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.”