—a combination of parachute and glider troops—deploying in a wooded area overlooking the river crossing.

The Allied operation commenced with the air drop on March 24. Over the next several days, ground forces crossed the Rhine and established a bridge-head on its northern banks. 1st Parachute Battalion spent the remainder of the month clearing enemy forces from areas north of the crossing. Its personnel then pushed northeast into German territory, crossing the Elbe River at the end of April. By May 2, the unit reached Wismar, where it encountered Russian forces that had been pushing westward. Less than one week later, German forces surrendered and fighting in Western Europe ended.

Following his discharge from military service, Jim settled in Debert, Colchester County. He was employed as a truck driver with Brookfield Construction Co. when he married Catherine Lucille Hamm, daughter of Fred Hamm and May Joudrey, Mahone Bay, in Halifax on May 3, 1947. Katherine was working at Stanfields Ltd., Truro, as a “sewing machine operator” at the time of the marriage. The couple raised a family of two sons, Burnham Edward (1949 - 2015) and Christopher Bruce (1959 - 2015). Jim Boutilier passed away in Halifax on September 11, 1985, and was interred in St. James Anglican Cemetery, Sherbrooke.

William Duncan “Bill,” the third-oldest of the Boutilier brothers, served overseas with a Canadian Artillery unit. No other details are available on his time in uniform. After returning to Canada, Bill married Anna Matilda Wilson (1917 - 2009) and established residence near Moncton, NB, where he passed away in 1997.

Cyril Mortimer, the fourth of the Boutilier boys, also enlisted with the Royal Canadian Engineers around 1942. The details of his war service are unknown. Following the end of fighting overseas, Cyril remained in uniform. In 1947. his military career brought him to Camp Chilliwack, BC, where he served as a training instructor in the “heavy trades.” With the exception of a posting in Germany from 1960 to 1963, he remained in British Columbia throughout the remainder of his time in uniform. He advanced to the rank of Sergeant before retiring in 1973, having spent more than 31 years with the Canadian military.

Cyril and his wife Eleanor raised a family of five children—two sons and three daughters—during their time in British Columbia. Cyril was actively involved in local minor hockey and baseball programs and served as a member of Chilliwack City Council for 10 years. He passed away suddenly on September 8, 1984, while on a fishing trip with one of his sons and was laid to rest in the Royal Canadian Legion Cemetery, Chilliwack, BC.

Ralph Huntley Boutilier, the sixth of the Boutilier brothers, also pursued a military career. Born in Sonora on December 25, 1926, his age during the war years makes overseas service unlikely. Ralph was stationed in Oromocto, NB, during much of his time in uniform. He married Joan Smith and raised a family of four children—one son and three daughters. Ralph passed away in Oromocto Public Hospital, Oromocto, NB, on September 9, 2008.

Information on the military service of a sixth Boutilier brother—presumably Alfred George “Alf”—is unavailable at this time. Born in Sonora in 1925, Alf passed away in Dartmouth, NS, on May 26, 1992.

Picture of Sapper Burnham Edward Boutilier obtained from the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.