George Wilbur Myers was born in Cooks Cove, Guysborough County, on September 16, 1919, the younger of Captain Wilbur John and Myrtle (Jones) Myer’s two sons. George’s father Wilbur was the son of George and Abbie (Atwater) Myers, Cooks Cove, while his mother Myrtle was the daughter of Jeremiah Charles and Ada (Strople) Jones, West Cook’s Cove.
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| Sergeant George Wilbur Myers |
Wilbur and Myrtle were married at Cook’s Cove on March 25, 1913. Wilbur pursued a career on the water. Initially an inshore fisherman, he later captained a boat for A. & R. Loggie, a company that operated a fish plant in Mulgrave. Wilbur later worked on the Canadian National ferry between Port Hastings and Mulgrave, and operated the passenger ferry at Ross Ferry, Cape Breton, prior to his retirement.
Charles Aubrey Myers, Wilbur and Myrtle’s first child, was born in Cook’s Cove on August 23, 1917. His younger brother George joined the family two years later. At the time of the 1921 Canadian census, the family was residing in Cook’s Cove, where Wilbur worked in the local fishery. By 1931, he was “Captain” of a fishing boat, suggesting that he was employed by A. & R. Loggie at that time.
George Wilbur Myers left school at age 16, having completed Grade 9. In June 1935, he went to work as a “truck driver” with A. & R. Loggie, a position he maintained until he enlisted with the Pictou Highlanders at Mulgrave, NS, on July 1, 1940. By that time, the Strait of Canso area was abuzz with military activity. The 86th Coastal Battery, an Antigonish militia unit, maintained two batteries at Auld’s Cove and Sand Point, while the Pictou Highlanders provided guards for military facilities in the area.
The day after his enlistment, George was transferred to the North Nova Scotia Regiment (NNSR). Initially established as a machine gun unit in 1936 following the amalgamation of militia units from Cumberland, Colchester and Hants Counties, the NNSR established its headquarters in Amherst after the outbreak of war overseas and was subsequently re-designated an infantry battalion.
On July 2, 1940, George reported to the North Novas’ Amherst Headquarters, where he commenced infantry training. Over the next 12 months, he spent time in Halifax and Debert before departing for overseas with the unit on July 18, 1941. By that time, the unit had been 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 spent the next three years training and supporting British “home defence” efforts. During that time, George was briefly attached to two Canadian Anti-Tank Regiments for training as he gradually advanced through the non-commissioned ranks. On December 31, 1942, he was promoted to Acting Corporal, advancing to the full rank of Corporal in late March 1942. He was appointed to the rank of Acting Sergeant on December 27, 1943.
By the winter of 1943-44, it was apparent that a major Allied campaign in Western Europe was imminent. During that time, Allied units in the United Kingdom rehearsed amphibious landings in England and Scotland in preparation for an invasion of Nazi-occupied France. In the spring, an unspecified health issue interrupted George’s time with the North Novas. Admitted to No. 23 Field Ambulance on March 22, 1944, he was transferred to No. 1 Canadian Special Hospital the following day. His service file provides no information on the nature of his illness.
While George was discharged from hospital after only three days, he did not immediately return to the NNSR’s ranks. Instead, he was assigned to No. 4 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit (CIRU), where he awaited further orders. On May 18, he was transferred to the 9th Battalion, No. 2 Canadian Base Reinforcement Group, and placed on the NNSR’s reinforcement list. Four days later, he reverted to the rank of Corporal to hasten his return to the unit.
On June 3, 1944, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders broke camp and travelled to Southampton, where personnel boarded a troop ship and waited off the coast for further instructions. Three days later, its personnel came ashore near Bernières-sur-Mer during the second wave of Allied landings in Normandy, France. George remained in the United Kingdom with No. 4 CIRU until June 10, when he crossed the English Channel to the Allied beach-head, coming ashore the following day.
Promoted to the rank of Acting Lance Sergeant on June 22, George rejoined the NNSR in the field several days later. By that time, its personnel had received their first introduction to combat. While the unit had advanced further inland than any other Allied force during the two days following its Normandy landing, its flanks were unsecured. German forces exploited this vulnerability, inflicting significant casualties and taking a large number of prisoners during counter-attacks at Authie and Buron. In response, the NSSR’s remaining personnel were forced to retreat and regroup at Les Buissons by day’s end June 7.
The battalion was still at Les Buissons when George joined its ranks in late June. Over the next week and a half, the North Novas held their position while enduring occasional enemy artillery and mortar fire. On July 7, the soldiers were informed of plans for an upcoming 9th Brigade attack on the villages of Gruchy, Buron and Authie, a plan that would involve three of its four Companies.
“Operation Charnwood” commenced at 0600 hours July 8 with a heavy aerial bombardment of the three Canadian targets. The advance commenced at 0900 hours, the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders and the Highland Light Infantry of Canada—the NNSR’s Brigade mates—attacking the villages of Grouchy and Buron respectively. The two objectives were secured by 1045 hours, allowing the North Novas to move forward to a “forming up point” in an orchard south of Buron. Its personnel suffered “very heavy casualties” from enemy mortar and 88-mm gunfire as they assembled for the attack.
At 1530 hours, the battalion finally moved forward, encountering heavy German shelling, infantry and tank resistance. The soldiers nevertheless pressed forward and cleared enemy forces from Authie. 7th Brigade units passed through its positions at 1830 hours and advanced toward Cussy, the next Canadian objective. Their progress gradually reduced the pressure on the North Novas. Three of its Companies remained in Authie, while a fourth moved forward to the nearby village of Franqueville late in the day.
The NNSR reported nine officer and 192 “other rank” casualties during the day’s advance. Despite these losses, the battalion’s day was not done. In the late afternoon hours of July 9, its remaining soldiers pushed forward under heavy mortar fire to Venoix, on the southwestern outskirts of Caen. Simultaneously, other Canadian and British units on the unit’s northern flank advanced into Caen. At day’s end, the North Novas’ war diary commented: “The civilians in this city received us in a true French manner[,] appearing very pleased to see Allied troops in their presence.”
That same day, a much-need reinforcement group of four officers and 61 “other ranks” joined the unit. The soldiers held their positions for several days, consolidating defences amidst spasmodic enemy artillery and mortar fire. In the aftermath of the unit’s recent losses, George was promoted to the rank of Acting Sergeant on July 12. Three days later, the North Novas moved out under cover of darkness, travelling to Anisy for a brief break.
After two days’ rest, the NNSR received word of an impending attack on Faubourg de Vaucelles, located south of Caen along the banks of Orne River. At 1130 hours July 17, personnel moved out to an assembly area between Buron and Les Buissons, in preparation for an operation scheduled for the following day.
The entire 9th Brigade was allotted one hour to cross bridges over the Canal de Caen and Orne River northeast of the city, a maneuver the unit rehearsed later that day. At 2000 hours, the unit’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Petch, met with the battalion’s officers to review battle plans. At 2330 hours, personnel set out on foot for the designated assembly area. After arriving at a location along the Canal de Caen, the men settled in for the night.
Aerial bombardment of the Canadian objective commenced at 0700 hours July 18. One hour later, the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders commenced their crossing of the canal and Orne River, marching across a Bailey structure that Canadian engineers called “London Bridge.” The North Novas were across by 0900 hours and regrouped behind the 8th Brigade, which was to complete the first stage of the attack.
The 9th Brigade waited at its assigned starting point while the 8th Brigade cleared enemy forces from an industrial area along the Orne’s banks. The 8th’s Régiment de la Chaudière, however, was quickly pinned down by machine gun fire and unable to advance. Commanders quickly revised the plan, leaving the 8th Brigade with the task of “cleaning up” the industrial area while the North Novas pushed through its soldiers and attacked Faubourg de Vaucelles. The Highland Light Infantry followed in the NNSR’s wake, with instructions to press onward to an area south of the main objective once their Brigade companions had secured their target.
NNSR personnel were initially held up in the industrial area for two hours while bulldozers repaired bomb craters to allow vehicles to support their advance. Rather than wait for the task to be completed, the infantry pressed forward on foot, encountering heavy sniping and occasional mortar fire. The soldiers encountered no other opposition, suggesting that German infantry units had abandoned the area.
By 2230 hours July 18, the North Novas had secured their objective with relatively light casualties—three officers and five other ranks killed or wounded, according to its war diary entry. The unit was the only 9th Brigade battalion to reach its objective that day. The area, however, was far from secure, as numerous snipers remained in buildings, making open movement hazardous.
The following day was “warm and overcast,” with all NNSR Companies “firmly in their positions and on a sharp lookout” for enemy counter-attacks. While none materialized, it was not until midday that the area was completely cleared of enemy soldiers, mostly snipers. The area was quiet—“almost too quiet”—as the battalion captured a total of 31 prisoners, mostly young men 17 and 18 years of age. German forces had evacuated the area so quickly that they left behind a large quantity of wine and foodstuffs that the soldiers gladly added to their supplies.
That same day—July 19, 1944—Sergeant George Wilbur Myers was officially reported “missing in action.” Two weeks later, Wilbur and Myrtle received official notification of their younger son’s disappearance. The communication marked the beginning of a 15-month wait for final word on George’s fate. During that time, there were numerous exchanges of letters with military authorities as Wilbur and Myrtle desperately pursued details on their son’s fate.
On November 29, 1944, Wilbur responded to a recent letter from the Department of National Defence (DND), informing them that “we have received no information concerning our son… since he was reported missing….” A second letter to the Director of Records, DND, dated January 22, 1945, relayed a possible lead. Wilbur indicated that their efforts to locate George “had not ceased,” and through [a] source we heard that he was a prisoner of war in Germany. We would appreciate it if you would look him up and inform us at once, as we are very anxious about our son.”
Wilbur wrote two additional letters to DND in April and May 1945, imploring the department to “see if you can get [any] word on his safety.” On June 28, 1945, Dr. A. C. Jost, Chairman of the Citizens’ Rehabilitation Committee, Guysborough, wrote to the government on Wilbur and Myrtle’s behalf. His letter included a second reference to information that George “[was] reported an unwounded prisoner in German hands” and his mother “earnestly desires additional information at an early date. Returning members of the unit have reported to the mother that her son was a casualty and not captured. Are there any means of determining the accuracy of these reports?”
On September 23, 1945, Dr. Jost wrote a second letter that contained specific information obtained from a comrade of George’s:
“Mrs. Myers has recently heard from Private [N.] Mutz, who has been so kind as to give her quite full details of the circumstances of [George’s] capture. He has been able to tell her little or nothing of what took place after Sergeant Myers’ capture. From some other sources[,] Mrs. Myers has heard that after his capture, Sergeant Myers escaped, but was again taken, and that on his recapture he was found in possession of a German revolver, being thereupon shot. There has been no official news of this, and there may be nothing in the report at all. But Mrs. Myers has not heard from her son, who, if once a prisoner, should have been able to communicate with his home before this. Can any additional information be obtained about him?”
Colonel C. L. Laurin, Director of Records for the Auditor-General, responded to Dr. Jost’s inquiry in a letter dated September 29, 1945:
“I am to advise that no further particulars have been received from overseas since [Sergeant Myers] was reported missing. However, statements from [his] detachment show that he was taken prisoner, but was not seen by anyone afterwards. It is thought that due to the lapse in time without information of any definite nature, there is very little likelihood that Sergeant Myers might still be alive, and it is thought that Canadian Military Headquarters, London[,] will shortly presume his death.”
On October 1, 1945, military authorities completed an Official Canadian Army Overseas Casualty Notification, stating that Sergeant George Wilbur Myers, previously reported missing, was now officially reported as “killed in action” on July 19, 1944. The following day, Major-General A. E. Walford, Adjutant-General, wrote to Wilbur, informing him of this change and expressing his sympathy. Before month’s end, a Memorial Cross was dispatched to George’s mother Myrtle.
At some point in time after Dr. Jost’s September letter, military authorities appear to have solved the mystery of George’s disappearance. An official letter to Wilbur, dated November 8, 1945, informed him that George had been interred in Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian Cemetery, Cintheaux, France. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) graves concentration form that bears George’s name, dated February 27, 1946, states that he was initially interred at Tilly-la-Campagne, approximately 12 kilometers south of Caen, and reinterred in Bretteveille-sur-Laize on November 12, 1944.
Interestingly, the soldier immediately above George’s name on the CWGC form is identified only as “Unknown”—the line contains no reference to a date of death or regiment. This unidentified soldier was initially buried in the exact same location as George. While there are no documents in George’s service file or CWGC records to provide a clear answer, it may be that George’s remains were not identified at the time of his initial interment in Tilly-la-Campagne. Identification, likely based on the particulars of George’s military service and the circumstances of his disappearance, appears to have taken place only after the family’s persistent inquiries.
Captain Wilbur John Myers died in Guysborough Memorial Hospital, Guysborough, on October 9, 1966, two weeks after suffering a stroke. His widow Myrtle passed away in St. Martha’s Hospital, Antigonish, on December 21, 1969, two days after suffering a heart attack. Both were interred in Evergreen Cemetery, Guysborough, the name of their beloved son George also engraved on their headstone.
Photograph of Sergeant George Wilbur Myers courtesy of Norma Jones Seagull, Cambridge, ON.
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