Private William Thomas Markie—Killed in Action October 24, 1944

 William Thomas “Tom” Markie was born on July 21, 1924, in Stellarton, NS, the oldest of Andrew and Margaret Ann (MacPherson) Markie’s six children. Margaret was the daughter of Thomas and Ann (MacIsaac) MacPherson, East Erinvllle, Guysborough County. Thomas was the son of John and Isabella (MacDonald) MacPherson, Beauly, Antigonish County. Ann was the daughter of Charles and Margaret (MacGillivray) MacIsaac, Giant’s Lake. Margaret was part of the  “Bridge MacGillivrays,” a well-known St. Andrews family.

Private William Thomas "Tom" Markie

On his father Andrew’s side, Tom was a direct descendant of Andrea (Andrew) di Marchi, a native of Genoa, Italy, who immigrated to Nova Scotia sometime before 1863. Andrea married Mary Caroline Andrews —several sources identify Mary’s surname as Anderson—variously reported as a native of St. Margaret’s Bay or Mushaboom, Halifax County. Andrea and Mary Caroline established residence on Sober Island, off the coast of Sheet Harbour. Their family included at least five sons—John William (1863 - 1941); Andrew (1864 - 1934); Edward (1870 - 1965); George (1876 - 1949); and Walter (1882 - 1867).

Andrea and Mary Caroline’s oldest son, John William Markie, married Mary Ann Hurd (1872 - ?). The couple welcomed at least three sons into their Sober Island home—James Irwin (1888 - 1951); Andrew William (1894 - 1960); and George (1897 - ?). While 16-year-old Andrew Markie was living in Sober Island with his mother at the time of the 1911 census, he relocated to Antigonish sometime afterward. Based on information in his first World War service file, it appears that he was taken in by A. S. MacMillan, Main St.., Antigonish.

On October 30, 1915, Andrew Markie attested with the 85th Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders) at Halifax, NS. At that point, he had been on the 85th’s pay list for almost six weeks. His attestation papers identify A. S. McMillan, “step-father,” Antigonish, as his next of kin. Andrew departed for overseas on October 12, 1916, and landed in the United Kingdom one week later.

Corporal Andrew William Markie, 85th Battalion

Andrew proceeded to France with the 85th on February 10, 1917, and was in the trenches during the Battle of Vimy Ridge as the unit’s soldiers carried out several “work” assignments—carrying ammunition forward, evacuating wounded soldiers, and guarding prisoners of war. In the aftermath of the famous Canadian victory, the 85th was assigned to the 4th Canadian Division’s 12th Brigade and commenced regular rotations in the trenches.

On June 19, 1917, the unit carried out an operation to secure a triangular section of enemy trenches north of the Souchez River. During the attack, five “other ranks” (OR) were killed, while two officers and 28 OR were wounded. Andrew was one of the injured soldiers, evacuated to a nearby casualty clearing station with a shrapnel wound to his right leg.

Andrew’s injury proved to be minor and he returned to duty one week later. Promoted to the rank of Acting Corporal immediately prior to his return, he advanced to the full rank of Corporal on October 1, 1917. Later that month, the 85th relocated to Belgium, where it saw combat at Passchendaele, suffering its worst losses of the war.

Andrew came through the famous battle without injury. In early July 1918, he reverted to the rank of Private at his own request. The following month, Allied forces launched a major offensive against German forces in France. The campaign opened on August 8 with the Battle of Amiens. The 85th once again involved in the fighting. During the operation’s second stage, which commenced on August 10, Andrew received a gunshot wound to his right thigh.

On this occasion, Andrew’s injury was more severe. Admitted to hospital at Abbeville, France, on August 13, he was evacuated to the United Kingdom at mid-month. Andrew spent four weeks in No. 1 Birmingham War Hospital before being discharged to a convalescent hospital.

By the end of September, Andrew had recovered sufficiently to return to duty and reported to the Nova Scotia Regimental Depot, Camp Bramshott. As fighting on the continent ceased on November 11, 1918, he never returned the 85th’s ranks. One month after the Armistice, he departed for Canada aboard SS Regina and was discharged from military service at Halifax on January 13, 1919.

By the 1920s, Andrew had relocated to Stellarton, Pictou County, where he found work in the local coal mines. On September 10, 1923, he signed a Form of Affidavit in New Glasgow, stating that he and Margaret Ann MacPherson, Erinville, were “desirous of entering into the contract of marriage.” The document does not provide a date for the marriage ceremony.

William Thomas Markie was Andrew and Margaret’s oldest child, born on July 21, 1924. By the time of the 1931 census, four more children had joined the family—Mary/Marie, age six; James Andrew, age four; John Joseph, age two; and Margaret Ann, age five months. A sixth child, Catherine, was born around 1933.

Tom left school at age 16 after completing Grade VIII. He worked as a “cutter” in local lumbering operations for a year before commencing apprenticeship training in electrical welding at Matheson’s Foundry, New Glasgow. After two years of instruction and work experience, he secured a job as an electric welder at Maritime Foundation Co., Pictou, where he was employed for six months prior to his military service.

On September 24, 1943, Tom enlisted with the Canadian Active Service Force at Halifax, NS. Two weeks later, he reported to No. 60 Canadian Army Basic Training Centre, Yarmouth, for initial instruction. He proceeded to A14 Canadian Army (Advanced) Infantry Training Centre, Aldershot, on December 7, 1943. During his time there, he qualified as a “Motorcyclist Class III.”

Tom received two weeks’ pre-embarkation leave on March 8, 1944. He returned to Aldershot for three weeks before being transferred to No. 1 Training Battalion, Debert, on April 12. At month’s end, he departed for overseas and landed in the United Kingdom on May 7. Tom was immediately assigned to No. 4 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit, where he awaited orders to report to an active infantry unit.

In the aftermath of the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of German-occupied France, the demand for infantry reinforcements immediately increased. Six days after D-Day, Tom was placed on the reinforcement list for the 11th (Reinforcement) Battalion as “infantry general unalloted.” He left the United Kingdom on June 18 and came ashore in the Normandy beach-head the following day.

On July 4, Tom was attached to the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion (CPB). In the early morning hours of June 6, Allied aircraft had dropped its personnel and other British 6th Airborne Division units into an area to the left of the beaches where Allied landings commenced several hours later. The Division was assigned the task of defending the beach-head’s left flank throughout the first three months of the Allied operation.

1st CPB’s personnel were concentrated in an area around Le Mesnil, east of the Orne River, where they established defensive positions designed to prevent German attacks on Allied forces as they secured the Normandy beach-head. The unit remained in the area until August 26, when its personnel were relieved and returned to the UK. By that time, 1st CPB suffered a total of 367 casualties, 81 of which were fatalities.

Tom was probably temporarily attached to 1st CPB as an infantry reinforcement, replacing one of its many casualties. He served with the unit until its withdrawal, at which time he returned to the 11th (Reinforcement) Battalion for two weeks. On September 13, he was transferred to the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment and joined the unit near Maninghem, southeast of Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, the following day.

The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment traces 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 on April 1, 1922.

While the unit 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 units until early 1917, when it was dissolved and its remaining personnel were transferred to the 13th Reserve Battalion.

The North Shore Regiment (NSR) was placed on active service on September 1, 1939, 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 and training for the Allied invasion of German-occupied France.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the 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. The North Shore Regiment’s soldiers were part of the second wave, clambering into landing craft at 0810 hours and heading for nearby Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer. The following day, the unit pushed inland toward Tailleville.

The NSR’s first major combat experience occurred in early July, when 8th Brigade units attacked the village of Carpiquet and an adjacent airfield. The operation commenced in early morning July 4, with the NSR and the Chaudière Regiment clearing the village and holding their positions for nine days before retiring to a rest area near the city of Caen.

In mid-July, the NSR helped remove German forces from an industrial area east of the city of Caen. While the unit did not participate in the unsuccessful Canadian attempt to secure Verrières Ridge in late July,  it took part in two major operations as Allied forces advanced southward along the Caen - Falaise Road during the first two weeks of August.

By mid-month, the units were closing in on Falaise. While the NSR’s 8th Brigade was not directly involved in the advance’s final stage, its soldiers watched from the heights above the town as German forces in the distance desperately fought their way through a shrinking gap in the Allied line south of Trun. While the German Army suffered heavy losses, a considerable number of its personnel managed to escape and began a rapid retreat northward toward the Seine River.

Allied forces followed in pursuit, the NSR crossing the Seine River on the morning of August 29 and advancing almost 50 kilometers to Rouen. The unit’s war diary noted, “No opposition was encountered and we were ordered to keep moving with all possible speed as enemy [forces] were reported [to be] steadily withdrawing.” By this point, all personnel were “on wheels,” allowing the unit to move quickly.

Upon reaching Rouen, Canadian units were instructed to veer northwestward toward the French coast and clear German forces from several key “Channel Ports.” By September 5, the group was approaching the port of Boulogne, where the 8th Brigade received orders to clear an area north of the city while other Canadian units advanced on the port.

In anticipation of an Allied invasion across the English Channel, German forces had constructed the “Atlantic Wall,” an elaborate network of fortifications defending strategic locations from attack by sea and land. The area assigned to the NSR—the villages of La Trésorerie and Wimille, and the town of Wimereux—were part of this system and contained several gun installations located inside reinforced concrete bunkers.

Private William Thomas Markie joined the North Shore Regiment’s ranks during the days immediately prior to its attack on La Trésorerie, the first of its three objectives. The 8th Brigade operation commenced on the morning of September 17, the NSR advancing across open country toward a fortification in the village. It required two days of hard fighting to clear German soldiers from their fortified positions. The unit’s war diary noted that “casualties had been fairly heavy, but so were those of the enemy.” The regiment captured 450 prisoners before moving on to Wimille, where it required another 48 hours to clear the village.

Having secured its two inland targets, the NSR regrouped for an attack on Wimereux. The coastal location was heavily fortified against attack from both sea and land. To complicate matters, German forces refused to allow the town’s civilian population to leave, creating a delicate situation. The operation commenced at noon September 21, the NSR overcoming all enemy resistance by the end of the following day.

The six-day operation provided Tom with his first combat experience. The next target was Calais, where large German guns regularly fired artillery shells into the town of Dover across the English Channel. While the bulk of the Allied force concentrated on the urban area, the 8th Brigade’s NSR and its Chaudière comrades were given the task of clearing the eastern section of Noires Mottes, a village on Calais’ western outskirts.

The attack commenced on September 25, the first stage proceeding smoothly. The NSR’s soldiers then advanced toward a three-gun coastal battery at Sangatte, east of their initial objective. Concrete bunkers spread across the area presented formidable obstacles. Fortunately, with the assistance of a German prisoner of war, officers were able to negotiate the surrender of the majority of enemy soldiers without a fight by the end of the following day.

On September 27, the 8th Brigade moved out to Boursin while other Canadian units continued to clear enemy forces from Calais. The entire area was secured by month’s end, after which the NSR enjoyed several days’ rest before moving out for Belgium.

While another Allied force had managed to secure the city of Antwerp without significant damage to its facilities, the Belgian port was located approximately 20 kilometers inland from the West Scheldt, a lengthy estuary leading to the open sea. German forces controlled both sides of the water passage, preventing the Allies from using the port as a much-needed supply base. to rectify the situation, Allied commanders developed a plan to secure the Scheldt estuary’s southern and northern banks.

The 8th Brigade was part of an Allied convoy that set out for the Belgian border on October 2. Personnel stopped overnight at Steenvoorde, near Hazebrouck, before resuming their journey. The NSR crossed the Belgian border on October 4 and arrived at its initial destination—Kleit, south of Maldegem, less than 10 kilometers from the Leopold Canal—at 1645 hours.

The first stage of the West Scheldt campaign involved establishing an Allied bridgehead across the Leopold Canal, a major waterway northeast of the Belgian city of Bruges. The 3rd Canadian Division’s 7th Brigade was given the task of crossing the canal at Maldegem. Once a bridgehead was secured, the 8th Brigade would attempt to advance northward.

While not a participant in the initial stage, the NSR was temporarily attached to the 7th Brigade for its Leopold Canal operation. The unit’s soldiers were tasked with carrying the boats required for the crossing to the canal and maintaining a “ferry service” during the operation. Its personnel spent October 5 rehearsing the procedure.

The 7th Brigade operation commenced just before dawn October 7. While its soldiers were able to establish a narrow bridgehead along the canal’s opposite bank, fierce resistance over the next 24 hours made it impossible to advance further into German-occupied territory. As the situation at Maldegem descended into a stalemate, the NSR returned to 8th Brigade command and departed the area on the afternoon of October 8.

Prior to the Leopold crossing attempt, the 4th Canadian Armoured Division (CAD) had made considerable progress east of Maldegem, managing to advance northward to the Braakman Inlet on the West Scheldt’s southern shore. The 4th CAD’s 10th Infantry Brigade managed to secure the area by September 21. Simultaneously, the 1st Polish Armoured Division on its flank secured the Scheldt’s most eastern portion.

The section of the West Scheldt remaining in German hands stretched from the Braakman Inlet in the east to Zeebrugge, north of Bruges, in the west. At the centre of this stretch of shoreline was the town of Breskens, whose name Allied commanders used to designate the area the “Breskens pocket.”

Source: C. P. Stacey, "Introduction to the Study of Military History for Canadian Students"

As the attempt to advance into the pocket from the Leopold Canal bridgehead had stalled, Allied commanders adopted a second approach—a daring amphibious landing from Terneuzen, Netherlands, several kilometers east of the mouth of the Braakman Inlet. The 3rd Canadian Division was ordered to establish a beach-head west of the inlet, then push southward and westward into the pocket. The operation would be carried out in LVT [Landing Vehicle Tracked] “Buffaloes,” tracked armoured vehicles equipped with amphibious propulsion systems.

The North Shore Regiment arrived in Terneuzen in the early hours of October 10. Approximately 24 hours earlier, the 9th Brigade’s North Nova Scotia Highlanders and Highland Light Infantry of Canada had carried out the initial amphibious landing at Braakmankreek, east of Hoofdplaat and west of the Braakman Inlet. Their operation established a second Allied front in the Breskens pocket.

On the morning of October 11, it was the NSR’s turn to make the crossing in the Buffaloes. Large German guns located on Walcheren Island to the north fired artillery rounds at the amphibious convoy, sending large plumes of water into the air as the LVTs made their way across the mouth of the inlet. As the vehicles came ashore, the NSR’s Breskens service commenced over what its war diary described as “agonizing terrain.”

The unit’s Chaplain, Major Raymond Myles Hickey, later described the Breskens pocket’s landscape in his memoirs:

“The Scheldt… was an endless stretch of wind-swept marshland criss-crossed by canals and dykes in the fashion of a crazy patchwork quilt. Our job was to ferret the enemy from this maze of dykes and ditches. For sheet misery, the Scheldt was the worst we had seen. There was hardly a dry piece of land to stand on. With soggy-wet clothes you splashed around in mud to your ankle; there was no chance of finding a dry cellar or a barn left standing.”

Fighting consisted almost exclusively of single company attacks, sometimes two or three in the span of 24 hours, carried out in wet weather on muddy “polders,” reclaimed agricultural fields. One company would push forward along the edge of a dyke bordering a flat, often partially flooded polder and establish a defensive position. The soldiers then signalled to the second company, which advanced through their comrades’ line and established a new forward position.

The attack continued in this leap frog pattern, soldiers avoiding the tops of the dykes where movement was easily observed and farm roads were strewn with anti-personnel mines. The only cover was along the banks of the dykes, where soldiers could dig in for protection against enemy artillery and mortar fire.

German forces occupying the area used every farm building and culvert as a sniper point, firing at the advancing Canadians as they moved cautiously across the flat, barren lowlands. Simultaneously, German guns on Walcheren Island peppered the area with artillery shells. Chaplain Hickey commented, “The fighting sometimes came to hand-to-hand contact with grenades and bayonets.”

Source: Will R. Bird, "The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment

The North Shore Regiment initially pushed southward, parallel to the west bank of Braakman Inlet. On October 13, the unit launched its first attack on the area of Koninginnehaven, a short distance from the inlet’s southern tip. Over the next two days, its soldiers sent a steady stream of prisoners of war back to Allied rear positions.

The unit then turned westward into the pocket toward its next objective—an area south of the village of Biervliet. The advance commenced at 0800 hours October 15, with two companies in the lead. One company soon encountered a minefield, while the second ran into hostile sniper fire. The war diary’s daily entry reported that “progress was very slow,” a reconnaissance unit locating an unknown number of enemy soldiers at Millekotweg, south of Ijzendijke.

When heavy machine gun fire brought one company’s advance to a halt, a small party of soldiers made its way forward and “knocked out” the enemy position. At 1350 hours, another company reported a counterattack on its location. The soldiers managed to repel the enemy soldiers and continued to push forward. By day’s end, all companies had reached their objectives.

Over the next several days, the NSR continued its slow advance westward. On October 19, the unit entered the village of Ijzendijke, which artillery fire had reduced to a pile of rubble. The following day, the NSR relieved the North Nova Scotia Regiment, settling into positions in a farm outside Schoondijke, where the buildings were stil intact.

After a brief pause to allow a pioneer unit to clear mines from surrounding roads, the slow advance resumed. On October 21, A Company secured a German position entrenched in heavily defended dugouts, its perimeter strewn with trip wires and mines. Opposition was considerably lighter over the next two days as the soldiers continued to move westward across the pocket.

On the morning of October 24, 1944, B Company commenced an advance along a main dyke west of Scherpbier. Three platoons moved forward in single file, one platoon at a time. As the lead section rounded a curve at the base of the dyke, German guns fired down the embankment from a dyke junction near the village, striking the lead soldier, who was armed with a Bren—light machine—gun.

An officer rushed forward, grabbed the Bren gun and established a position atop the dyke. As he fired on the German soldiers, two sections rushed forward into a cluster of farm buildings occupied by the enemy and forced their surrender. The lead section then swung left and captured a small group of enemy soldiers by-passed during the rapid advance. Meanwhile, their comrades used machine gun fire to secure the remaining buildings in Scherpbier.

During the day, the NSR advanced 2,000 meters, securing five polders leading into the village in the morning. While the unit forced the surrender of two German officers and 99 other ranks, four of its soldiers were killed in the fighting near Scherpbier. Private William Thomas Markie was one of the day’s fatalities. His remains were interred in a temporary military cemetery in Maldegem, Belgium, where the unit’s Chaplain, R. M. Hickey, oversaw the burials of the men lost that day.

On October 31, 1944, Andrew Markie received a telegram from military authorities, informing him that “Private William Thomas Markie has been officially reported killed in action 24th October, 1944.” Tom was re-interred in Adegem Military Cemetery, Adegem, Belgium, on July 23, 1945.

Fighting in the Breskens pocket continued into early November, as Allied forces finally secured control of the entire area. On November 4, 1944, the North Shore Regiment and its 3rd Canadian Division comrades retired to Ghent, Belgium, for a week’s rest, their first major break from front line service since the D-Day landings.

Tom’s death was the first of two losses to affect the Markie family in a short period of time. On August 14, 1945, his younger brother James Andrew died in the Aberdeen Hospital, New Glasgow, from “TBC [tuberculous] meningitis.”

Tom’s father Andrew died in his Westville home on April 3, 1960, the result of a cerebral haemorrhage. He was interred in Holy Name Roman Catholic Cemetery, Westville. Tom’s mother Margaret was killed in a tragic automobile accident near Antigonish on June 22, 1976. The incident occurred while Margaret and her sister Katherine were on their way to the East Erinville area. Katherine suffered a broken hip, but made a full recovery. Margaret (MacPherson) Markie was laid to rest in Westville beside her husband.

Special thanks to Cathy Sanford, New Glasgow, NS, who provided a picture of Private William Thomas Markie and genealogical information on the Markie family’s early Nova Scotian roots.

Private John Kingston George—Killed in Action October 24, 1944

 John Kingston George was born in Halfway Cove, Guysborough County, on September 18, 1922. Both of Kingston’s parents were Guysborough County natives. His father, Austin Valentine George, was the son of Joseph George and Hannah Elizabeth Ryter, Halfway Cove. His mother, Hazel Udvilla Davis, was born in Canso, the daughter of James F. Davis, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Hannah J. Snow, Crow Harbour.

Private John Kingston George's headstone, Adegem Military Cemetery, Adegem, Belgium

Austin and Hazel were married in All Saints Church, Canso, on December 2, 1908. Their first child, a daughter Laura Hannah, was born the following year but died of meningitis on July 3, 1910, at age 14 months. The couple’s oldest surviving child, Edna Hazel, was born in Canso on December 3, 1910, while a second daughter, Jean Dorothy, joined the family on December 18, 1912. Hazel gave birth to a third daughter, Goldie May, on May 2, 1915.

Austin and Hazel’s oldest son, Earle Joseph, was born in Halfway Cove on October 28. 1918. During the years after the 1921 Canadian census, four more children joined the George household—Kingston (YOB 1922), Helen Marion (YOB c. 1925), Ralston (DOB August 2, 1928) and Lloyd Austin (DOB July 10, 1930).

Kingston’s father Austin died in St. Martha’s Hospital, Antigonish, on May 17, 1935, the result of liver cancer. His sister Goldie was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis shortly afterward and passed away in the Nova Scotia Sanatorium, Kentville, NS, on July 21, 1941.

Kingston attended public school for nine years, leaving at age 16 “because Grade 9 was the highest grade offered.” He then went to work in the local fishery with his older brother Earl, using fishing gear likely inherited from their deceased father. The boys also worked on the family farm and were employed for a time as stevedores at an unknown location, likely Halifax.

On July 25, 1940, Kingston enlisted with the Canadian Active Service Force at Mulgrave, NS, and immediately joined the ranks of the Pictou Highlanders. At that time, the militia unit’s personnel were responsible for protecting two coastal artillery batteries guarding the entrances to the Strait of Canso near Auld’s Cove and Sand Point.

At month’s end, Kingston was transferred to Sydney Mines for duty. By early March 1941, he had relocated in Dartmouth, where he was assigned to guard duty at several military facilities, including Devil’s Battery, Eastern Passage, near the entrance to Halifax harbour. In late January 1942, he completed a mortar course at Hazelhurst, Dartmouth. Three months later, he qualified as a “Driver (I/C) [internal combustion], Class III Wheeled.”

On October 1, 1942, Kingston was transferred to “B” Force, a detachment of Pictou Highlanders personnel assembled to relieve the British garrison in Bermuda. He spent one month at No. 14 Advanced Infantry Training Center, Aldershot, before departing for the British overseas territory on November 6, 1942. Five days later, he and his comrades settled into Prospect Camp, allowing the British soldiers to return to the United Kingdom for military service in Europe.

Kingston spent the next 13 months in Bermuda, returning to Halifax with “B” Force in late December 1943. He was immediately assigned to No. 6 District Depot, Halifax, where he awaited orders to proceed overseas. A personnel interview conducted on February 14, 1944, described Kingston as “…a clean cut, good looking young man with a good physique and a dynamic quality about him. He has… good apparent adaptability.”

On March 3, 1944, Kingston returned to Camp Aldershot, where he trained for six weeks before receiving embarkation leave on April 18. He departed for overseas at month’s end and arrived in the United Kingdom on May 7. He was immediately assigned to No. 4 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit (CIRU), where he expressed an interest in serving as a “Driver.”

As the date for the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, drew closer, military authorities anticipated a significant increase in the demand for infantry reinforcements. Kingston’s transfer to the 11th Battalion, Canadian Base Reinforcement Group, on June 1, 1944, was part of the preparations. The day after the D-Day landings, he was placed on the reinforcement list for the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment. Five weeks later—July 12, 1944—he received orders to join the unit in the field.

The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment (NSR) traces 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 on April 1, 1922.

While the unit 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 units until early 1917, when it was dissolved and its remaining personnel transferred to the 13th Reserve Battalion.

The NSR was placed on active service on September 1, 1939, 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 preparing for the Allied invasion of German-occupied France.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the 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. The North Shore Regiment’s soldiers were part of the second wave, clambering into landing craft at 0810 hours and heading for nearby Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer. The following day, the unit pushed inland toward Tailleville.

The NSR’s first major combat experience occurred in early July, when 8th Brigade units attacked the village of Carpiquet and an adjacent airfield. The operation commenced in early morning July 4, with the NSR and the Chaudière Regiment clearing the village. The units held their positions for nine days before retiring to a rest area near the city of Caen.

Private John Kingston George joined the NSR’s ranks during its time in the rest area and saw combat within days of his arrival. On July 18, 8th Brigade units crossed the Orne River, which flows through the city of Caen, and cleared German forces from an industrial area near Colombelles. In subsequent weeks, the Regiment participated in a major Allied advance southward along the Caen - Falaise Road as British and Canadian forces attempted to close the “Falaise gap” and encircle a large German force to the south.

The NSR’s soldiers enjoyed a brief rest during the first week of August before heading out for the village of Cormelles around mid-day August 8. At 1600 hours, heavy traffic on the road brought the unit’s column to a halt. Minutes later, a fleet of American “Flying Fortress” bombers passed overhead, dropping explosive shells on the unsuspecting New Brunswick soldiers.

The “friendly fire” attack was devastating—23 “other ranks” (OR) were killed and another 73 wounded. Despite the high number of casualties, the unit resumed its journey toward Cormelles. The NSR suffered another 84 casualties during an August 10 attack on a wooded area near Quesnay. Kingston came through both incidents without injury.

By mid-month, Allied units were closing in on Falaise. While the 8th Brigade was not directly involved in the advance’s final stage, its soldiers watched from the heights above Falaise as German forces desperately fought their way through a shrinking gap in the Allied line south of Trun. While the German Army suffered heavy losses, a considerable number of its soldiers successfully escaped and began a rapid retreat northward toward the Seine River.

Allied forces followed in pursuit, the NSR crossing the Seine River on the morning of August 29 and advancing almost 50 kilometers to Rouen. The unit’s war diary noted, “No opposition was encountered and we were ordered to keep moving with all possible speed as enemy [forces] were reported [to be] steadily withdrawing.” By this point, all personnel were “on wheels,” allowing the unit to move quickly.

Upon reaching Rouen, Canadian units were assigned to an Allied force instructed to veer northwestward toward the French coast and clear German forces from several key “Channel Ports.” By September 5, the group was approaching the port of Boulogne, where the 8th Brigade received orders to clear an area north of the city while other Canadian units advanced on the port.

In anticipation of an Allied invasion across the English Channel, German forces had constructed the “Atlantic Wall,” an elaborate network of fortifications defending strategic locations from attack by sea and land. The area assigned to the NSR—the villages of La Trésorerie and Wimille, and the town of Wimereux—were part of this system and contained several gun installations located inside reinforced concrete bunkers.

The 8th Brigade attack commenced on the morning of September 17, the NSR advancing across open country toward a fortification in La Trésorerie. It required two days of hard fighting to clear German soldiers from their fortified positions. The unit’s war diary commented that “casualties had been fairly heavy, but so were those of the enemy.” The regiment captured 450 prisoners before moving on to Wimille, where it required another 48 hours to clear the village.

Having secured its two inland targets, the NSR regrouped for an attack on Wimereux. The coastal location was heavily fortified against attack from both sea and land. To complicate matters, German forces prevented the town’s civilian population from leaving, creating a delicate situation. The operation commenced at noon September 21, the NSR overcoming all enemy resistance by the end of the following day.

The next Allied target was Calais, where large German guns fired artillery shells into the town of Dover across the English Channel on a regular basis. While the bulk of the Allied force concentrated on the urban area, the 8th Brigade’s NSR and its Chaudière comrades were given the task of clearing the eastern section of Noires Mottes, a village on Calais’ western outskirts.

The attack commenced on September 25, the first stage proceeding smoothly. The NSR’s soldiers then advanced toward a three-gun coastal battery at Sangatte, east of their initial objective. Concrete bunkers spread across the area presented formidable obstacles. Fortunately, officers were able to negotiate the surrender of the majority of enemy soldiers without a fight by the end of the following day.

On September 27, the 8th Brigade moved out to Boursin while Allied forces continued to clear enemy forces from Calais. The entire area was secured by month’s end, after which the NSR enjoyed several days’ rest before moving off for Belgium.

While other Allied forces had managed to secure the city of Antwerp without significant damage to its facilities, the Belgian port was located approximately 20 kilometers inland from the West Scheldt, a lengthy estuary leading to the open sea. German forces controlled both sides of the water passage, preventing the Allies from using the port as a much-needed supply base. Allied commanders therefore prepared an operation to secure the Scheldt estuary’s southern and northern banks.

The 8th Brigade was part of an Allied convoy that set out for the Belgian border on October 2. Personnel stopped overnight at Steenvoorde, near Hazebrouck, before resuming their journey. The NSR crossed the Belgian border on October 4 and arrived at its initial destination—Kleit, south of Maldegem, less than 10 kilometers from the Leopold Canal—at 1645 hours.

The first stage of the West Scheldt campaign involved establishing an Allied bridgehead across the Leopold Canal, a major waterway northeast of the Belgian city of Bruges. The 3rd Canadian Division’s 7th Brigade was given the task of crossing the canal at Maldegem. Once a bridgehead was secured, the 8th Brigade would attempt to push northward.

While not a participant in the initial stage, the NSR was temporarily attached to the 7th Brigade for its Leopold Canal operation. The unit’s soldiers were tasked with carrying the boats required for the crossing to the canal and maintaining a “ferry service” during the operation. Its personnel spent October 5 preparing for the task..

Just before dawn October 7, the 7th Brigade operation commenced. While its soldiers were able to establish a narrow bridgehead along the canal’s opposite bank, fierce resistance over the next 24 hours made it impossible to advance further into German-occupied territory. As the situation at Maldegem descended into a stalemate, the NSR returned to 8th Brigade command and departed the area on the afternoon of October 8.

Prior to the Leopold crossing attempt, the 4th Canadian Armoured Division (CAD) had made considerable progress east of Maldegem, managing to advance northward to the Braakman Inlet on the West Scheldt’s southern shore. The 4th CAD’s 10th Infantry Brigade managed to secure the area by September 21. Simultaneously, the 1st Polish Armoured Division on its flank secured the Scheldt’s most eastern portion.

Battle of the Scheldt (Source: C. P. Stacey, Introduction to the Study of Military History)

The section of the West Scheldt remaining in German hands stretched from the Braakman Inlet in the east to Zeebrugge, north of Bruges, in the west. At the centre of this stretch of shoreline was the town of Breskens, whose name Allied command used to designate the area the “Breskens pocket.”

As the attempt to advance into the pocket from the Leopold Canal bridgehead had stalled, Allied commanders planned a second approach—a daring amphibious landing from Terneuzen, Netherlands, several kilometers east of the mouth of the Braakman Inlet. The 3rd Canadian Division was ordered to establish a beach-head west of the inlet, then push southward and westward into the pocket. The operation would be carried out in LVT [Landing Vehicle Tracked] “Buffaloes,” tracked armoured vehicles also equipped with amphibious propulsion systems.

The North Shore Regiment arrived in Terneuzen in the early hours of October 10. Approximately 24 hours previously, the 9th Brigade’s North Nova Scotia Highlanders and Highland Light Infantry of Canada carried out the initial amphibious landing at Braakmankreek, east of Hoofdplaat and west of the Braakman Inlet. Their beach-head established a second Allied front in the Breskens pocket.

On the morning of October 11, it was the NSR’s turn to make the crossing in the Buffaloes. Large German guns located on Walcheren Island to the north fired artillery rounds at the amphibious craft, sending large volumes of water into the air as the LVTs made their way across the mouth of the inlet. As the vehicles came ashore, the NSR’s Breskens service commenced over what its war diary described as “agonizing terrain.”

The North Shore Regiment's Scheldt Service (Source: Will R. Bird, North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment

The unit’s Chaplain, Major Raymond Myles Hickey, later described the Breskens pocket in his memoirs:

“The Scheldt… was an endless stretch of wind-swept marshland criss-crossed by canals and dykes in the fashion of a crazy patchwork quilt. Our job was to ferret the enemy from this maze of dykes and ditches. For sheet misery, the Scheldt was the worst we had seen. There was hardly a dry piece of land to stand on. With soggy-wet clothes you splashed around in mud to your ankle; there was no chance of finding a dry cellar or a barn left standing.”

Fighting consisted almost exclusively of single company attacks, sometimes two or three in the span of 24 hours, carried out in wet weather on muddy “polders”—reclaimed agricultural fields. One company would push forward along the edge of a dyke bordering a flat, often partially flooded polder and establish a defensive position. The soldiers then signalled to the second company, which moved forward and advanced through their comrades’ line and established another position.

The advance continued in this leap frog pattern, soldiers avoiding the tops of the dykes where movement was easily observed and farm roads were strewn with anti-personnel mines. The only cover was along the banks of the dykes, where soldiers could dig in for protection against enemy artillery and mortar fire.

German forces occupying the area used every farm building and culvert as a sniper point, firing at the advancing Canadians as they moved cautiously across the flat, barren lowlands. Simultaneously, German guns on Walcheren Island peppered the area with artillery shells as the Canadian soldiers attempted to advance. Chaplain Hickey commented, “The fighting sometimes came to hand-to-hand contact with grenades and bayonets.”

The North Shore Regiment initially pushed southward, parallel to the west bank of Braakman Inlet. On October 13, the unit launched its first attack on the area of Koninginnehaven, a short distance from the inlet’s southern tip. Over the next two days, its soldiers sent a steady stream of prisoners of war back to Allied rear positions.

The unit then turned westward into the pocket toward its next objective—an area south of the village of Biervliet. The advance commenced at 0800 hours October 15, with two companies in the lead. One company soon encountered a minefield, while the second ran into hostile sniper fire. The war diary’s daily entry reported that “progress was very slow,” a reconnaissance unit locating an unknown number of enemy soldiers at Millekotweg, south of Ijzendijke.

When heavy machine gun fire brought one company’s advance to a halt, a small party of soldiers made its way forward and “knocked out” the position. Another company reported a counterattack on its position at 1350 hours. The soldiers managed to repel the enemy soldiers and continued to push forward. By day’s end, all companies had reached their objectives.

Over the next several days, the NSR continued its slow advance westward. On October 19, the unit entered the village of Ijzendijke, which artillery fire had reduced to a pile of rubble. The following day, the NSR relieved the North Nova Scotia Regiment, settling into positions in a farm outside Schoondijke, where buildings were intact.

After a brief pause to allow a pioneer unit to clear mines from surrounding roads, the slow advance resumed. On October 21, A Company secured a German position entrenched in heavily defended dugouts, its perimeter strewn with trip wires and mines. Opposition was considerably lighter over the next two days as the soldiers continued to move westward across the pocket.

On the morning of October 24, 1944, B Company commenced an advance along a main dyke west of Scherpbier. Three platoons moved forward in single file, one platoon at a time. As the lead section rounded a curve at the base of the dyke, German guns fired down the embankment from a dyke junction near the village, striking the lead soldier, who was armed with a Bren—light machine—gun.

An officer rushed forward, grabbed the Bren gun and established a position atop the dyke. As he fired on the German soldiers, two sections rushed forward into a cluster of farm buildings occupied by the enemy and forced their surrender. The lead section then swung left and captured a small group of enemy soldiers by-passed during the rapid advance. Meanwhile, their comrades used machine gun fire to secure the remaining buildings in Scherpbier.

During the day, the NSR advanced 2,000 meters, securing five polders leading into the village in the morning. While the unit forced the surrender of two German officers and 99 other ranks, four of its soldiers were killed in the fighting near Scherpbier. Private John Kingston George was one of the day’s fatalities. His remains were interred in a temporary military cemetery in Maldegem, Belgium, where the unit’s Chaplain, R. M. Hickey, oversaw the burials of the men lost that day.

Fighting in the Breskens pocket continued until month’s end, by which time Allied forces secured control of the entire area. On November 4, 1944, the North Shore Regiment and its 3rd Canadian Division comrades retired to Ghent, Belgium, for a week’s rest, their first major break from front line service since the D-Day landings.

Before the end of October, Kingston’s widowed mother Hazel received a telegram from military authorities, notifying her that he had been killed in action. On July 25, 1945, Kingston’s remains were reinterred in Adegem Canadian Cemetery, Adegem, Belgium.

Hazel George passed away in 1981 and was laid to rest in St. James the Martyr Anglican Church Cemetery, Halfway Cove, alongside her husband Austin. Their daughters Laura and Goldie were interred nearby. The family headstone that marks their graves also includes the name of Pte. J. Kingston George, “killed in Holland 1944.”

Private Edison Reynolds Smith—Killed in Action October 16, 1944

 Edison Reynolds Smith was born on May 11, 1924, on Port Hood Island, Inverness County. Edison’s father, Henry Guy Smith, was also a Port Hood Island native, the son of Joshua and Sarah Smith. His mother, Emma Grace, was the daughter of Hugh and Ada Watts, Port Hood. 26-year-old Guy was working as a fish merchant on Port Hood Island when he married 19-year-old Emma in Port Hood on January 9, 1918.

Private Edison Reynolds Smith

Guy and Emma’s first child, Sarah May, was born on Port Hood Island on January 13, 1919. A second daughter, Ruth Emeline, arrived on February 9, 1920. The following decade brought the birth of three more children—Edison (1924), Dorothy Ellen (c. 1926) and Wesley Guy (c.1927).

The 1920s also saw a series of deaths that eventually led to the family’s dissolution. On January 23, 1928, Edison’s mother Emma passed away in St. Martha’s Hospital, Antigonish, after a four-week battle with septic pneumonia. His older sister Ruth succumbed to scarlet fever on December 23, 1928, while his father Guy died from “acute encephalitis”—inflammation of the brain caused by infection—on January 3. 1929.

In the aftermath of their parents’ and sister’s deaths, the remaining Smith children—Sarah, Edison, Dorothy and Wesley—were taken in by Elsie Smith, their father Guy’s sister. Elsie had married Roland Morton Myers, son of George W. Myers and Abigail Atwater, Cook’s Cove, in December 1920. At the time of the 1931 census, the four Smith children were living in the Myers’ Cook’s Cove home with their aunt Elsie, her husband Roland, and the their daughter Abigail Lillian, age six.

Edison attended school in Cook’s Cove, completing Grade VIII. He left at age 14 to work on the Myers farm and in the local woods. “Coming of age” in the midst of a global conflict soon impacted Edison’s life. On August 24, 1942, he enlisted with the Non-Permanent Active Militia of Canada at Guysborough. Edison served with the Pictou Highlanders in the Mulgrave area for one year before he was “called up” under the National Resources Mobilization Act. Upon reporting to No. 6 Military District, Halifax, he attested with the Canadian Active Service Force on August 31, 1943.

Edison commenced instruction at No. 60 Canadian Army Basic Training Center, Yarmouth, in mid-September and proceeded to A14 Canadian Infantry Training Center, Aldershot, for advanced instruction in mid-November. With the exception of five days’ leave for the Christmas holiday and two weeks pre-embarkation leave in late January/early February, he remained at Aldershot until February 19, 1944, when he was transferred to the 1st Canadian Training Brigade, Debert.

Edison proceeded overseas on April 5 and arrived in the United Kingdom seven days later. He was immediately assigned to No. 4 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit (CIRU), where he awaited a transfer to an infantry battalion. As preparations for the impending D-Day landings continued, Edison was placed on the reinforcement list for the North Nova Scotia Highlanders on May 8, 1944. However, he did not join the unit’s ranks prior to D-Day.

One day after Allied forces landed in Normandy, Edison was transferred to the Canadian Scottish Regiment and joined its ranks in France on June 8, 1944. It is not clear when he landed in France. The speed with which he joined his new unit suggests that he had arrived with a group of infantry reinforcements on or immediately after D-Day.

The Canadian Scottish Regiment (CSR) traces its roots to the 88th Regiment, Victoria Fusiliers, Victoria, BC, authorized on September 3, 1912. After the First World War, the unit amalgamated with the 50th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders of Canada), Victoria, BC, to form the Canadian Scottish Regiment. The unit mobilized a battalion for overseas service in 1940 and trained in Debert, NS, until August 1941. Its personnel then departed for the United Kingdom, where the unit was assigned to the 3rd Canadian Division’s 7th Brigade.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, CSR’s C Company came ashore on Juno Beach, Normandy, during the first wave of landings. The remainder of the unit followed in the second wave, wading ashore in chest-deep water under German mortar and machine gun fire. By day’s end, the unit’s A Company had advanced almost 10 kilometers inland, where its soldiers “dug in” and sent out patrols.

A total of 22 CSR soldiers were killed and another 61 wounded during and shortly after the D-Day landings, creating a need for reinforcements. Private Edison Reynolds Smith was part of a group that joined the unit’s ranks on June 8. Later that day, a major German counter-attack near Putot-en-Bassin threatened to break through the Allied forward line.

During the night of June 8/9, Canadian Scottish soldiers engaged the attackers, preventing them from advancing toward the newly established Normandy beach-head. According to his service file, Edison was wounded during the fighting and evacuated to hospital on June 9. His injuries appear to have been slight as he rejoined the unit two days later. While Edison remained with the CSR in the Normandy beach-head for the rest of the month, he was transferred to the North Nova Scotia Highlanders on June 30.

Initially established as a machine gun unit in 1936 following the amalgamation of militia units from Cumberland, Colchester and Hants Counties, the North Nova Scotia Regiment established its headquarters in Amherst after the outbreak of war overseas. The unit was subsequently re-designated an infantry battalion and assigned to the 3rd Canadian Division’s 9th Brigade, where it served alongside the Highland Light Infantry of Canada (Waterloo, ON) and Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders (Cornwall, ON).

The “North Novas” departed for overseas on July 18, 1941, and spent almost three years in the United Kingdom training and supporting British “home defence” efforts. On June 6, 1944, its personnel came ashore in the second wave of D-Day landings. Similar to the Canadian Scottish Regiment, the Nova Scotians advanced a considerable distance inland the following day. Its soldiers reached the village of Authie, approximately 17 kilometers from the beaches, before they encountered stiff resistance and were forced to retreat to Villons-les-Buissons.

At the time of Edison’s arrival, the North Novas were still located in the vicinity of the village. He had requested a transfer partly because two Cook’s Cove acquaintances—Percy Lumsden and George Myers,  his uncle Roland’s nephew—were serving with the unit. When Edison connected with George, he was shocked to learn that his younger brother Wesley had drowned on May 27, 1944, when the lobster boat on which he was working sank in Tracadie Harbour.

Edison was assigned to the unit’s C Company. He saw his first combat with the North Novas on July 8 as the unit secured the villages of Authie and Franqueville on the outskirts of Caen. The engagement proved costly as the unit suffered 53 fatalities and another 88 soldiers wounded during the operation. Personnel subsequently assisted in clearing enemy forces from suburban areas around Caen before retiring from the line for a brief rest.

Ten days later, the North Novas helped 7th Brigade units secure Faubourg de Vaucelles, south of Caen. Sergeant George Myers was among the soldiers reported “missing in action” following the operation. Months passed before his family in Cook’s Cove received word that he had been “killed in action.”

On July 25, the North Novas participated in a large-scale attack on Verrières Ridge, an area of high ground south of Caen. The failed effort proved to be one of the costliest Canadian engagements of the war. The Nova Scotian unit recorded 58 fatalities and another 44 wounded, while approximately 30 of its soldiers were taken prisoner.

Edison came through the July engagements without injury and retired to Cormelles with his comrades for a period of rest and reorganization. At month’s end, a group of 210 much-needed reinforcements arrived in camp. During the month of August, the North Novas participated in two major advances along the Caen - Falaise road as Allied forces attempted to close the “Falaise gap.” While casualties continued throughout both operations, the numbers were significantly lower than the previous month.

By August 20, the North Novas had reached Trun, close to the location where the remnants of the German army had escaped before Allied forces closed the Falaise pocket. Three days later, the unit began an advance northward toward the Seine River in a pursuit of retreating enemy forces. Personnel crossed the famous water course near Elbeuf on August 29 and established camp on the outskirts of the city of Rouen, where they remained for several days.

As British and American units veered eastward toward Paris, Canadian forces pushed northward to the French coast for their next assignment—clearing German forces from the “Channel Ports.” After securing Dieppe without a fight, the Canadians moved on to the Boulogne area, where they encountered considerable German resistance. The port was finally secured during a four-day operation that commenced on September 18. The North Novas were actively involved in the fighting, suffering a total of 97 casualties.

While a large Canadian force continued northward toward Calais, the North Novas were assigned the task of capturing several large coastal artillery guns located at Cap Gris-Nez, north of Boulogne. The operation commenced on September 28 and stretched into the following day, resulting in another 25 casualties. The North Novas and their 9th Brigade mates then headed northeast, crossing the border into Belgium and establishing camp in Desteldonk, five kilometers northeast of Ghent, on October 3.

While Allied forces had successfully secured the city of Antwerp, Belgium, in early September, German forces still controlled the northern and southern banks of the West Scheldt, a water passage that connected the large port to the North Sea. Securing access through the inlet would allow Allied forces to use its facilities as a much more efficient supply line for units deployed in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Allied military commanders divided the task into two separate campaigns, both of which involved Canadian formations. The North Novas’ 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and part of the 4th Canadian Armoured Brigade received orders to clear the “Breskens pocket,” a large section of Belgian and Dutch territory northeast of Brugge, Belgium. Named for a town on the West Scheldt’s southern bank, the German-occupied area stretched from Zeebrugge, Belgium, in the west to Braakman Inlet in the east.

While the 3rd Canadian Division focused on the Breskens pocket, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division and the remainder of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division would secure the South Beveland peninsula and the island of Walcheren, located along the West Scheldt’s northern bank. 4th Canadian Armoured units would  cover the 2nd Division’s eastern flank while its infantry brigades first concentrated on securing the isthmus leading to the peninsula.

The Battle of the Scheldt commenced on October 6, 1944, as soldiers from the 3rd Division’s 7th Brigade crossed the Leopold Canal north of Maldegem, Belgium. Simultaneously, units from the 2nd Division’s 4th and 5th Brigades began an advance northward from the outskirts of Antwerp, with the objective to securing the isthmus leading to South Beveland. While the 7th Brigade managed to establish a small bridgehead on the Leopold Canal’s northern side, its units were unable to advance further inland. Within days, the focus shifted to an impending 9th Brigade assignment.

While their Canadian comrades commenced the  Scheldt offensives in other locations, the North Novas and their 9th Brigade comrades prepared to launch an amphibious landing across the mouth of the Braakman Inlet, north of Ghent. A canal leading to Terneuzen, the assignment’s departure point, was located near Desteldonk. The 9th Brigade would be transported to the location and across the inlet in newly acquired British amphibious LVTs—“landing vehicle tracked”—known as “Buffaloes.”

Each LTV had sufficient room for one platoon of soldiers. As a significant number of 9th Brigade soldiers had not participated in the D-Day landings, a flotilla of Buffaloes gathered in the canal before the operation. Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) received a tour of the vehicles on October 6 and trained their men in the process of loading and unloading the following day. The North Novas’ war diary commented, “The men [were] rather impressed with what [the Buffaloes] will do.”

On October 7, the three 9th Brigade units assembled along the canal late in the day and boarded their assigned landing crafts. At 1930 hours, the flotilla proceeded northward toward Terneuzen. A series of obstacles in the water course caused delays, particularly near Terneuzen, where a sabotaged lock required the vehicles to climb out of the canal onto land and re-enter the water on the other side.

As a result, the operation, originally scheduled for early morning October 8, was postponed for 24 hours. The 9th Brigade spent the day “getting… straightened around ready to make another start tonight.” Several vehicles stranded atop obstacles were freed and the North Novas’ Buffaloes “proceeded to the point where the rest of the vehicles were in the harbour.”

At 2240 hours October 8, the column of Buffaloes made its way into Terneuzen harbour. Once assembled, the vehicles departed shortly after midnight for their destination—two beaches on the western side of Braakman Inlet. The North Novas’ war diary described the journey as “rather cold and eerie” as the LVTs made their way toward a landing area several kilometers east of the village of Hoofdplaat.

Supporting artillery marked the two landing areas with red flares as the North Novas and their Highland Light Infantry (HLI) comrades prepared to land on their respective beaches. Shortly after 0200 hours October 9, the Nova Scotians came ashore on Green Beach, closer to Hoofdplaat. German forces in the area were completely taken by surprise and offered no resistance. As HLI soldiers landed on Amber Beach on the North Nova’s left flank, they were met with small arms fire but were soon safely ashore.

According to the North Novas’ war diary, “the beach was a hive of industry, the great motors roaring and those huge amphibious monsters crawling like great reptiles from the sea, out over the dyke [while] spitting flame from their exhausts.” All was quiet while the soldiers established a defensive perimeter, but enemy artillery shells soon struck the area and German soldiers launched several small counter-attacks on the unit’s positions later in the morning. The unit war diary commented, “Companies are well dug in but shelling fairly heavy. The beach is getting quite a pasting.”

A firm beach-head having been established, the 9th Brigade’s third unit, the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders—known as “the Glens”— were soon ashore, along with machine gun and mortar support units. By dawn, German guns on the West Scheldt’s northern bank soon targeted the entire area with artillery fire that continued throughout the day. While the Glens advanced westward toward the village of Hoofdplaat, their two Brigade comrades began to push inland in a southward direction.

The battlefield over which the invading force began its advance was unlike any other the soldiers would encounter during their service in Western Europe. Dykes criss-crossed the entire landscape, dividing the flat, reclaimed land into fields called “polders.” With the exception of farm buildings built adjacent to the dykes, there was no shelter for advancing infantry. The ground was so saturated that shallow slit trenches normally dug for protection quickly filled with water.

Any advance required the soldiers to clear the entire perimeter of each rectangular polder before moving on to the next field. The process was slow, one Company advancing a short distance and establishing a defensive position, a second Company then passing through its line. This “leap-frog” pattern continued throughout the offensive. To make matters worse, the entire campaign was fought in cold, wet weather that created very uncomfortable conditions.

Enemy forces concentrated their defensive positions in the corners of each dyke and at strategic crossroads where dykes intersected. The only available roads ran atop the dykes, exposed to enemy fire and strewn with land mines. While the landscape was not suited for “all-out” tank warfare, M-10s—self-propelled, tracked, three inch guns—and “Wasps”—tracked carriers armed with flame throwers—were eventually used in support of infantry attacks.

The North Novas’ first objective was the village of Drievegen, the first “outer bastion” of the Breskens defences, located approximately five kilometers from the beach. Attempts to move inland on the first day were largely unsuccessful. A second advance launched at dawn October 10 made some headway but progress was slow. By the morning of October 13, the unit had reached the outskirts of Drievegen and managed to secure what had become a “heap of rubble” before day’s end.

The advance continued, moving from one farm to another, systematically clearing each polder before moving on to the next. On October 14, the unit’s HLI comrades relieved the North Novas, allowing the weary soldiers to retire to an area behind Hoofdplaat for a good meal and few hours’ rest. During the day, the arrival of four M-10s bolstered the unit’s available weaponry, the first armoured vehicles to land in the beach-head. The soldiers returned to the line before day’s end, their push inland benefiting from the newly arrived armour.

The following day, the advance resumed in damp, cool conditions. A small party of reinforcements bolstered the unit’s ranks as the North Novas made gradual progress. The leap-frog pattern continued into October 16, 1944, A and D Companies leading the attack down opposite sides of a polder. While B Company successfully passed through its comrades, C—Edison’s Company—was forced back by a well-fortified position in its first attempt to advance. A second attempt almost succeeded when machine gun fire forced the soldiers to retreat once more.

Officers then organized a third attack with support from mortars and the flame-throwing Wasps. German soldiers were dug in beneath piles of hay piled atop a dyke to dry. The Wasps moved forward and hit each pile, creating a row of fire that forced enemy personnel to abandon the positions. C Company’s Lieutenant George A. Gibson then quickly advanced with his platoon to round up the German soldiers as they surrendered.

During the process, a quick burst of machine gun fire from a position approximately 1,000 meters away struck and killed Lt. Gibson. The remainder of C Company moved forward and established a defensive perimeter at the troublesome corner before pushing toward its final objective, a nearby crossroads. The soldiers were quickly pinned down by the same machine gun fire that had struck their Lieutenant.

The Highland Light Infantry, located in positions on the North Novas’ flank, called in artillery support and pushed its M-10s forward to assist. C Company then rushed the crossroads, overcoming its occupants and consolidating the position.

The day’s fighting proved costly. Besides Lt. Gibson, one non-commissioned officer and seven “other ranks” (OR) were killed. Private Edison Reynold Smith was one of the day’s fatalities, killed during C Company’s difficult advance. A later letter to his aunt Elsie, written by his Company’s second-in-command, described the circumstances in which he died:

“…the Company was leading the battalion in an attack along a stubbornly defended dyke. The going was slow and difficult but owing to the courage and determination of your nephew and his pals, the position was eventually taken. It was after we had reached our first objective and your nephew was bringing in some prisoners, that a burst of machine-gun fire from another direction hit him and instantly killed him. The same burst of fire killed his platoon officer [Lt. Gibson] and another one of his pals who were with him.”

Edison and his fallen comrades were buried in a temporary cemetery near Hoofdplaat, Netherlands. On October 30, unaware that Edison’s next of kin had died in late May 1944, military authorities send a telegram to his younger brother Wesley, informing him of his sibling’s death.

By November 1, Canadian units had cleared enemy forces from the entire Breskens pocket. Three days later, the North Novas moved out to Ghent, having recorded a total of 31 soldiers killed and another 95 wounded during the campaign.

On June 13, 1945, Private Edison Smith’s remains were re-interred in Adegem Military Cemetery, Adegem, Belgium. Edison’s aunt Elsie (Smith) Myers passed away in Guysborough Memorial Hospital, Guysborough, on July 3, 1956, and was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery, Guysborough. Her husband Roland died in Weir’s Nursing Home, Salmon River, Colchester County, on September 2, 1967, and was buried beside her.

Both of Edison’s remaining siblings married and settled in Nova Scotia. Sarah May Smith married Cameron Scott Williams, son of Howard and Emma (Chisholm) Williams, Antigonish, in Halifax on January 15, 1941. Scott was an electrical engineer and Army Officer at the time of the ceremony, while Sarah was employed as a school teacher. The couple were living in Port Shoreham, Guysborough County, at the time of Edison’s death.

After the war, Edison’s sister Dorothy “Dot” married Elliott Stephen Morrow, son of Benjamin and Carrie (Myers) Morrow, Boylston, in New Glasgow on April 15, 1948. Dorothy was employed as a Registered Nurse, while Elliott was working as a “sawyer” at a local lumber mill at the time of their marriage, which took place in New Glasgow.

Photograph of Private Edison Reynolds Smith courtesy of Lisa (Morrow) De Coste, Tracadie, NS. Details on the circumstances of Private Smith's death obtained from Pieter and Daria Valkenburg's "On the War Memorial Trail" blog, which contains excerpts from letters written to the Smith family during Edison's time overseas. The information is available in two separate posts—Part I and Part II.

Private Norwood Kitchener Leslie—Killed in Action October 13, 1944

Norwood Kitchener Leslie was born in Sherbrooke, Guysborough County, on November 10, 1914. Kitchener’s parents were John Wilbur Leslie and Beatrice Alexandra “Beatty” Suttis, daughter of John H. and Martha Agnes (Murdoch) Suttis, Stillwater. John Wilbur’s family roots are less clear. According to the couple’s  marriage record, he was the son of John Leslie and Kate McFarland. No documentation of John and Kate’s marriage can be located in available documents.

Norwood Kitchener Leslie in civilian life

 

At the time of the 1891 Canadian census, “John W. Leslie,” age 16, was living in Sherbrooke, as the “adopted son” of Allan McQuarrie, age 61, farmer, and his wife Margaret, age 55. Earlier census entries identified Allan’s occupations as “trader” and “livery stable,” suggesting he operated a local business. The 1901 census identifies “John W. Leslie,” age 25, “druggist,” as a “lodger,” still residing with Allan and Margaret. A comment in the census form’s “Note” section states that Allan was “blind.”

The circumstances of John Wilbur and Beatrice’s marriage are also peculiar. 1902 Port of Boston passenger manifests indicate that 19-year-old  Beatrice arrived in the Massachusetts city aboard the vessel Boston on April 24, 1902. One week later, John Wilbur landed in the same port aboard the vessel Halifax. The couple were living at addresses in close proximity on Staniford St., Boston, when they married on June 4, 1902.

It is not clear whether John Wilbur and Beatrice had travelled to Boston with the intention of permanently residing there or only to marry. Whatever the case, their first child, John Douglas, was born in Sherbrooke, NS, on February 6, 1903. The birth registry describes John Wilbur’s occupation at the time as “merchant” and lists his birthplace as Oxford, NS. Other documents from subsequent years identify his place of birth as Pugwash, Pictou, Sherbrooke and Goldenville.

By the time of the 1911 Canadian census, four more children were part of the Leslie’s Sherbrooke household—Margaret Agnes (DOB May 4, 1904); Catherine Augusta “Kitty” (DOB September 25, 1905); Robert Laird “Buster” (DOB April 21, 1907); and James Murdoch (DOB August 30, 1910). Over the next decade, Beatrice gave birth to another five children—twins Olaf and Elizabeth (DOB April 5, 1913); Eric Raymond (DOB April 14, 1914); Norwood Kitchener; George Logan (DOB July 25, 1917); and Wilbur Claire (DOB October 14, 1920). The youngest Leslie child, “Hugh Allan “Buddy,” was born around 1923.

Kitchener attended public school in Sherbrooke. According to his military service file, he left at age 14 after completing Grade 9. For four years, he worked as a stevedore at an unspecified location—possibly Halifax— before heading to Timmins, Ontario, around 1934. For nine years prior to his enlistment, Kitchener was employed as a machine operator in the MacIntyre and Venture hard rock mines.

During his time in Timmins, Kitchener met Mary Alice Nowland, a native of Pokemouche, New Brunswick. Alice had married Joseph Adelard Salvail in May 1929 and subsequently gave birth to three children. According to a later statement in Kitchener’s service file, he made Alice’s acquaintance in early 1938. Kitchener claimed that she had left her husband “on grounds of adultery” and that he was her sole support for 15 months before the couple entered into a common law relationship.

On July 16, 1942, Kitchener enlisted with the Canadian Active Service Force at Timmins. His attestation papers identify his common law wife, “Mrs. Alice Leslie,” Mattagami Heights, Timmins, as his next of kin. At month’s end, Kitchener headed to No. 26 Basic Training Centre, Orillia, ON, for infantry instruction and remained there for the duration of the summer.

In mid-September, Kitchener received five days’ embarkation leave. He returned to Orillia for a brief period before receiving a transfer to the Princess Louise Fusiliers (PLF), a Halifax-based unit, on September 28. According to his military file, Kitchener had requested the assignment, as one of his brothers was serving with the Halifax-based unit. He immediately departed for Debert, NS, where the Fusiliers were encamped.

The PLF departed for overseas on October 26 and disembarked in the United Kingdom nine days later. Kitchener spent the next 10 months training with the unit before a major change in its military assignment resulted in adjustments in its personnel. In early August. the Fusiliers were re-designated the 11th Canadian Infantry Brigade Support Group and attached to the 5th Canadian Armoured Division’s 11th Infantry Brigade.  

Solders selected for service with the re-structured PLF were assigned to one of three machine gun platoons or one of two mortar companies. Approximately 250 of its soldiers were transferred to one of the 11th Infantry Brigade’s three battalions. Kitchener was among the transfers, assigned to the Irish Regiment of Canada on August 20, 1943.

Kitchener spent two weeks with the Irish Regiment before he was reassigned to the 1st Canadian Engineer Reinforcement Unit on September 4. According to information in his service file, he had expressed interest in serving as a “tunneller,” a role in keeping with his mining experience. Throughout the winter of 1943-44, Kitchener completed the required trained for service with the Royal Canadian Corps of Engineers (RCE). On April 13, 1944, he was assigned to No. 11 Field Park Company, RCE.

Each Canadian Infantry Division contained three Field Companies of “sappers” that provided engineering services to its three Brigades. In addition, one Field Park Company transported the required construction and bridging equipment. Kitchener spent six weeks training with No. 11 Field Park Company before he was placed on the RCE’s general reinforcement list in late May 1944.

As Kitchener awaited orders to report to an active RCE unit, broader developments on the battlefield led to significant adjustments in military assignments. By mid-1944, Canadian infantry and armoured units had been fighting in Italy for one year. The Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and subsequent combat in France significantly increased the need for infantry reinforcements.

On the basis of his previous training, Kitchener was transferred to the Canadian Infantry Corps on August 11, 1944. He crossed the English Channel to a reinforcement camp in France in late September 1944 and was assigned to the Royal Highlanders of Canada (Black Watch) on October 7, 1944.

The Royal Highlanders of Canada traces its origins to the 5th Battalion, Volunteer Militia Rifles of Canada, formed in Montreal, Quebec, on January 31, 1862. At that time, Brtish colonial authorities were concerned about colonial defence as the American Civil War had broken out during 1861. The unit underwent several name changes before it was designated the 5th Regiment, Royal Highlanders of Canada (RHC), on October 1, 1906.

During the First World War, the RHC raised three battalions—13th, 42nd and 73rd—for overseas service.
An unofficial affiliation with the famous Scottish Black Watch Regiment resulted in the phrase “Black Watch” being associated with all three units. On January 1, 1930, the unit officially adopted the title “The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) of Canada,” which was amended to “The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada” in 1935.

On September 1, 1939, the regiment mobilized its 1st Battalion for overseas service. The unit served in Newfoundland for six weeks before departing for overseas on August 25, 1940. Upon arriving in the United Kingdom, the unit was assigned to the 2nd Canadian Division’s 5th Infantry Brigade. While the unit spent most of the next four years training, three Black Watch platoons participated in the ill-fated Dieppe Raid (August 16, 1942), but suffered only minor casualties.

The entire 1st Battalion, Black Watch of Canada, landed in Normandy, France, with the 2nd Canadian Division on July 6, 1944. The unit suffered its first major losses during the Canadian attack on Verrières Ridge, south of Caen. Of the 325 soldiers who advanced up the ridge on July 25, 1944, only 15 survived the day without injury. The remainder were either killed or wounded during the unsuccessful engagement. After rebuilding its ranks, the unit participated in the remainder of the Normandy campaign and the subsequent clearing of the Channel Ports along the French coast.

By early October 1944, Canadian units found themselves in Belgium, preparing for their next major assignment. While Allied forces had successfully captured the Belgian port of Antwerp, German forces controlled the northern and southern banks of the West Scheldt, the water passage that connected the port to the North Sea. Securing access to Antwerp would allow Allied forces to use its facilities as a much more efficient supply line for units deployed in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Allied commanders assigned the task of securing the West Scheldt estuary into two separate campaigns and assigned the task to several Canadian formations. The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and elements of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division received orders to clear the “Breskens pocket,” a large area of Belgian and Dutch territory northeast of Brugge, Belgium, named for a town on the West Scheldt’s southern bank. The German-occupied area stretched from Zeebrugge, Belgium, in the west to Braakman Inlet in the east.

While the 3rd Canadian Division cleared German personnel from the Breskens pocket, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division and the remaining 4th Canadian Armoured Division units received orders to secure the South Beveland peninsula and the island of Walcheren, located along the West Scheldt’s northern banks. The Black Watch’s 5th Brigade, which also included Les Fusiliers Mont Royal and Le Régiment de Maisonneuve, two other Montreal-based units, would play a significant role in securing the isthmus leading to the peninsula.

Source: C. P. Stacey, "Introduction to the Study of Military History for Canadian Students"

The Battle of the Scheldt commenced on October 2, 1944. While 3rd Division units began their push into the Breskens pocket, 2nd Division battalions advanced northward from the Antwerp area, with the initial goal of cutting off any exit from South Beveland. The soldiers encountered stubborn resistance, but made steady progress toward their first objective—the town of Woensdreht, directly east of the isthmus leading to South Beveland.

By October 6, the town was within striking distance, only five kilometers away. Securing it, however, turned into a costly operation that required more than a week of hard fighting. The initial attack plan called for the Black Watch’s 5th Brigade to pass through the 4th Brigade’s lines, which stretched from Ossendrecht to the Antwerp - Bergen highway. While 5th Brigade units advanced up the main road to Korteven, beyond Woensdrecht, the 6th Brigade would move forward on its right flank.

The operation commenced on October 7, the 6th Brigade’s Calgary Highlanders attacking on the left while the 5th Brigade’s Maisonneuve Regiment moved forward on the right. While the Highlanders managed to reach Hoogerheide, Netherlands, less than two kilometers from Woensdrecht, the Maisonneuves could advance no further than a location southwest of Huijbergen, six kilometers east of the main objective.

 During the morning of October 8, the Black Watch passed through the Calgary Highlanders’ line and advanced toward Korteven. The attack quickly met stiff resistance that pushed the attackers back to their starting positions. During the day, local Dutch citizens and aerial reconnaissance reported the presence of a large German force, equipped with field guns and tanks, gathered in a wooded area between Lorteven and Bergen-Op-Zoom to the north of Woensdrecht.

Anticipating a major counter-attack, officers immediately ordered all 2nd Division units to establish defensive positions. The German offensive commenced during the night of October 8 and lasted into the following day. The Calgary Highlanders, deployed near Hoogerheide, were hardest hit as the German manoeuvre temporarily secured the Woensdrecht and the adjacent isthmus.

The Black Watch’s war diary observed that the attacking forces were “definitely the cream of the crop…. They range in age from 20 to 26 years, are fine physical specimens, keen to fight and with excellent morale.” The assessment reflected the challenge that lay ahead.

Heavy enemy mortar and artillery fire continued into October 10 as the Black Watch was relieved around mid-day and retired to re-organize its ranks. That same day, the 4th Brigade’s Royal Regiment of Canada (RRC) crossed a wet polder—an area of reclaimed lowland protected by dykes— south and west of Woensdrecht and reached the southern side of a railway embankment. The advance placed the unit’s soldiers close to a location where the rail line crossed the narrowest part of the South Beveland isthmus.

While the RRC’s advance severely restricted the main German route into South Beveland, it did not sever it completely. The following day, its soldiers launched an afternoon attempt to close the isthmus but were driven back after suffering heavy losses. Despite a series of German counter-attacks, the unit held its ground, setting the stage for a second attempt to secure the strategic location.

Meanwhile, the Black Watch’s soldiers “had their first full night’s sleep in four nights and felt and looked much better for it.” The unit’s war diary reported the arrival of “104 OR [other ranks] for replacements” since October 6. Private Norwood Kitchener Leslie was one of the new arrivals, all of whom found themselves thrust into a precarious situation.

On October 12, the Black Watch completed its re-organization and re-equipped its personnel in preparation for their next assignment. Before day’s end, the 5th Brigade received orders to “seal off the isthmus of South Beveland from the mainland, and to enlarge present gains.” The assignment, given the codename Operation Angus, was slated to commence the following morning.

The RHC was instructed to pass through the Royal Regiment of Canada’s lines and seize several objectives along the railway embankment, as far as the Woensdrecht Station, west of Korteven. Opposite the RRC’s positions, German soldiers were securely “dug in” along and beyond the embankment. In the words of military historian C. P. Stacey, the attack that unfolded the following morning quickly became “a day of bloody fighting and failure.”

Operation Angus commenced at 0615 hours Friday, October 13, 1944, the Black Watch’s B and C Companies moved forward with the support of heavy artillery and mortar fire. The soldiers passed through the RRC’s line along dykes, their start line “approximately 1200 yards short of cutting off the causeway completely.” C Company immediately encountered fierce opposition, while B Company was “heavily mortared.” Both Company commanders were wounded early in the attack.

By 0730 hours, the first casualties “started to come back.” While the Black Watch war diary reported that “the battle was progressing slowly in the face of a very heavy opposition,” the lead companies were soon “pinned down again by mortar fire.” By 0850 hours, B and C Companies were back at the start line, having taken heavy casualties.

Around mid-day, air support in the form of 12 Spitfires engaged German positions. By that time, 25 Black Watch casualties had been evacuated for treatment while many more remained on the battlefield, impossible to extract. Fighter aircraft engaged enemy positions again at 1430 and 1500 hours as the battalion’s officers met to organize a second attack.

At 1700 hours, A and D Companies moved forward, under cover of heavy machine gun and artillery fire. Several tanks and flame throwers accompanied the attacking force. Enemy soldiers once again held their ground as both Company commanders were wounded and evacuated for treatment. A Company in particular suffered heavy losses.

Exchanges of fire continued throughout the evening. In the early hours of October 14, activity on both sides “quietened down” as Black Watch personnel searched the area for wounded comrades. At 0100 hours October 14, Brigade command issued orders for a complete withdrawal. “The weary and nearly exhausted men rode back in carriers and jeeps to the positions they had left barely 24 hours earlier, though to them it had seemed days.” By first light, all wounded personnel had been evacuated for treatment.

According to the Black Watch war diary, the unit lost a total of 183 men during the October 13 attack. Initial reports listed three “other ranks” (OR) killed, three officers and 91 OR wounded, and three officers and 84 OR missing. Many of the latter group were later deemed “killed in action.” Military historian C. P. Stacey’s comprehensive volume on the Second World War states that the battalion lost a total of 145 men—56 killed or died of wound, 62 wounded, and 27 taken prisoner—during the failed attack.

In the annals of the Black Watch, the October 13, 1944 engagement became known as “Black Friday,” the second worst day of its Second World War service. The regiment was reduced to a total of 379 men all ranks, only 159 of whom had three months of infantry training. Regardless, its soldiers continued to fight throughout the remainder of the West Scheldt campaign.

In the early hours of October 16, Canadian forces launched a second attack on the embankment. With the assistance of heavy artillery and tank support, the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry secured Woensdrecht by nightfall. Nine days later, the advance into South Beveland commenced. It required another two weeks of hard fighting for Canadian units to secure the peninsula and adjacent island of Walcheren by November 8.

In the aftermath of the unsuccessful October 13, 1944 attack, Private Norwood Kitchener Leslie was initially reported missing. His common-law wife Alice received notice of the situation from military officials. Alice passed the information on to Kitchener’s father John Wilbur, who wrote to Colonel J. L. Ralston, Minister of National Defence, on October 30, seeking information on his son’s fate. John Wilbur had received a letter from Kitchener dated October 11, and was aware that he was serving in Belgium with the Black Watch but had heard nothing since that time.

Following the Allied advance into South Beveland, the remains of many missing soldiers were located. According to Commonwealth War Graves Commission records, Kitchener’s body was interred in Ossendrecht Civil Cemetery, Ossendrecht, Netherlands, on October 27. An Official Canadian Army Overseas Casualty Notification form was completed on November 4.

Two days later, a letter to Kitchener’s mother Beatrice informed her of Kitchener’s death: “It is presumed that in the confusion that must prevail in the battle area, your son became missing and on further investigation of the field his body was located and he was officially reported as killed in action.” Kitchener’s common-law wife Alice received the same news from military authorities.

On May 16, 1945, Kitchener’s remains were re-interred in Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian Military Cemetery, Bergen-Op-Zoom, Netherlands. His common-law partner Alice passed away in Timmins, ON, on November 21, 1958. Only 45 years old at the time of her death, she was laid to rest in Timmins Memorial Cemetery.

Kitchener’s father John Wilbur died in Sherbrooke on December 17, 1954, and was interred in Riverside Cemetery, Sherbrooke. His widow Beatrice passed away in Sherbrooke on September 26, 1979, and was laid to rest beside him.

According to a November 11, 1944 letter Beatrice wrote to the Director of Records, Department of National Defence, three of Kitchener’s brothers enlisted with various units during the Second World War. Hugh Allan “Buddy,” his youngest brother, served overseas as a Driver with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps for three years. He was then transferred to the West Nova Scotia Regiment and departed for Italy as an infantry reinforcement. George Logan, the second youngest of the Leslie boys, served with the Royal Canadian Air Force for four years and was “an Instructor in Wireless at No. 2 ITS [Initial Training School], Regina” at the time of Kitchener’s death.

John Douglas, Kitchener’s oldest brother, was living in Hamilton, ON, when he crossed the United States border at Buffalo, NY., on January 11, 1927, and was “admitted for permanent residence.” He settled in Meriden, north of New Haven, Connecticut, where was employed as a furniture salesman at the time of the 1930 US census.

On November 10, 1939, John Douglas married Louise Marie Hill in Meriden. Their son Ernest Garry—the couple’s only child—was born in 1939. Following the United States’ entrance into the Second World War, John Douglas registered for the United States military draft at Meriden on February 15, 1942. At the time, he was employed by the International Silver Company.

According to his mother Beatrice’s letter, John Douglas Leslie served with the United States Air Force during the war. The exact nature of his service is not known. John Douglas died in Florida in 1968 and was interred in Walnut Grove Cemetery, Meriden, Connecticut.

Photograph of Norris Kitchener Leslie courtesy of Kathryn Leslie, Dartmouth, NS.