World War Two collections | Page 3

Title

WWII

These collections contains all materials relating to Canadian from 1939 to 1945. Some individual collections may contain materials beyond this time frame. External links in collection descriptions are to casualty and burial information at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Dawkins, Arnold F.A.

Warrant Officer 2^nd Class Arnold F.A. Dawkins of Victoria, British Columbia, served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was stationed at a base at Tempsford, England, working as an air observer when his plane was shot down over France on February 19, 1943.

After a brief attempt to evade capture following the plane crash, Dawkins was apprehended by the Germans as a Prisoner of War (P.O.W.) and soon interred at the Stalag VIII-B/344 camp at Lamsdorf (present day Łambinowice) in Poland. In the closing weeks of the war he was among the many tens of thousands in the forced marches of P.O.W.s out of Poland and across Germany ahead of the advancing Russian front. He was finally liberated by the arrival of American troops on April 12, 1945, arriving safely back in England four days later.

Dawkins began keeping a diary in April of 1942 while in training in England and continued throughout the war, even during much of his time in captivity, until July of 1945. Following the war the diary was put away until the spring of 1993 when Dawkins read it again for the first time since 1945. At that time he made some minor revisions, explaining that the “writing was so small that I had the pages enlarged and typed. Abbreviations were written out in full, expressions not suitable for family reading were removed. The rest is the way I wrote it.” The diary posted here is of the document he created at that time. Extensive descriptive/explanatory notes were added by Dawkins to the entries related to the time of his capture and the two weeks immediately following it, from Feb. 19, 1943, to March 3, 1943. These have been included here with the diary entries of February 1943. Notes were also added by Dawkins following the Mar. 26, 1943, entry relating to the historical context of the Lamsdorf P.O.W. Camp and of post-Dieppe reprisals. Other minor annotations throughout were likely made during the diary transcription by Dawkins (e.g. the entry of dates June 6-17, 1942: “no entry, probably visiting relatives in North Ireland”).

Note on place names: When recording location information in his diary entries during the forced march of 1945 Dawkins often used the place names he saw on the roadside signs they passed, and these may differ from present day place names.

External links:
W.O. Dawkins’ Service Record (Serv/Reg# R87686, P.O.W.# 27710) is not yet publicly available.
The RCAF Association provides a list of RCAF airmen taken P.O.W. from September, 1939 to the end of December, 1944, which includes Dawkins as well as some of the other P.O.W.’s mentioned in his diary.

Dennison, Gordon Joshua

Gordon Joshua Dennison (referred to as Billy or Billy) was born in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan in July, 1922. He enlisted with the RCAF in January, 1941 and served first as an Air Engine Mechanic. Dennison later switched to Gunnery School. He went overseas in January, 1944 and served as a tail gunner with the 199th Sqaudron. Dennison was shot down September 16, 1944. The collection currently consists of more than one hundred letters.

External links:
Pilot Officer Gordon Joshua Dennison’s service record (Serv/Reg# J95170) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Dennison can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Depreaux, Marie-Louise

Mm. Marie-Louise Depreaux was an American born woman who lived in Paris with her French husband, Albert Depreaux, during the German Occupation. The collection consists of an ongoing letter written to her two sisters to relate to them the details of her life during that time, written between August, 1940 and September, 1944. The spelling in the original has been retained as closely as possible in the transcription.

Devaney, Hugh

Dow, Gerald

Gerald Dow enlisted on January 11, 1943 and served overseas with the Essex Scottish Regiment. Dow was taken prisoner at Caen, France on July 20, 1944 and remained a prisoner until his liberation by American troops in April 1945. The collection currently consists of eight letters, three telegrams and three postcards.

Drewry, Lawrence John

Flight Lieutenant Lawrence John Drewry was born in Whonnock, British Columbia, on December 21, 1916.

He enlisted during WWII with the Royal Canadian Air Force, initially training in Brandon, Manitoba, and later at the Royal Air Force Flying College on Darrell’s Island in Bermuda. He spent much of the war serving as a R.C.A.F. officer attached to the R.A.F., Middle East, with the No. 47 & No. 294 Squadrons.

The letters in the collection were written by Drewry to his twin sister Mildred (newly married as Mrs. John Flynn) while she was living first in Ottawa and then back home in Whonock (as it was spelled at that time).

External links:

F/L Drewry (Serv/Reg# J8629) survived the war; his service record is not open to public access at this time.

Duffy, Reginald Carl Francis

Reginald Carl Francis Duffy was born in 1920 and enlisted with the RCAF in January, 1941. During the war he flew as a pilot on Wellington bombers and served overseas in Britain, Africa, and Malta. Following the war Duffy returned to Canada and worked as a school teacher and principal in New Brunswick. Duffy died in 1986. The collection consists of his diary which he kept from January to August, 1943.

Dureault, Louis

Louis Dureault was from Wolseley, Saskatchewan. Dureault enlisted in 1943 and served overseas with the South Saskatchewan Regiment, including the D-Day invasion. He was wounded in August, 1944 and remained in various hospitals until he returned home in October, 1945. He died in 2005 at the age of eighty. The collection currently consists of more than seventy letters from 1944 and 1945.

Evans, Stanley William

Stanley William Evans was born in Calgary, Alberta in April, 1923. Evans enlisted in Calgary in September, 1941 and served overseas in Britain and Europe before he was demobilized in October, 1945. The collection consists of more that forty letters and several other items.

Finn, Eric Morgan

Eric Morgan Finn was born in December 1920, the son of Arthur and Hilda Finn of Toronto, He enlisted with the RCAF and served in Newfoundland as part of a Liberator crew engaged in anti-submarine activity. Finn was on his way home for leave on Liberator Harry when it crashed in Quebec on October 20, 1943, killing all twenty four on board. It remains the worst accident in Canadian military aviation history. The collection currently consists of one letter written by Finn and two photographs.

Fisher, Sydney Thomas

Sydney Thomas Fisher was from Victoria, British Columbia. Fisher joined the RCAF, was attached to 35 Squadron RAF, and was shot down on September 15, 1941, and remained a prisoner of war until the end of the war. The collection currently consists of his correspondence both before and during his time as a POW, as well as clippings and other miscellaneous items.

Fitzgerald, John Ernest

John Ernest Fitzgerald, DFM, was born on January 27, 1925, the son of John and Effie Fitzgerald of New Westminster, British Columbia. Fitzgerald served as a Flight Sergeant in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was killed August 27, 1944 when his Lancaster was shot down. Fitzgerald and all the crew members are buried in Denmark. The collection consists of more than forty letters, twelve photographs, telegrams, and other personal items.

External links:
Flight Sergeant John Ernest Fitzgerald’s service record (Serv/Reg# R215210) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Fitzgerald can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
More information about the crash in which Fitzgerald was killed can be found on the Danish site dedicated to Fallen Allied Airmen www.airmen.dk.

Forman, Joseph (Jo)

Joseph "Jo" Forman served overseas with the RCAF as a navigator. Forman and his crew were shot down over France on July 25, 1944 during a mission. Forman survived and returned to Canada at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of an extended memoir of his time with the RCAF.

Fraser, Donald McPherson

Donald McPherson Fraser was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, on October 3, 1912. His family had emigrated to Canada. He joined the Canadian army in 1939, with the Rocky Mountain Rangers. He spent the first part of the war in the Canadian army, until the British loss at Dunkirk . Donald then became one of the CanLoan officers lent to the British Army by Canada in an effort to refill the British officer ranks. Donald served with the Duke of Wellington regiment and subsequently with the Welsh Borderers; both units part of the 49th Polar Bear Division. He took part in the D-Day invasion and was wounded in the early days of that action, but returned to active service by July 1944, when he won the Military Cross. During his service with the British Army Donald received two battlefield promotions, being discharged with the rank of Major. He married and had four children after the war, spending the rest of his life in British Columbia. He settled in Nanaimo, where he lived until his passing in 1997. This collection consists of one photograph and a number of personal items.

Freeman, Joseph Mack

Joseph Mack Freeman was born in March, 1909 in Innisfail, Alberta. Freeman joined the army in 1941 and returned to Canada in August, 1945. He died in Didsbury, Alberta in October, 1953. The collection consists of his scrapbook of photographs, postcards, and clippings from his time in the army.

Gallagher, Ed

Ed Gallagher was from Australia, born in 1916. He was a Wireless Airgunner who spent his war years (1941-1943) flying out of Mt. Batten (Plymouth, England) and Pembroke Dock (Wales) on Sunderlands. These two letters, part of a collection of 106 letters, describe his impressions of Canada as an Australian on his way to war in 1941 and in 1943 waiting to return to Australia. He was at the time writing to Molly Thomson, who he married in 1943 on his return to Australia.

Gerard, Seymour McLeod

Seymour McLeod Gerard was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, on March 31, 1911, the second of five children of Theodore Isaac and Euphemia Estella (née McLeod) Gerard.

He served overseas with the Canadian military in WWII. His demobilization date is unknown.

Content notes:
The earliest letter in the collection was written to Seymour’s younger sister Helen McLeod Gerard, from a Cpl. J Pennington, while Pennington was in hospital in Nijmegen, Netherlands. The other letter was from Seymour to his Aunt “Myrt” (Myrtle Jean McLeod).
Both of the personal items, including an RCAF Pass to the Eastern Air Command Headquarters in Halifax, N.S., belonged to Seymour’s older brother Ira Goodwin, who worked at that time as a plumber in Halifax.

External links:
Seymour McLeod Gerard (Serv/Reg# unknown) survived the war; his service record is not open to public access at this time.

[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated December/2022. Original collection name was “Gerard, Helen and Seymour.” Two photographs and two personal items have been added. Letter transcription been reviewed and any errors found corrected. The Collection Description has been revised and expanded.]

Giacomelli, Ferruccio Joseph (Fritz)

Ferruccio Joseph (Fritz) Giacomelli was born in Hamilton, Ontario in November, 1920. He trained in Canada as an Air Observer before going to England in April, 1942, flying with the 149 Squadron and later the 419 Squadron. Giacomelli returned to Canada at the end of the war, and died in 1981. The collection currently consists of four letters and several photographs.

Gibson, Gordon Lloyd

Gordon Lloyd Gibson enlisted with the RCAF in 1942 at the age of twenty two. In 1944 he was flying with RAF 268 Squadron and flew thirty seven tactical missions between May and August 1944. Gibson returned to Canada at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of one letter which describes the D-Day invasion from the perspective of a pilot.

Gibson, James

James Gibson was from Irving's Landing, British Columbia. He served as a Pilot Officer with the 425 Squadron RCAF. He died July 29, 1944 and is commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial in The United Kingdom. The collection consists of one airgraph home to his father, one group photograph, a birth certificate and several condolence messages regarding Gibson's death.

External links:
Pilot Officer James Gibson’s service record (Serv/Reg# J90957) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Gibson can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.