Tribute 2014 v2.0.cdr - De La Salle History Home

De La Salle Cadets and the
Two World Wars Murt Howell
June 6, 2014 - Ceremony Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy
Text and casualty list updated and grave and cemetery
photos added to the Memorial section April 2014
Note: Grave/Cemetery photos are the copyright of the individuals or organizations noted.
A Tribute
To Courage
First edition presented to
Brother Dominic Viggiani, FSC
Principal of De La Salle Oaklands
October 29, 2005
On behalf of the members of
De La Salle Oakland Crusaders Alumni
Revised and expanded in 2006
Second edition presented to the students of
De La Salle Oaklands
November, 2006
through the generous financial support of
Pat Sullivan and Don Buckley
Current (Web) edition revised March 2014 to include missed
casualties from the Second World War, include additional text
and add grave and cemetery photos.
2014 Casualty additions marked...
De La Salle Cadets and the
Two World Wars Murt Howell
A Tribute
To Courage
For those of us from the 50s, 60s and 70s, our connection is solely to the band or drum corps - a purely musical activity for the
purpose of entertaining and/or competing. But for the boys of the 40s (and all the way back to1903) the connection was quite
different, for the roots of this organization lie firmly in the highly successful and extremely proficient army cadet corps that
existed for 45 years. Throughout its history, the cadet corps had the unique distinction among Toronto high schools of having
nearly every member of the student body involved in the activity. The photo from May 1912 that we are all so familiar with, is for
the most part a snapshot of all the Del students from that year - just a few short years before the start of that horrendous First
War. In the mid-thirties (again only a few years before the start of another world war) the school had 250 students, of which 230
were cadets (including the Band). And at the war’s end in 1945, the Corps had 250 cadets, with 110 of them Band members.
Although the Band became a distinct entity because of its entertainment value, it was just
one aspect of the cadet corps. The public and the press made no distinction, and neither did
the members. Often when the band was to perform at some event, they were simply
advertised in the papers as the De La Salle Cadets.
Although the band members saw themselves as a special breed within the cadet
corps (witnessed by the specific reference to the band in the news reports
during the war) they were first and foremost De La Salle Cadets. So it is in that
vein that we pay tribute to all those former students - in nearly all cases cadets, in
many cases band members, but in every case, young men who saw their duty
clearly, regardless of the consequences.
The Cap Badge worn by the cadets
and band between 1928 and the
white uniforms of 1960
3
There are no actual figures as to how many former students enlisted during
either war. One unofficial report by the school at the end of the First World War states that 283 former students
enlisted, of whom 28 died. It has been reported that during the Second War years, 226 Del students left their desks
and volunteered for overseas duty. Together with all those students from the 20s and 30s already enlisted in the
services, the number must have been substantial. However, the death toll this time was even greater, with
approximately 85 alumnus and one teacher never returning. In total, 26 former students from both wars have no
known grave - to those especially, this tribute is dedicated.
If there is one common reaction of people today when looking at photos of soldiers from either of those wars, it is how young they
all seem. And it’s true, for the most part they were young - very young. At an age when we were still active in Junior drum corps, or at
most just getting established in our adult lives, many of these “boys” were dying in the mud of Flanders, charging across France in
tanks, or dropping thousand pound bombs on Germany while flak exploded all about them. Could any of us imagine doing that
when we were 19, 20 or 21?
Not all of them were so young of course. Some had begun to establish themselves in business and the professions, and what they
thought to be the rest of their lives; were married; had children. They were under no obligation to go to war, and probably had every
reason not to, but yet they went. During the First War it was mainly a sense of obligation to stand shoulder to shoulder with King
and Empire; in the Second they were driven by conscience to halt the Nazi scourge sweeping the world.
Siblings
A recurring theme throughout Del's history has been the family connection: sons, nephews, cousins, and in particular brothers, either participating at the same time or following in each other’s footsteps. One typical pair of brothers is
William and Charles Byrne. Both were De La Salle cadets, and Charlie was also in the band. Both enlisted, one before
the war and the other because of it. One survived, one didn't. You’ve probably never heard of either of them unless you’re a Sullivan, because they are the uncles of Pat, Chub and Rick. Looking at the photo of Charlie Byrne
taken in 1933, it’s hard to imagine that ten years later he would be a corporal in the Army Service Corps in the
middle of a war. Charlie survived, and settled down to raise a family of three girls and a boy. His brother Bill
(older by two years) was not so fortunate. A third and youngest brother Frank, who went to St. Mike’s, joined
the Artillery and also survived the war.
Cpl. William Byrne
just prior to the war
Being a cadet must have made a great impression on Bill Byrne, because he joined the Royal Canadian
Regiment right out of school in 1936. Being a member of the peace-time regular army put Bill in a position
of seniority when war finally came, ultimately attaining the rank of Company Sergeant Major (Warrant
Officer II). The disadvantage of course, is that you are also the first into the
thick of it, and Bill headed overseas in December 1939 with what there was of
Canada’s small full-time Army.
With the fall of France and the calamity at Dunkirk, the regiment had to be
evacuated
from Brest without being able to aid the French, so he returned to
Charles Byrne, 1933
De La Salle Band England as an instructor in the new army being built for the ultimate invasion of the
Continent. He managed to find time to get married to an English girl in April 1943,
and they would have a daughter, but once again the war intervened.
The regiment, with the rest of the 1st Canadian Division was soon transferred to
North Africa as part of the British 8th Army (the famous Desert Rats) in the buildup to
the invasion of Sicily.
Christmas card sent to the Sullivans
Charles Byrne
during the war
4
Bill was with the first Canadians to land in Sicily, followed by the push into Italy. In the by Bill Byrne in November 1943
Christmas card sent to the Sullivans in November ‘43, he remarks about the card being
a bit unusual, all the more so because it was bought in North Africa and mailed from Italy. There is also the hint that he had been
wounded, but was once again fit and hoping to be back with his unit. But it was just over a month later in the fierce fighting for
Ortona, that he died on December 18, 1943 at the age of 27. He was laid to rest in the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery, Italy
with over 1600 other casualties of that campaign. In December 1943 alone, the 1st Canadian Division suffered over 500 battle fatalities.
There were at least five other brother combinations that participated in the Second World War - all with the Air Force and all
making great sacrifices.
Don Phelan
Donegan and Jerome Phelan were two of six Phelan brothers in the services. Donnie (20) an RCAF flying instructor, was killed
in a training accident at Uplands (Ottawa) in May 1941. Six months earlier he landed a plane on one wheel, with only minor
damage to the aircraft. Former Cadet Colonel Jerome, a navigator attached to the RAF, was killed in Egypt in 1942. Their
grandfather T. P. Phelan, was a major contributor to the creation of the Blue & Gold Band in 1928, and together with Senator
O’Connor and A. M. Orpen provided the financial backing for acquiring the Oaklands property in 1931.
The three Pearson brothers - Harry, Jack and Fred were all former St. Monica’s and Del students and bomber
pilots. Harry (30) was on his way to join his squadron in Britain in April 1943 when a U-Boat sank the ship he
was travelling on. A year later, Jack (30) was killed on a mission over Germany, leaving Fred to fight on alone.
Although Thomas and Frank Scandiffio where both in the RCAF, they were assigned to other allied air forces.
Fred, Jack & Harry Pearson
Thomas, a noted athlete at UofT, had just finished his law exams before going overseas. He was the navigator
on a Wellington Bomber attached to Australian Squadron in North Africa that failed to return from a mission in 1944. He had
previously seen action with costal command out of Northern Ireland and then Malta. He is commemorated on the Alamein
Memorial, Egypt. His younger brother (and bandsman) Frank was a fighter pilot attached to an RAF Squadron operating in the
Far East when he died. He is buried in the Delhi War Cemetery, India.
Thomas Scandiffio
Frank Scandiffio
Frank Warr
Five members of the Vale family enlisted in the RCAF - four brothers and a sister. Ted (21) a Del bugler, first
enlisted in the Royal Regiment two days after war was declared, when he was 18, but was too young to go overseas
when his unit left. So he transferred to the Air Force, was commissioned in November ‘41 and went overseas in
March ‘42. In August that year he was back to ferry Catalina bombers to England and had only returned to normal
duty a week when his plane went down off the coast of Spain in September ‘42. Who knows, but had he stayed
with the Royal Regiment, he might very well have died a month earlier at Dieppe with William Thornbury (19) or
ended up a prisoner with John Elliott and G. H. D. Bryson. Then again, he might have made it back to England like
David Schrier, and lived to fight another day. Ted Vale’s older brother Dick (27) was lost in a raid over Nuremberg
in March ‘45. Another brother Peter was in the same squadron as Dick, and took part in the same mission.
And then there’s Frank and Bert Warr. Poets are by nature reluctant warriors, especially so in the case of one so ironically named
Warr. Bertram James Warr was a restless soul with a yearning to see and learn, but lacked the funds to do so. Working his way to
Halifax with a friend, they stowed away on a ship heading for Britain on Christmas Eve 1938, but were discovered the next day.
The captain put them to work as stewards, but arranged for their entry into England. Bert worked part-time while studying
poetry at the University of London, until the war intervened. He had been a Fire Watcher and Air Raid Warden, but in the
summer of '41 was conscripted and joined the RAF and the crew of a Halifax bomber as bomb aimer. He continued to write
throughout this period, and despite his youth, began to attract attention within poetry circles. Here is an example.
the heart to carry on
Every morning from this home
I go to the aerodrome.
And at evening I return
Save when work is to be done.
Then we share the separate night
Half a continent apart.
5
Ted & Dick Vale
Many endure worse than we:
Division means by years and seas.
Home and lover are contained,
Even cursed within their breast.
Leaving you now, with this kiss
May your sleep tonight be blest,
Shielded from the heart's alarms
Until morning I return.
Pray tomorrow I may be
Close, my love, within these arms,
And not lie dead in Germany.
Bert Warr died during the first thousand plane raid over Essen, Germany on April 3, 1943 and is buried at Rheinberg War
Cemetery. His older brother Frank (Edward Francis) who had worked for National Trust while studying accounting at UofT,
was navigator on a Wellington bomber in the RCAF and died six months later in the Mediterranean theatre. He has no known
grave and is honoured on the Malta Memorial. Their father, Bertram H. Warr was a poet in his own right, and the Star published
his poems on the editorial page throughout the war years.
Chester and William Commins
Frank Hall
Thomas
McAneney
Two brothers each from the Commins and Defoe families died during the First War. William (26) and Chester
Commins (24) had more in common than just being brothers - both had been members of the Del band, both were
given field promotions to Captain (in different regiments), each won the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry
under fire, and they died within two months of each other. They were both also outstanding athletes with Del and
the Balmy Beach Club, back when the Grey Cup was competed for by amateur rugby teams such as Balmy Beach,
UofT and the Argonaut Rowing Club. A third brother was doing pilot training when the war ended.
Two of the three Defoe brothers - Vincent (20) and Gus (24) were killed, and Frederick was seriously wounded. Fred
had been a Del cadet, and prior to the war worked for a Toronto architectural firm. Vincent was about to start Law at UofT, but
enlisted in the University Company of the Princess Pat’s instead. He had been a Captain in the
cadet corps, a member of the band, and a member of the cadet squad that won the Empire
Championship in 1913. He worked for the Treasury Department at City Hall during his
holidays. Gus was a draftsman with the city roads department. His name (along with all the
other city employees) is inscribed on the bronze plaque inside the main entrance of Old City
Hall. Both brothers are also commemorated with a stained glass window in the Newman
Chapel, UofT. Their sister Grace, married David Balfour, and was the mother of Ron,
mentioned below.
Vincent, Frederick and Gus Defoe
Eternal Rest
Since most Canadians were active in the European war zones, we naturally find former students buried in
cemeteries throughout the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy and Germany. But they
are also found in some unlikely places, such as Frank Hall (25) in Corsica, Jerome Phelan in Egypt, Maurice
Fairall (23), Joseph Quinn (21) and Donald Ross (19) in Denmark, Thomas McAneney (24) in Hungary, Frank
McGarry (25) in Ireland and Frank Scandiffio in India.
Maurice Fairall
The Military
Cross
Donald Ross
Just a few sections over from Bill Byrne in the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery lies another Del grad and
band member, Ron Balfour (25) - killed 13 days later on December 31, 1943. Ron was the son of David Balfour, who spent a
large part of his life in public service as Trustee, Alderman, Controller and acting Mayor, and was himself a Del graduate,
officer in the cadet corp and president of the Alumni. Ron transferred out of an elite cavalry regiment - The Governor
General’s Horse Guards, to get into action with the 48th Highlanders, and paid the ultimate price less than a week after
landing in Italy. Also in Italy (at Montecchio) are John Cuthbert (21) and Morgan Murphy (21).
Ron Balfour
Bruce Bell
6
There are a number of similar cases of former students buried in the same cemeteries. Bruce Bell (28), Jerry Scanlan (32) and
David Seitz (21) are buried in Brettevile-sur-Laize, France. At Beny-sur-Mer (in the aftermath of D-Day) - Murray
Fitzpatrick (24) and Maurice Quinlan (27). Fitzpatrick, a Lieutenant in the Sherbrooke Fusiliers Armoured Regiment, was
Mentioned in Dipatches for Gallantry.
Art Carty
Russel
Weiler
Art Carty (26), John Flood (22), Gordon Langevin (21), Bill MacMillan (19) and John McGovern (22) are in Brookwood
Military Cemetery, UK. At the Kiel Military Cemetery, Germany, are Phil Budd (22), Charles Gowen (21) and Frederick
Roddy (29); at Durnbach, Jack Pearson (30) and Dick Vale (27) and at Berlin, David McKerry (19), Harry Went (24) and
Victor Wintzer (24). James Hyland (21) and Russel Weiler (28) both members of the Algonquin Regiment, and D’Arcy
Shaughnessy (20) of the 1st Hussars, are buried in Holten, The Netherlands.
By comparison, some of these fellows might seem a bit old for war, but it shows just how committed they were to the
struggle that they gave up careers - Bruce Bell was in the steel industry, Scanlan worked for the Income Tax Department and
Carty was an insurance agent for Dominion and Imperial Life. Weiler switched to the Algonquins after going to Europe in
‘44, but had been in the Medical Corps since early ‘42 and had previously served in Kiska, Alaska.
Another senior grad was Captain John Murdoch (36) of the Artillery who lost his life during the battle for the Scheldt
estuary. He had rowed with the Argonaut Eight at Henley in England and at the Amsterdam Olympics.
Much closer to home are the final resting places of seven former students, who for the most part never had the chance to
confront the foe. Sylvester Nightingale (22) is just one of a number of Del boys buried at Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto,
as is Hugh Barker O’Leary (25), another Cadet Pilot from the First War killed during training that last summer. Eugene St.
Denis (28) is buried at St. Michael’s, just off Yonge Street, and Cecil O’Neill (at 18, the youngest Del casualty from the First
War) is buried in Newmarket. He was too young for the Army when he finished school, and so attached himself to the
Army Medical Corps as a volunteer stenographer, enlisted the moment he was old enough and rose quickly to the rank of
Sergeant. But illness struck him severely, and within three months he was dead. The Star, in reporting on his death said...
West Toronto has lost one of its brightest and highly respected young citizens...his youth was responsible for the non-fulfilment of his oft-expressed
desire to go overseas, but the exceptionally clever discharge of his clerical duties afforded him a splendid opportunity to render excellent
military service on this side of the Atlantic. He must have been a remarkable young man.
Donald Byrne
7
D’Arcy
Shaughnessy
John Murdoch
From the Second World War, and also buried at Mount Hope are: Tommy Alexander (24), Donald Byrne (18),
Gordon Loyer (18) and Donnie Phelan (20). Donald Byrne had won the General Proficiency Medal at Del and had
already trained at a number of bases when he was killed in a mid-air collision during a solo night flying exercise. It was
a bad time for the Air Force, with a total of seven killed in training that day.
A number of former students listed here also had connections to other schools, and are rightfully commemorated on
their Honour Rolls as well. The majority attended Del for most of their high school years and then took special
courses or matriculated at a public school, but a few did the opposite. Tommy Alexander attended Trinity College
School in Port Hope from 1936 to 39, but did his last year at Del. (There is more about Tommy on page 10.)
Gordon Loyer
J.J. Flood
Cecil O’Neill
George (Mac) Sinclair was an outstanding athlete, which makes one wonder if perhaps he was recruited by Del. He was quarterback of the Central Commerce team that won the 1939 junior championship, played three seasons for the Ramblers hockey
team, and for Del in 1942-43. Even the war couldn’t stop him. He was captain of the RCAF softball team at Trenton and
MacDonald (Manitoba), and organized an RCAF station hockey team after getting to Britain. He joined the Air Force in March
1943, and just over a year later he was dead at the age of 20.
D. McGarity
Known Unto God
Of greatest sadness for the families are those that were never found and have no known grave, and it happened in both wars.
In the First, they were mainly infantry, due to the nature of trench warfare and devastating bombardment; in the Second,
they were mostly Aircrew members of Bomber Command.
Five Del grads died in Belgium during the First World War, but were never identified: Thomas Carmody (20), Gus Defoe
(24), Daniel McGarity (20), Charles Pitts (25) and Arthur Riordan (24). Their names are inscribed on the Menin Gate
Memorial in Ypres, Belgium. No one is immune in war, not even ambulance drivers. Charles Pitts had been a Staff-Sgt
with the 10th Ambulance in the peace-time militia, but reverted to private so as to enlist for overseas in August 1914 and survived less than a year. He had been an inspector with the City of Toronto and is commemorated on the plaque
inside the front doors of Old City Hall, along with Gus Defoe.
The Military
Medal
Capt. Arthur
Leonard, MD
Arthur Bell
8
Edward Case (21), Alphonso Kelly (20) and George Moore (23, who won the Military Medal for bravery) have their
names inscribed on the Vimy Memorial, along with the names of 11,282 other Canadians killed in France during the
Great War and who have no known grave. Sgt. Moore died performing another act of bravery, when he crawled out
into the killing zone in order to contact some of his men and guide them back to the trenches. Leadership must have
been a family trait, as both his brothers were overseas and also sergeants.
Charles Pitts
Sgt. George Moore, MM
Dr. Arthur Leonard (29) is listed on the Halifax Memorial, since he died at sea. He was a Captain in the Medical Corps
aboard the hospital ship Llandovery Castle, which was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland in 1918 while
heading back to Europe. Everyone made it to the lifeboats, but the medical staff was never seen again and presumed to
have drowned in the rough seas. (They were actually machine-gunned by the Germans in an attempt to conceal what
was in fact a war crime.) Such is the irony of war, that Art served in France from November 1915 - first as medical
officer with the Field Artillery and then with the 2nd Field Ambulance, and survived the battles of the Somme, Vimy
and Hill 70, only to die aboard a hospital ship. Typical of so many young men of that time, he was very involved in
amateur sport and was a well-known athlete in the Toronto area. While at UofT he had been a key member of the
Varsity Team that beat the Hamilton Tigers for the Grey Cup in 1910. Prior to the war he had been with the Hospital for
Sick Children
There are six Del Alumnus from the Second War also listed on the Halifax Memorial. Arthur Bell (28) was with the
Army Service Corps in St. John’s, Newfoundland, when fire swept through the K of C recreation centre, taking the lives
of 100 people, many of whom could not be identified. His wife had airline reservations to join him the following week.
Halifax Memorial
Jack Byrne (22) joined the Navy, which was rare for a Del boy. What is stranger though is the circumstance of his
death and of those that perished with him. Military officials led the families to believe that as a result of some
malfunction, their MTB exploded and there were only three fatalities, but never found. In fact, 36 Royal Navy and
26 RCN died and 13 boats were destroyed at Ostend Harbour on February 14, 1945 as a result of human error.
Jack had previously been ‘Mentioned in Dispatches’ for gallantry, which is in fact an award - and most fittingly, an
Oak Leaf to be attached to the campaign medal.
Jack Byrne
Paddy Durkin
Bud Gallagher
Petty Officer
John Sheflin
Also listed on the Halifax Memorial are Joseph Dwyer (35), John Sheflin (26) and Robert Edwards (19). Dwyer Joseph Dwyer
was a Lieutenant on the destroyer HMCS Iroquois, but a passenger on HMS Veteran when torpedoed and sunk by
U-404. He had spent his working life in the newspaper business. From 1928 until enlisting in the Navy, he had been Sports
Editor for the Edmonton Journal. John Sheflin died in the sinking of the patrol vessel Raccoon by U-165. Robert Edwards
had been in the Corps of Military Staff Clerks for a year before getting the chance to go overseas; the ship he was on was
torpedoed by U-552 and never made it to England.
The oldest Del casualty, and also honoured on the Halifax Memorial, is Leo Murphy (41), who had been in the Merchant
Navy most of his adult life. He died when the Montrolite was sunk northeast of Bermuda by U-109. Harry Pearson, who
was mentioned earlier and also died as a result of a U-Boat attack, is commemorated on the Ottawa Memorial . He died as a
passenger aboard Amerika with 85 others when torpedoed by U-306 south of Greenland.
The largest and most impressive memorial from the Second World War is at Runnymede, England. It
commemorates the more than 116,000 men and women of the Commonwealth Air Forces who lost their lives more than 17,000 of them Canadians. The memorial lists by name the 3,050 Canadian Airmen that have no
known grave. At least eight of those went to De La Salle: Howard Bishop (23), Paddy Durkin (22), Bud
Gallagher (23), Joseph Gelinas (21), Norm Jodrell (19), Gerald Overend (22), Jack Russell (24) and Ted Vale
(21).
Joseph Gelinas
Robert Edwards
Leo Murphy
Norm Jodrell
Yanks
A number of Del grads served in the American Forces - some were Canadians attending university there at the time of Pearl
Harbor; others were Americans who grew up in Toronto but returned home to serve. Orrin Bowland completed his studies in
aeronautics in Chicago and then enlisted in the USAAF (winning the DFC among other awards). He married a girl from Des
Plaines and settled in the States after the war. William Fisher was also an officer in the USAAF. Leo Fitzpatrick and his older
brother were officers in the US Navy, and his younger brother was in the US Army. John McLogan had lived here since he was
two months old but felt compelled to enlist in the US Infantry. And Anthony McDonald was born and raised in Toronto but
joined the US Merchant Marine, and experienced first-hand drifting around the Atlantic in a life raft for 48 hours.
The Commins brothers (who died in the First War) were born in Syracuse but were captains in the Canadian Army. John Sheflin
was born in Rochester, but moved to Toronto when he was six. He served with the RCN and died when Raccoon was torpedoed.
Lawrence
Leonard
Lawrence Leonard came to Toronto as a child from Detroit. After graduating from Del (where he had been very active in the
cadet corps), he attended Notre Dame and then studied engineering for a year at Princeton before enlisting in the US Army as a
private. He died in Holland in 1944, but is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His brother William was a Captain in the Irish
Regiment of Canada.
9th US Army
9
Staff-Sgt. Thomas F. O’Brien (wounded on the push to Rome)and Private John Francis Boyle (wounded earlier that year)served
in what has to be the most unusual formation of the war - the joint U S-Canada 1st Special Service Force (also known as the
Devil’s Brigade) - the forerunner of all the Special Forces units in the world today.
T. F. O’Brien
The Most Tragic Irony
There is never a good time to die, but death in war always seems more tragic when a person has come so close to surviving - be it a
month, a week, a day, or an hour.
During the First War, Chester and William Commins came within a month and two months of surviving. Walter Brooks (25)
was only a month at the front when his plane was shot down a month before the war ended. Former band member Sylvester
Nightingale was a week away from receiving his commission, but was never-the-less demonstrating advanced aerobatics, when
engine failure caused his fighter plane to crash into Lake Ontario near Beamsville - two months before the end. Or Eugene St.
Denis who died just three days before the Armistice. And then there is Captain Frank Crummey (19) flying with the Royal Air
Force, who survived the air war on the Western Front only to die of pneumonia nine days after it was all over.
Sy Nightingale’s
grave at Mount
Hope Cemetery
St. Denis’s
grave at Saint
Michael’s
Captain Thomas
Alexander, MBE
10
The MBE
Frank Crummey
Not every soldier was a volunteer; and not all Del Grads rushed to join the colours. But as the war that was supposed to be over by
Christmas turned into the War to end all Wars, conscription was the only way to meet the devastating losses. Eugene St. Denis was
one of those drafted, and with only ten months remaining in the war, he never made it out of the Barracks at the CNE
grounds except to die in hospital. Eugene is perhaps an indication of how desperate the Government was getting. He was
already 28 when drafted and was missing one toe, with two others badly mutilated as a result of trying to catch a Streetcar in
Richmond Hill while carrying a loaded shotgun: if you could walk, you were in. Fifteen years earlier on December 21, 1903,
the Star published a report on a Christmas concert at De La Salle which is (so far) the earliest reference to the De La Salle
Cadets. David Balfour (father of Ron) was one of the officers, and Eugene St. Denis performed a violin solo of Ave Maria.
He is buried at St. Michael’s (just up Yonge Street from Oaklands) and is commemorated on the plaque outside St. Paul’s Plaque at St. Paul’s
(Power Street) along with 80 other members of the parish, including Arthur Hare (23).
For Canadians (as well as the Dutch) the Second World War ended in northwest Europe on May 5/45 with the surrender of the
German army to the 1st Canadian Corps. But in the days and weeks prior to that, Del grads continued to die: Richard Hennessy
and Dick Vale, both in the Air Force in mid-March; James Hyland, D’Arcy Shaughnessy and Russel Weiler from the Army, in
mid- to late-April. And then there’s Army Captain Thomas Alexander and Navy Pilot Frank McGarry, who survived the
hostilities, but not the peace. By the way, four years earlier 16 year old D’Arcy Shaughnessy won honors in nine subjects at Del
and ranked first for two of the senior awards. War has a way of destroying the best and the brightest.
Tommy Alexander packed more excitement into 24 years than most could in a life time. In fact, he experienced more adventures
in his few adult years than any of us ever could. Tommy was a Captain in the Algonquin Regiment, but because of their lack of
experience the regiment was sent to do garrison duties in Newfoundland while continuing their training. It was while there
in1942 that a sentry loading his weapon accidentally set off a huge store of dynamite, completely levelling the camp, killing five
and seriously injuring eleven others. It was the prompt action by Tommy Alexander, and without regard for his own safety, that
saved others from certain death, for which he was awarded the MBE (Member of The Order of the British Empire).
The regiment eventually made it to Normandy in July 1944 and fought its way through France and into Belgium. In September,
Captain Alexander with the men in his Bren Carrier patrol attempted to silence a machine gun that was impeding their advance
on the Leopold Canal, but the enemy got the advantage. Two were killed, five were wounded and taken captive, and only three
escaped. Alexander was struck three times, two of the bullets lodging in him - one in the neck and the other in the side. He
ordered his men to withdraw and find safety, while he provided covering fire, because there was no way he was about to escape.
As a result, he spent the next seven months in a prisoner of war camp with those bullets still inside him. The fact that they were
there was more annoyance than painful, and he once walked eight miles to be X-Rayed, only to be assured by the Germans that
there was nothing to be concerned about.
Tommy’s POW camp was liberated in April ‘45, which gave him a chance to come home from the war early. He took a trip to
Algonquin Park and then returned to Toronto to have those bullets removed. But during what should have been a fairly routine
operation something went wrong, and Tommy’s heart stopped. It took a number of minutes to get his heart going again, but he
never regained consciousness. He died three weeks later. And so Tommy Alexander, a Captain in The Algonquin Regiment, an
MBE, wounded three times, a POW and a returned hero - all by the age of 24, was laid to rest in Mount Hope, Toronto. He is
referred to in the regimental history as the “youngster” in the (officer’s) mess, the ever-cheerful, ever-willing officer…his energetic and
courageous leadership of the (Bren) carrier platoon in the dash across France and Belgium, had hastened our advance immeasurably. His father had
been a medical officer with the 1st Battalion, Scots Guards during the First World War.
Frank McGarry
De La Salle
Cadets and
King George VI
1939
Captain
Lionel West
Lt. Frank McGarry was a pilot with the Canadian Navy, but attached to the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and patrolling
out of Northern Ireland. In a case reminiscent of Sy Nightingale near the end of the First War, McGarry’s plane also
had engine failure, resulting in his death during an emergency landing on September 8, 1945 - months after the
European war was over. And like Nightingale, he had also been a member of the Band. He is buried in County Down,
Ireland - the last (and hopefully the very last) Del casualty of war.
Weathering the Storm
In the years between the wars, Brother Arnold (at Bond) and Brother Rogation (at Oaklands) had to repeatedly defend the
existence of the Cadet Corps against charges of promoting militarism - at least according to some members of the school board.
Although the Cadets drilled and learned to fire weapons safely and accurately (a significantly large number of them wore the
Dominion Marksman badge) they also had an entertaining gymnastics team, a proficient signals group, and a qualified first aid
squad, not to mention their outstanding and famous Band. They won the Ellis Trophy from 1935 to 38, emblematic of the most
efficient cadet corps in Toronto. They won the military district Trophy in 1943 and the Company Challenge Cup in ‘44, ‘45 and
‘47.
The Brothers always argued that the principal purpose of the Cadets was to teach self-discipline and team
work, build confidence and develop leadership skills. They were probably right, because there is little evidence
of Del grads flocking to the military in the years between the wars. Bill Byrne was more the exception than the
rule. But there is plenty of evidence of how the cadet experience and the skills acquired, not only helped those
young men survive the coming war, but projected them into positions of leadership when it was needed most.
If we could take just one cadet as an example that best illustrates those qualities of leadership and selfconfidence, it would be Captain Lionel West of the Royal Canadian Engineers. Lionel was an outstanding
student, athlete and leader at Del - winning the general proficiency medal in 1934 and ‘36, receiving medals in
science and French in 1935 (and a second French medal in ‘36), captaining both the football and hockey teams,
as well as being the Cadet Colonel. He led the Corps to the Ellis Cup in 1936 and 1937, recognition as the most
efficient cadet corps in Toronto.
He landed on D-Day and fought in some of the fiercest battles in Normandy. Later, while leading his men
through Holland, they captured some prisoners, one of which indicated that there was a large contingent of
Germans up ahead that were probably ready to surrender. Lionel walked forward alone, turned the bend in the road
and surprised 98 Germans with their transport, which they could have easily used to escape.
11
Lionel West accepting
the Ellis Cup, 1936
As he told the Oaklands assembly in 1945: I nearly fainted with shock, but I was determined to bring them in, so I shouted in the best German I
could muster, that they were to lay down their arms and come with me. And they did. Now that takes courage and confidence. Lionel quickly
settled back into civilian life and was Chief Engineer for the Energy Branch of the Ontario Government at the time of his
sudden and un-timely death in 1973.
Wilfred Miron
Many former Del students performed great feats of courage and even heroics. Eight won the Distinguished Flying Cross - 3
with the RAF (F. Huntley, D. Smith and G. Lancey), 4 with RCAF (P. Walsh, J. McCarthy, J. Powers and L. Murphy) and 1 with the
USAAF (Orrin Bowland). There was also one Bronze Star and even a US Purple Heart. Pilot Officer Wilfred Miron of the
RCAF was attached to an American Squadron in North Africa and won the American Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters.
Orrin Bowland
USAAF
Squadron Leader George Lancey, DFC (former Del drummer) serving with the RAF was a member of the famous 617
Squadron - The Dambusters (of movie fame) and participated in the raid on Hitler's “Eagle's Nest” .
The DFC
Jimmy
Stephenson
Pilot Officer Joseph Gordon had a most unusual and lucky war. Bailing out of a burning aircraft over Libya, he was captured by
the Italians, but managed to escape with six other Canadians from the notorious Benghazi prison and head for the hills. After
two weeks on the lam, he was captured a second time, this time by Germans, and sent to a camp in northern Italy. While being
transported to Germany by train a short time later, he escaped and joined the Italian partisans, but was captured for the third
time near Rome four months later by the Germans. After 14 days of captivity, he was being shipped to Germany, but escaped
once more when the train was destroyed by American bombers. Again he joined the partisans, until captured by the Germans for
the fourth time near Cassino four months after that. Finally, the Germans managed to get him into a POW camp in Germany,
but then that was overrun by the Russians, and he got to go home at last, all in one piece. If he had been American, they probably
would have made am movie about him.
Joseph Gordon
By the age of 22, Sergeant Jimmy Stephenson of the RCAF had so many close calls, escaping death by mere inches at least three
times, that he was called “Walking Spooks” by the guys in his Squadron. However his luck almost ran out on his 18th mission
over Germany in October 1941. Only two of the six man crew survived and they were very lucky to do so. Bailing out only 800
feet above ground, his chute took longer to open than normal but he landed in a vegetable patch. His mate wasn’t so lucky and
spent four months in hospital before joining Jimmy at Stalag Luft 3. He had been a member of the Band while at Del and a
member of the Governor-General’s Horse Guards when war broke out.
And last, but by no means least, Major Fred Tilston (Bond ‘23) of the Essex Scottish won the Victoria Cross, but lost both legs in
the process.
Fred led a bit of a charmed life. He enlisted as a private in the Essex Scottish because he was living in Windsor at
the time, and he just squeaked in under the maximum age limit. But because of his age, education and
management experience, he was sent to officer’s school, and was appointed Regimental Adjutant. His Drill
Sergeant claimed his marching was so atrocious, that it was just as well they made him an officer - so much for
his cadet training. However, Fred himself said he owed his ability with weapons to his cadet years, and after all
what good are marching skills when bullets are flying everywhere. He returned to the regiment from a training
course too late for the Raid on Dieppe in 1942, which is just as well. The Essex Scottish was decimated in that
attack. Of the 583 officers and men who landed on the beach, 530 were casualties (121 fatal) with 382 of them
taken prisoner. Only 51 managed to return to England, and half of those were wounded, so Fred helped
rebuild the regiment.
Capt/Acting Major Fred Tilston,
(Public Archives of Canada)
12
During training in England prior to the D-Day Invasion, he was hit in the back by a stray bullet, which went through his lung and
lodged in the muscle around the heart. When he finally got to France, his jeep was blown up by a mine near Falaise. (He would
loose an eye years later as a result of shrapnel from that blast.) Being Adjutant and part of the Headquarters group, he was
continually denied permission to get into the action, although as often happens in war, casualties create opportunities and Fred
at last got his chance in Germany. But as the old saying goes: be careful what you wish for.
In the Hochwald Forest, Germany, he was hit twice while leading his men - first by a bullet to the side of the head, second by
shrapnel in the hip, which knocked him right off his feet. He ordered everyone to keep going while he struggled to his feet and
continued to push the attack. Even though wounded, he made at least six trips across open ground and under machine gun fire to
visit and encourage his platoons, and deliver ammunition. He held off numerous counter attacks, finally charging a third line of
trenches and gaining the objective, although by then, C Company had suffered 75% casualties. The fighting was fierce and at
close range - often hand-to-hand. There were so many grenades being tossed back and forth, that one officer said that it was like
a snowball fight. On his final trip across open ground, a mortar round finally put him out of action - but not before turning over
command to the last remaining officer and issuing instructions for defending the position. By then he was barely conscious.
If all that wasn’t enough, Fred cheated death one more time. When retrieved from the shell hole by medics, he was
assumed to be dead because of his multiple wounds, mangled feet, and otherwise showing no signs of life. They
covered him with a blanket, awaiting burial, but luckily the Padre noticed movement. He was rushed to a field
hospital and then to England for surgery. The King pinned the Victoria Cross on him three months later at
Buckingham Palace. That was the one and only time Fred Tilston led men in battle.
Victoria Cross
Illustration of
Fred Tilston
by Sarif Tarabay
(Legion Magazine)
After a war with so much loss and sadness, people needed something to lift their spirits and Fred Tilston did just
that. His return to Toronto after a civic reception in Windsor (home of the Essex) was a major cause for
celebration. The parade from Union Station was made up entirely of war veterans, including the surviving
members of the Essex Scottish. (The Essex have the sad distinction of having had the highest number of
casualties in the Canadian Army during the war - 2500, with 550 of those dead.) The only non-veteran exception in
the parade was the De La Salle Cadets and Band, which as usual marched last. It was a nice touch that the parade
carried on out to the west end and along Helena Avenue past the house where Fred grew up (and where his two
sisters still lived) and all the neighbours gathered to welcome him home.
Brother Gabriel presents his
former student with a silver
tray donated by the students at
the ‘45 Oaklands graduation
Fred, who had been in pharmaceutical sales since graduating from UofT, returned to work exactly one year after his
injuries as Vice-President, Sales of the Sterling Drug Company in Windsor. He would later be its President and
then Chairman of the Board. In 1963 he became Honorary Colonel of his old regiment. The Armouries in Windsor are named
after him, as is the Royal Canadian Legion Branch in Aurora, where Sterling had moved its head office. Colonel Tilston VC, died
in 1992 at the age of 86 and was laid to rest at Mount Hope, among so many other Del heros.
De La Salle Cadets and Band, 1932
13
In Memoriam
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.”
― Laurence Binyon
14
First World War
Walter James Brooks - Age 25
Lieutenant, Royal Air Force - 65th Squadron
October 9, 1918 - Termonde Communal Cemetery Extension (Grave 16), Belgium
Thomas James Carmody (#454146) - Age 20
Private, 28th Battalion (Saskatchewan Regiment)
June 6, 1916 - (Grave Unknown) Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial (Panel 18-26-28), Belgium
(Photo by
Johan Moors)
Termonde (Johan Moors)
Edward Henry Case (#487297) - Age 21
Private, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regiment)
April 26, 1917 - (Grave Unknown) Vimy Memorial, France
Chester Francis Commins, Military Cross with Bar - Age 24
Captain, 1st Battalion (Western Ontario Regiment), Canadian Infantry
October 1, 1918 - Sancourt British Cemetery (I C 8), Nord, France
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
William Kennedy (Bill) Commins, Military Cross - Age 26
Captain, 75th Battalion (Central Ontario Regiment), Canadian Infantry
August 9, 1918 - Beaucourt British Cemetery (B 27), Somme, France
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Vimy Memorial (CWGC)
Sancourt British
Cemetery (CWGC)
Menin Gate, Ypres (CWGC)
Beaucourt British
Cemetery (CWGC)
Francis Cyprian Crummey - Age 19
Captain, Royal Air Force - 27th Squadron
November 20, 1918 - St. Sever Cemetery Extension (S V I 4), France
Vincent Laurent Defoe (#475820) - Age 20
St. Sever Cemetery Extension (CWGC)
Private, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
Albert Communal
September 17, 1916 - Albert Communal Cemetery Extension (I O 32), Somme, France
Cemetery Extension (CWGC)
(Member of the De La Salle Band & Captain of the Cadet Corps)
William Augustus Defoe (#109119) - Age 24
Private, 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles (2nd Central Ontario Regt.)
June 2, 1916 - (Grave Unknown) Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial (Panel 30 & 32), Belgium
Photo by Operation: Picture Me
Arthur Clarke Dissette, Croix de Guerre (France) - Age 31
Flight Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Naval Air Service
June 2, 1917 - Mendinghem Military Cemetery (I D 2), Belgium
Menin Gate, Ypres (CWGC)
Mendinghem Military Cemeter
(Johan Moors)
15
Ray Michael Dwyer (#451405) - Age 26
Private, 58th Battalion (Central Ontario Regiment), Canadian Infantry
September 20, 1916 - Courcelette British Cemetery (VII F 28), Somme, France
(Photo - Operation: Picture Me )
Arthur Joseph Hare (#3233379) - Age 23
Gunner, Canadian Field Artillery
October 10, 1918 - Grayshott (St. Joseph) R. C. Cemetery (B 05),
Hampshire, UK
Courcelette British Cemetery ( CWGC)
Plaque at St. Paul’s
(James Henson,
Village of Grayshott
Archive)
Alphonse Patrick Kelly (#139125) - Age 20
Private, 75th Battalion (Central Ontario Regiment), Canadian Infantry
November 18, 1916 - (Grave Unknown) Vimy Memorial, France
(Photo: Ramara Historical Society)
(Photo: Labattblueboy)
Dr. Arthur Vincent Leonard - Age 29
Captain, Canadian Army Medical Corps, Llandovery Castle Hospital Ship
June 27, 1918 - (Grave Unknown) Halifax Memorial (Panel 2), Nova Scotia
(Died when the Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle was torpedoed and life boats machine-gunned by U-86.)
Daniel Patrick McGarity (#117385) - Age 20
Private, 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles (British Columbia Regiment)
June 2, 1916 - (Grave Unknown) Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial
(Panel 30 & 32), Belgium
George Herbert Moore, (#172243) Military Medal - Age 23
Sergeant, 2nd Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment)
August 30, 1918 - (Grave Unknown) Vimy Memorial, France
Halifax Memorial
Menin Gate, Ypres (CWGC)
Vimy Memorial (CWGC)
Frederick Lawrence Murphy (#453089) - Age 27
Lance Corporal, 58th Battalion (Central Ontario Regiment), Canadian Infantry
August 8, 1918 - Hourges Orchard Cemetery, Domart-sur-La-Luce (B 7), Somme, France
Sylvester Nightingale (#153324) - Age 22
Cadet, Royal Air Force
September 24, 1918 - Mount Hope Cemetery (Sec 3, Lot 367), Toronto
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Hugh Barker O’Leary (#152558) - Age 25
Cadet, Royal Air Force
May 6, 1918 - Mount Hope Cemetery (Sec. 3. Lot 155), Toronto
16
Hourges Orchard Cemetery
(CWGC)
Cecil O’Neill - Age 18
Sergeant, Canadian Army Medical Corps
October 29, 1917 - St. John’s R. C. Cemetery, Newmarket Ontario
Charles Lewis Pitts (#33152) - Age 25
Private, 2nd Field Ambulance, Canadian Army Medical Corps
April 23, 1915 - (Grave Unknown) Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial (Panel
32), Belgium
(Craig Cameron)
Gordon William Quinn (#514393) - Age 22
Private, Canadian Army Service Corps
September 28, 1918 - Sains-Les-Marquion British Cemetery (I A 2), France
Menin Gate, Ypres (CWGC)
Arthur John Riordan (#231023) - Age 24
Private, 10th Battalion (Alberta Regiment), Canadian Infantry
November 11, 1917 - (Grave Unknown) Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial
(Panel 24, 28, 30), Belgium
(Photo - Operation: Picture Me)
Harold Alphonse Smith (#349023) - Age 25
Driver, 1st Division Ammunition Column, Canadian Field Artillery
September 5, 1918 - Honourable Artillery Company Cemetery (VI F 15),
Ecoust-St. Mein, Pas de Calais, France
Honourable Artillery Company
Cemetery (International Wargraves
Photographic Project)
Sains-Les-Marquion
British Cemetery (CWGC)
Eugene St. Denis (#3034015) - Age 28
Private, Central Ontario Regiment, Canadian Infantry
November 8, 1918 - St. Michael’s R. C. Cemetery (Plot 102, South George), Toronto
Reported to have died, but no references as to when or where:
Tom Lundy and Ted McNab (Band Members); James Mathews and William Swainson.
Eugene St. Denis’s
grave at Saint Michael’s
De La Salle Cadets - 1913
17
Second World War
Thomas Laird (Tommy) Alexander, MBE - Age 24
Captain, Algonquin Regiment
August 26, 1945 - Mount Hope Cemetery (Sec. 20, Lot 140), Toronto
Ronald Edward Balfour (B/69564) - Age 25
Private, 48th Highlanders of Canada
December 31, 1943 - Moro River Canadian War Cemetery (V B 7), Italy
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Moro River Canadian
War Cemetery (CWGC)
(Margaret Rose)
Frank J. Belanger (R/91319) - Age 28
Warrant Officer Class II, Royal Canadian Air Force - 101 (RAF) Squadron
January 31, 1943 - Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery (Plot 69, Row C, Coll. grave
3), Netherlands
(Pieter Schlebaum,
The Netherlands)
Arthur Gordon Bell (B/3616) - Age 28
Lance Corporal, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps
December 12, 1942 - (Grave Unknown - St. John’s Nld. )
Halifax Memorial (Panel 16)
Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery (CWGC)
Bruce Terence Bell (B/147626) - Age 28
Halifax Memorial
Trooper, Fort Garry Horse, 10th Armoured Regiment
August 14, 1944 - Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery (XXIV C 2),
Calvados, France
Ernest Howard Bishop (J/86577) - Age 23
Pilot Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force - 432 (Leaside) Squadron
July 29, 1944 - (Grave Unknown) Runnymede Memorial (Panel 249), UK
(Bugler with St. Mary’s - likely in the De La Salle Band)
Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian
War Cemetery (CWGC)
Runnymede Memorial (CWGC)
Lawrence Milbert Bowen (R/65785) - Age 26
Flight Sergeant (W. Op/Air Gnr.), Royal Canadian Air Force - 102 (RAF) Squadron
September 3, 1941 - Ipswich Cemetery (Sec. C, Div. 31, Grave 24), Suffolk, UK
Phil Clive Budd (J/6158) - Age 22
Pilot Officer, (Air Obs.) Royal Canadian Air Force - 149 (RAF) Squadron
April 27, 1942 - Kiel War Cemetery (1 H 2), Germany
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Donald Joseph Byrne (R/260022) - Age 18
Leading Aircraftman, Royal Canadian Air Force
February 24, 1944 - Mount Hope Cemetery (Range 35, Sec. 24, Lot 384), Toronto
18
(Geoffrey Gillon)
Ipswich Cemetery (CWGC)
Kiel War Cemetery (CWGC)
John Eugene (Jack) Byrne (V/49186), Mentioned in Dispatches for Gallantry - Age 22
Able Seaman, Royal Canadian Navy Vol. Reserve - MTB461
February 14, 1945 - (Grave Unknown) Halifax Memorial (Panel 13)
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
William Thomas Byrne (P/16442) - Age 27
Sgt. Major (WO II), Royal Canadian Regiment
December 18, 1943 - Moro River Canadian War Cemetery (II A 1), Italy
(Marianna Tucci)
John William Callinan (R/13873) - Age 22
Sergeant Pilot, Royal Canadian Air Force
March 7, 1943 - Cirencester Cemetery (Plot 5 RC, Row GGG, Grave 16), UK
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Arthur (Art) Carty (R/71548) - Age 26
Sergeant Pilot, Royal Canadian Air Force
June 5, 1941 - Brookwood Military Cemetery (31 F 7), UK
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Moro River Canadian
War Cemetery (CWGC)
(Owen D - The
Commonwealth Roll Of
Honour Project)
Halifax Memorial
(CWGC)
Cirencester Cemetery (CWGC)
(by Charlie)
John Terrance Costello (R/155334) See note below.
Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force - 166 (RAF) Squadron
October 22, 1943 - Hanover War Cemetery, Germany (11. C. 7.)
Brookwood Military Cemetery (CWGC)
Hanover War Cemetery (CWGC)
William Joseph Clarke (C/43687) - Age 23
Private, Algonquin Regiment
December 6, 1944 - Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery (8. G. 9), Netherlands
(Astrid)
Michael Costello (R/123094) - Age 32
Flight Sergeant (Air Bomber), Royal Canadian Air Force - 75 (RAF) Squadron
August 15, 1943 - Les Sables-D’Olonne (La Chaume) New Communal Cemetery, France
John Keeley Cuthbert (B/68527) - Age 21
Private, Irish Regiment of Canada
August 31, 1944 - Montecchio War Cemetery (I A 13), Italy
Bergen-Op-Zoom (CWGC)
Les Sables-D’Olonne (La Chaume)(CWGC)
Montecchio War Cemetery
Thomas Patrick D'Iasio (B/113485) - Age 22
(www.veterans.gc.ca)
Rifleman, Regina Rifle Regiment
February 27, 1945 - Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery (XVI. E. 15) Netherlands
Note: The only casualty record for anyone named Terrance Costello with the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission or the American Battle Monuments Commission is for John Terrance, son of Mr. and Mrs.
T. M. Costello, of Goderich, Ontario.
19
(Des Philippet)
Groesbeek Canadian War
Cemetery (CWGC)
James Patrick (Paddy) Durkin (J/88078) - Age 22
Pilot Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force - 424 Squadron
November 5, 1944 - (Grave Unknown) Runnymede Memorial (Panel 250), UK
Runnymede Memorial (CWGC)
Joseph Cannon Dwyer - Age 35
Lieutenant, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve - HMCS Iroquois
September 26, 1942 - (Grave Unknown) Halifax Memorial (Panel 8)
(Died as a passenger aboard HMS Veteran - torpedoed by U-404 west of Ireland)
Robert Allan Edwards (B/4226) - Age 19
Corporal, Corps of Military Staff Clerks
April 30, 1941 - (Grave Unknown) Halifax Memorial (Panel 14)
(Died as a passenger aboard Nerissa - torpedoed by U-552 north-west of Ireland.)
Maurice Elmer Fairall (J/94227) - Age 23
Pilot Officer, (Air Gnr.) Royal Canadian Air Force - 433 Squadron
August 17, 1944 - Bogo Churchyard (Joint Grave 2-60), Denmark
Halifax Memorial (CWGC)
(CWGC)
John Faragher (J/92617) - Age 20
Pilot Officer, (Air Gnr.) Royal Canadian Air Force - 431 Squadron
August 17, 1944 - Hamburg Cemetery (6A F 14), Germany
Hamburg Cemetery
(CWGC)
Murray Joseph Fitzpatrick, Mentioned in Dispatches for Gallantry - Age 24
Lieutenant, Sherbrooke Fusiliers, 27th Armoured Regt.
(K. Falconer &
July 8, 1944 - Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery (XI E 11), France
J. Stephens)
Beny-sur-Mer Canadian
War Cemetery (CWGC)
John James Flood (J/16092) - Age 22
Flight Lieutenant (W. Op/Air Gnr.), Royal Canadian Air Force - 428 Squadron
September 12, 1944 - Brookwood Military Cemetery (55 B 6), UK
Frank John (Bud) Gallagher (R/102761) - Age 23
Flight Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force
September 11, 1942 - (Grave Unknown) Runnymede Memorial (Panel 104), UK
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
(by Charlie)
Brookwood Military
Cemetery (CWGC)
Joseph Edward Gelinas (J/36589) - Age 21
Flying Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force - 434 Squadron
July 29, 1944 - (Grave Unknown) Runnymede Memorial (Panel 246), UK
Runnymede Memorial
(CWGC)
20
Francis Ormond Gilmore (J/25797) - Age 26
Flying Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force - 61 (RAF) Squadron
August 3, 1944 - Creil Communal Cemetery (Plot 2, Grave 356), France
Charles Gerard Gowen (R/71815) - Age 21
Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force 102 (RAF) Squadron
May 13, 1943 - Kiel War Cemetery (3 G 19), Germany
Simpson’s Memorial
with the names of the
Gilmore brothers
Creil Communal
Cemetery (by guy)
Austin Alexander Green (B/75943) - Age 38
Sergeant, Corps of Military Staff Clerks
April 9, 1944 - Caserta War Cemetery (VI A 12), Italy
Kiel War Cemetery
(www.kiel.de)
Caserta War Cemetery (CWGC)
John Richard Griffin (R/85633) - Age 24
Flight Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force - 7 (RAF) Squadron
July 13, 1942 - Buxton Cemetery (Grave 4185), Derbyshire, England
Francis William (Frank) Hall (J/12703) - Age 25
Flight Lieutenant, Royal Canadian Air Force
February 18, 1945 - Biguglia War Cemetery (1 B 3), Corsica
Buxton Cemetery
(Mike Berrell)
Biguglia War Cemetery (CWGC)
Norman John Patrick Hartney (J/10412) - Age 22
Flying Officer (Air Bomber), Royal Canadian Air Force - 90 (RAF) Squadron
February 16, 1943 - Blandford Cemetery (Grave 32), Dorset, UK
Hugh Richard John Hennessey (J/39288) - Age 33
Flying Officer (Nav), Royal Canadian Air Force - 419 (Moose) Squadron
March 16, 1945 - Nederweert War Cemetery (IV B 2), Netherlands
Blandford Cemetery
(CWGC)
(Des Philippet)
Nederweert War
Cemetery (CWGC)
Douglas Allen (Jack) Hogg (R/141441) - Age 22
Flight Sergeant (Air Gnr.), Royal Canadian Air Force - 432 (Leaside) Squadron
July 4, 1943 - Mauberge-Centre Cemetery (Row A, Grave 12), Nord, France
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Mauberge-Centre
Cemetery (CWGC)
Ivan Jerome Hughes (B/72746) - Age 35
Private, 48th Highlanders of Canada
January 9, 1944 - Bone War Cemetery (V. G. 13.) Algeria
Bone War Cemetery (CWGC)
(Robert Gallant)
James Earl Hyland (B/123577) -Age 21
Private, Algonquin Regiment
April 24, 1945 - Holten Canadian War Cemetery (VIII B 8), Netherlands
(photo Operation: Picture Me)
(International Wargraves
Photographic Project)
21
Holten Canadian War
Cemetery (CWGC)
Norman Francis Jodrell ((R/217129) - Age 19
Flight Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force - 78 Squadron
November 4, 1944 - (Grave Unknown) Runnymede Memorial (Panel 255), UK
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Runnymede Memorial
(by Aircrew Remembered)
Francis Joseph Kelly (R/141262) - Age 21
Flight Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force 427 Squadron
October 9, 1943 - Becklingen War Cemetery (Coll. Grave 19 B 6-9), Germany
Becklingen War
Cemetery (CWGC)
(International Wargraves
Photography Project)
Jack Arthur Kelly (J/37186 ) - Age 20
Flying Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force 434 Squadron
August 4, 1944 - Drosay Churchyard (Grave 3), Seine-Maritime, France
Drosay Churchyard
(Aircrew Remembered)
Gordon Francis Langevin (B/97014) - Age 21
Private, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (Dispatch Rider)
February 25, 1943 - Brookwood Military Cemetery (39 H 10), UK
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
(by Charlie)
Lawrence Patrick Leonard Jr. (15342043) - Age 20
Private Fist Class, 9th US Army
November 5, 1944 (Holland) Arlington National Cemetery
(Sec 12, Site 3385) Virginia, USA
Brookwood Military
Cemetery (CWGC)
(Arlington National Cemetery)
Gordon Felix Loyer (R/65568) - Age 18
Aircraftman 2nd Class, Royal Canadian Air Force
December 4, 1940 - Mount Hope Cemetery (Range 21, Sec 22, Grave 39), Toronto
William James (Bill) MacMillan (R/209012) - Age 19
Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force - 115 (RAF) Squadron
April 19, 1944 - Brookwood Military Cemetery (48 G 10), UK
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Mount Hope
Cemetery
Brookwood Military
Cemetery (CWGC)
(Grave Photo:
Tmo Verheijden)
Dalton MacDougall (J/22497) - Age 24
Flying Officer (Nav/Bomber), Royal Canadian Air Force - 100 (RAF) Squadron
January 26, 1943 - Scottow Cemetery (Grave 290), Norfolk, UK
(Aircrew Remembered)
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Scottow Cemetery (CWGC)
Thomas Bernard McAneney (J/18232) - Age 24
Flying Officer (Nav/Bomber), Royal Canadian Air Force - 150 (RAF) Squadron
June 26, 1944 - Budapest War Cemetery (Coll. Grave II C 5-8), Hungary
(CJ Biller)
22
Budapest War Cemetery (CWGC)
William John McCollum (R/118907) - Age 21
Flight Sergeant (Air Gnr.), Royal Canadian Air Force - 576 (RAF) Squadron
July 15, 1944 - Loches-sur-Ource Communal Cemetery (Row 3, Grave 4), France
Frank Wilfred McGarry - Age 25
Lieutenant (Air), Royal Canadian Navy Vol. Reserve - RN Fleet Air Arm
September 8, 1945 - Ballycranbeg (Mt. St.Joseph) RC Churchyard (Grave 48),
County Down, Ireland (Member of the De La Salle Band)
(by Joseph Clint)
(soilsister)
Loches-sur-Ource (soilsister)
Ballycranbeg (CWGC))
John Bruce McGovern (R/105460) - Age 22
Warrant Officer Class 1 (Air Gnr.), Royal Canadian Air Force - 196 (RAF) Squadron
February 21, 1945 - Brookwood Military Cemetery (56 J 5), UK
Brookwood Military
Cemetery (CWGC)
David Anthony McKerry (J/36019) - Age 19
(by Charlie)
Pilot Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force 431 Squadron
February 20, 1944 - Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery (Coll. Grave 6 D 12-17), Germany
Emory Andrew Mason (R/82860) - Age 22
Sergeant (Pilot), Royal Canadian Air Force
May 8, 1942 - Ollerton Cemetery (RC Portion, Grave 800),
Nottinghamshire, UK
Berlin 1939-1945 War
Cemetery (CWGC)
(by Stephen Farnell)
Ollerton Cemetery (CWGC)
Robert John Middleton (R/91294) - Age 25
Flight Sergeant (W. Op/Air Gnr.), Royal Canadian Air Force - 101 (RAF) Squadron
December 7, 1942 - Carew (St. Mary) New Churchyard (Row D, Grave 1), UK
John Lawrence Murdoch - Age 36
Captain, Royal Canadian Artillery
October 10, 1944 - Adegem Canadian War Cemetery (VIII A 7), Belgium
Leo Aubrey Murphy - Age 41
Able Seaman, Canadian Merchant Navy - MV Montrolite
February 4, 1942 - (Grave Unknown) Halifax Memorial (Panel 22)
(Crewman aboard Montrolite - torpedoed by U-109 northeast of Bermuda.)
Carew (St. Mary)
New Churchyard (CWGC)
(Marg Liessens)
Adegem Canadian War
Cemetery (CWGC)
Morgan Joseph Murphy - Age 21
Lieutenant, Royal Canadian Engineers - 4th Field Company
September 1, 1944 - Montecchio War Cemetery (III J 13), Italy
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Halifax Memorial
Montecchio War Cemetery
(Carleton and York Regiment)
23
Leroy Joseph O'Connor (R/100538) - Age 27
Flight Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force - 21 (RAF) Squadron
June 6, 1943 - Norwich Cemetery (Sec. 54. Grave ) Norfolk, UK
Gerald Joseph Overend (R/165026) - Age 22
Warrant Officer Class II, Royal Canadian Air Force - 166 (RAF) Squadron
May 28, 1944 - (Grave Unknown) Runnymede Memorial (Panel 254), UK
Norwich Cemetery
(CWGC)
(Jennifer Hart)
Runnymede Memorial
(CWGC)
Arthur Henry (Harry) Pearson (J/24715) - Age 30
Pilot Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force
April 22, 1943 - (Grave Unknown) Ottawa Memorial (Panel 2, Column 4)
(Died as a passenger aboard Amerika - torpedoed by U-306 south of Greenland.)
John Joseph Pearson (J/89814) - Age 30
Flying Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force 578 (RAF) Squadron
August 13, 1944 Durnbach War Cemetery (Coll. Grave 7 F 12-17), Germany
Ottawa Memorial
(veterans.gc.ca)
Donegan Frederick Phelan (C/1485) - Age 20
Flying Officer (Nav/Bomber), Royal Canadian Air Force
May 5, 1941 - Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto (Family Plot, Section 13, Lot 0), Toronto
Durnbach War
Cemetery (by Cookie)
Phelan Family Plot
Mount hope
Jerome David Phelan (J/1486)
Flying Officer (Nav/Bomber), Royal Canadian Air Force - 238 (RAF) Squadron
October 4, 1942 - El Alamein War Cemetery (XXXIII D 5), Egypt
Maurice James Quinlan (B/65507) - Age 27
Corporal, 1st Battalion, Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada
June 11, 1944 - Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery (III B 12), France
Joseph Dennis Quinn (J/19888) - Age 21
Pilot Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force - 419 (Moose) Squadron
April 19, 1944 - Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery (A 12 7), Denmark
El Alamein War
Cemetery (CWGC)
Padre Craig Cameron
of The QOR
Frederick Duggan Roddy - Age 29
Flight Sergeant (Pilot), Royal Canadian Air Force - 12 (RAF) Squadron
May 9, 1942 - Kiel War Cemetery (5 C 3), Germany
Donald Wingrove Ross (J/9288) - Age 19
Pilot Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force - 207 (RAF) Squadron
September 10, 1942 - Lemvig Cemetery (Grave 731), Denmark
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
24
Beny-sur-Mer Canadian
War Cemetery (CWGC)
Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery
(euro-t-guide.com)
Kiel War Cemetery (CWGC)
Lemvig Cemetery
(euro-t-guide.com)
Kenneth Howard Royan (A102410)
Private, Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment
October 14, 1944 - Cesena War Cemetery (III D 2), Italy
Cesena War Cemetery
Jack Earl Russell (J/86060) - Age 24
(CWGC)
Pilot Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force
February 7, 1944 (Grave Unknown) Runnymede Memorial (Panel 252), UK
Runnymede Memorial (veterans.gc.ca)
Francis Michael (Frank) Scandiffio (J/88799) - Age 23
Pilot Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force - 207 (RAF) Squadron
July 15, 1944 - Delhi War Cemetery (5 B 15), India
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Delhi War Cemetery
(CWGC)
Thomas Peter Scandiffio (R/102787) - Age 21
Warrant Officer Class II, Royal Canadian Air Force - 458 (RAAF) Squadron
June 16, 1943 - (Grave Unknown) Alamein Memorial (Column 272), Egypt
Alamein Memorial (CWGC)
Gerard M (Jerry) Scanlan (B/157784) - Age 32
Private, Royal Regiment of Canada
August 23, 1944 - Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery (XXV D 7),
Calvados, France (Member of the De La Salle Band)
David C Seitz (B/105145) - Age 21
Gunner, 3rd Medium Regt., Royal Canadian Artillery
August 8, 1944 - Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery (XVI.H.6),
Calvados, France
Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery (CWGC)
W. D’Arcy Shaughnessy (B/148771) - Age 20
Trooper, 1st Hussars - 6th Armoured Regiment
April 14, 1945 - Holten Canadian War Cemetery (II.D.14), Netherlands
(International Wargraves
Photographic Project)
John Edward Sheflin (V/27746) - Age 26
Supply Assistant, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve - HMCS Raccoon
September 7, 1942 (Grave Unknown) Halifax Memorial (Panel 9), Nova Scotia
Died when HMCS Raccoon was torpedoed and sunk by U-165 while on convoy duty in the
St. Lawrence River.
Thomas Joseph Shields (R/85566) - Age 23
Warrant Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force - 50 (RAF) Squadron
June 19, 1943 - Lincoln (Newport) Cemetery, Lincolnshire, UK
(Tony Emptage)
25
Holten Canadian War
Cemetery (CWGC)
Halifax Memorial
(Point Pleasant Park)
Lincoln (Newport)
Cemetery (CGC)
George Edward Sinclair (J/91094) - Age 20
Pilot Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force - 427 Squadron
May 12, 1944 - Calais Canadian War Cemetery (2 H 4), France
Calais Canadian War
Thomas John Smith (B/135647) - Age 21
Cemetery (CWGC))
Lance Corporal, Royal Regiment of Canada
August 29, 1944 - Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery (XVII G 14),
Calvados, France
Richard John Taylor (R/203228) - Age 21
Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force
June 13, 1944 - Brookwood Military Cemetery (49 J 1), UK
Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian
War Cemetery (CWGC)
(J. Stephens)
(By Charlie)
William S. Thornbury (B/66687) - Age 19
Private, Royal Regiment of Canada
August 19, 1942 - Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery (J 39), Seine-Maritime, France
Francis Edward (Ted) Vale (J/8634) - Age 21
Pilot Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force - 119 (RAF) Squadron
September 25, 1942 - (Grave Unknown) Runnymede Memorial (Panel 101), UK
(Member of the De La Salle Band)
Brookwood Military
Cemetery (CWGC)
Dieppe Canadian War
Cemetery (CWGC)
(K. Falconer &
J. Stephens)
William Richard (Dick) Vale (J/42694) - Age 27
Flying Officer (Air Bomber), Royal Canadian Air Force - 100 (RAF) Squadron
March 16, 1945 - Durnbach War Cemetery (8 A 25), Germany
Runnymede Memorial
(WyrdLight.com)
Durnbach War Cemetery (CWGC))
Bertram James Warr (1391138) - Age 25
Sergeant Navigator, Royal Air Force - 158 (RAF) Squadron
April 3, 1943 - Rheinberg War Cemetery (Coll. Grave 2 D 20-24), Germany
Edward Francis Warr (R/156101) - Age 27
Flight Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force - 424 Squadron
October 2, 1943 (Grave Unknown) Malta Memorial (Panel 11, Column 2), Malta
Rheinberg War
Cemetery (CWGC)
Malta Memorial (CWGC)
George Henry Warren-Darley (J/92111) - Age 35
Pilot Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force - 419 (Moose) Squadron
November 24, 1944 - Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery (Sec. H. Row C. Grave 13.),
Yorkshire, United Kingdom
(Teacher at De La Salle and at St. Joseph’s Elementary School prior to Del)
(Peter Lucas)
Harrogate (Stonefall)
(CWGC)
26
Russell Jerome Weiler (B/91230)- Age 28
Private, Algonquin Regiment
April 12, 1945 - Holten Canadian War Cemetery (IX C 6), Netherlands
(International Wargraves
Photographic Project)
Henry Edward (Harry) Went (R/72357) - Age 24
Holten Canadian War
Flight Sergeant (Air Gnr.), Royal Canadian Air Force - 419 (Moose) Squadron Cemetery (CWGC)
May 9, 1942 - Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery (Coll. Grave 8 B 2-7), Germany
Victor Joseph Wintzer (R/136425) - Age 24
Flight Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force - 419 (Moose) Squadron
September 1, 1943 - Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery (Coll. Grave 2 A 2-4), Germany
Berlin 1939-1945 War
Cemetery (CWGC)
Berlin 1939-1945 War
Cemetery (CWGC)
27
Those Who Also Paid a Price
(List by no means conclusive; only what has been discovered.)
Wounded
Neal Babineau (24) – Private, Royal Regiment of Canada (Wounded March 8, 1945)
John F Boyle – Private, First Special Forces - USA/Canada (Wounded January 6, 1944)
James B Chalmers (23) – Rifleman, Queen's Own Rifles (Wounded October 8, 1944) Brother of Edward, below.
Gregory Cook (28) – Sergt, Governor General's Horse Guards (Wounded September 23, 1944)
Charles Crane (21) – Lieutenant, Essex Scottish (Wounded September 21, 1944)
Joseph Declara (21) – Private, Essex Scottish (Wounded April 13, 1945)
th
Walter Despard (40) – Lance-Corporal, 48 Highlanders (Wounded in Sicily, then in Italy September, 1944).
Dennis Donovan (22) – Trooper, Fort Garry Horse (Wounded March 2, 1945)
Robert (Bud) Fitzpatrick (27) – Lieutenant, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders (Wounded in February and again in March, 1945) His
brother Murray was killed in Normandy in July 44.
Alan James Grant (20) – Sergt (Air Gunner), RCAF (Wounded March 17, 1945).Two brothers were also in the RCAF, two were in the Army and a
sister was in the Navy.
Joseph Greck (31) – Corporal, Irish Regiment of Canada (Wounded October, 1944) His brother Edward was also with the Irish in Italy; brother
Henry was with the RCAF in England and brother Alfred (RHLI) was killed in France in August 44.
Laurence Higgins – (20) – Private, Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment (Wounded December 5, 1943)
Cecil Holden, Cecil (24) (Wounded September, 1944)
Valmore Lepine (22) – Private, Algonquin Regiment (Wounded March 8, 1945)
Charles Lymbury (31) – Private, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders (Wounded May 4, 1945)
William McKillop – Guardsman, Governor-General's Foot Guards (Wounded November, 1944)
Thomas P. O'Brien – Staff Sergt, First Special Forces - USA/Canada (Wounded July, 1944)
Michael Quinlin (23) – Trooper, Calgary Tank Regiment (Wounded November, 1943)
rd
Joseph G. (Jerry) Reeves (22) – Trooper, Governor General's Horse Guards – 3 Armored Recon Regt (Wounded September 4, 1944)
Joseph Rivier (20) – Gunner, Royal Canadian Artillery (Wounded April 10, 1945)
David Schrier (24) – Corporal, Royal Regiment of Canada (Wounded August 19, 1942 at Dieppe)
Bernard Selway (21) – Rifleman, Queen's Own Rifles (Wounded February 25, 1945) He was a Corporal and instructor with the Armored Corps but
gave up his stripes to get into action with the Queen's Own.
28
Charles Shamata – Private, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (Wounded April 17, 1945.) He reverted in rank to serve in Europe.
William Tench – Lance-Corporal, Irish Regiment of Canada (Wounded February, 1944 and again in September, 1944)
Arthur Thivierge (25) – Staff Sergt, Royal Canadian Ordinance Corps (Wounded June, 1944)
Frederick Tilston, VC (38) – Captain (acting Major), The Essex Scottish (Wounded March 1, 1945)
st
David Walker (27) – Corporal, 1 Canadian Armored Personnel Carrier Regt (Wounded April 5, 1945)
Reported Missing or POW (but survived) – i.e., reported by the press as missing, but no follow up report on status; may have turned up, but more likely
ended up a POW.
David Arksey (22) – Rifleman, Queen's Own Rifles (POW June 11, 1944)
William Barry (20) – Sergt (Air Gunner), RCAF (POW December 29, 1943)
Paul Benson (26) – Sergt, RCAF (Missing March, 1944)
Frank Boyd (22) – Flight Sergt (Air Gunner), RCAF (Missing February 24, 1945)
Brother Anthony (John Knoll) – Teacher at St. Joseph's Institute, Singapore (Prisoner of the Japanese, February 15, 1942.)
Brother Lawrence (Spitzig) – Teacher in Kuala Lumpur (Prisoner of the Japanese, February 15, 1942.)
G H Bryson – Private, Royal Regiment of Canada (POW August 19, 1942 - Dieppe)
Chalmers, Edward James (20) – Sergt (Air Gunner), RCAF (POW August 10, 1943) Brother of James, above.
John Elliott (20) – Corporal, Royal Regiment of Canada (POW August 19, 1942 - Dieppe) His brother, Christopher (23) was discharged from the
th
48 after six months because of illness and died at home. Another brother, Robert was in the RCAF.
William B. Higgins (22) – Flying Officer, RCAF (POW September 27, 1943)
Patrick Gallagher (31) – Lance-Corporal, Irish regiment of Canada (Missing September 28, 1944; wounded the previous January)
Joseph Gordon, Joseph (20) – Pilot Officer, RCAF (POW four times, escaped three times and joined Italian Partisans each time, 1942-45)
Leo F. Kennedy (25) – Warrant Officer, (Wireless/Air Gunner), RCAF (Missing February 24, 1945)
John M Kiely (26) – Private, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada (Missing September 17, 1944) He was a First Lieutenant with the Medical Corps in
1942, but gave up his commission and reverted to Private first with the Queen's Own and then the Seaforths, to avoid being sent back to Canada as an instructor.
Charles Ratchford (24) – Flight Sergt (Air Gunner), RCAF (Missing July 17, 1944)
Jack Sexton (26) – Merchant Navy, Sardinian Prince (Sunk 16 March, 1941 by German Battleship Scharnhorst; all 40 crew members
POWs.)
Austin Staley (22) – Flying Officer (Mid-upper Gunner), RCAF (POW January 16, 1945)
James B. Stephenson (22) – Flight Sergt (Rear Gunner), RCAF (POW October 15, 1941)
29
De La Salle’s Musical Heritage
The first De La Salle Band was formed in 1866 when the school was located at Richmond & Jarvis and called the
Christian Brothers Commercial Academy. In 1871, the Academy moved to the corner of Duke (now Adelaide) &
George and was renamed the De La Salle Institute. By the mid-1870s, the Band was so popular and active in the
community that a second (junior) band was formed. In the annual St. Patrick's Day parade of those years, the senior
band would lead the parade, with the junior band leading the separate school students further back. Little is known
about the band or whether it even continued to exist in the latter part of the century, although instrumental music
remained a part of the curriculum.
With the arrival of the new century, there was a growing pride in the British Empire and Canada's place in it; in large
part due to the Boer War. One consequence was the popular support shown for the cadet movement, beginning in the
elementary schools and expanding shortly after to the high schools. De La Salle began their cadet program in the Fall
of 1903 and added a band to parade the Corps in 1910. Throughout its history between 1903 and 1948, the De La Salle
Cadets ranked as one of the best and most accomplished of all the school cadets in the Province, and was distinct in
having nearly every student involved in the program. In 1928 a major change occurred, with the Band adopting blue
uniforms with gold-lined capes and dramatically increasing its size. The intent was to have 74 members, but interest
was so great that the band was enlarged to 100 members. Shortly after, the rest of the cadet corps also began wearing
the blue uniforms. Throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s, the Del Blue & Gold band usually had 120 members – 64
bugles, 48 drums and 8 glockenspiels, and became a fixture at every Toronto event – civic, social and religious. In 1939,
it performed at the New York World Fair for a week.
In 1958, the band changed direction once again, becoming a Drum & Bugle Corps and participating in field
competitions throughout eastern Canada and the northern USA. Between 1958 and 1974, it consistently ranked
amongst the top three in Canada and the top ten in all of North America, and won four Canadian Championships in
their final six years. However, at the end of the 1974 season, the school felt they could no longer financially support an
increasingly expensive activity and disbanded the operation after 64 years. With the school's co-operation though, the
members were allowed to retain their instruments for the short-term. Seventy-five of them, with their instructors and
equipment joined forces with Etobicoke Crusaders (the former Michael Power Knights, which had previously been
the Knights of Columbus Boys Band) to become Oakland Crusaders – the most successful Canadian drum corps ever
to compete on the international scene.
The front cover of this Tribute is a pictorial representation of the De La Salle Band's 64 year history during the last
century.
30
General References for De La Salle Cadets and Band
Grave & Cemetery Photo Credits
Archives of Canada Website: www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet
CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission): http://www.cwgc.org/
Christian Brothers Archives, De La Salle; Rev. Brother Walter Farrell, Archivist
Johan Moors: ypres.salient@hotmail.com
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Website: www.cwgc.org
www.ww1-yorkshires.org.uk (The Yorkshire Regiment - First World
War Remembrance)
Delescope, De La Salle Bond Street (School magazine); Toronto, 1925 - 1930
Morgan, Rev. Brother George, Lasallian Education - 150 Years in Toronto, Toronto, 2002
Newman, Pat and Eugene, Rev. Brother, The First 50 Years: 1910 - 1960, Toronto, 1960
Pages of the Past - The Toronto Star (newspaper collection): Toronto: www.micromedia.pagesofthepast.ca
The Canadians at War, The Readers Digest Association (Canada) Ltd, 1969
Veterans Affairs Canada Website: www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers
International Wargraves Photographic Project: www.findagrave.com
Margaret Rose: www.findagrave.com
Geoffrey Gillon: www.findagrave.com
Charlie: www.findagrave.com
Des Philippet: desire.philippet@kpnmail.nl
Mike Berrell: mike_berrell@ntlworld.com
Specific References for Frederick Tilston
Aircrew Remembered: http://www.aircrewremembered.com
Bishop, Arthur, Courage on the Battlefield; McGraw, Hill, Ryerson, Toronto, 1993
CJ Biller: cjbiller@comcast.net
Bishop, Arthur, Our Bravest and Our Best; McGraw, Hill, Ryerson, Toronto, 1995
soilsister: www.findagrave.com
Machum, George C., Canada’s VCs; McClelland & Stewart Ltd., Toronto, 1956
Stephen Farnell: stephenandjayne@hotmail.com
Percival, John, For Valour; Thomas Methuen, London, 1985
Carleton and York Regiment: http://carletonandyork.wordpress.com/
Smyth, Sir John, Great Stories of the Victoria Cross; Arthur Barker Ltd., London, 1977
cookie: www.findagrave.com
Whitaker, Denis and Whitaker, Shelagh, Rhineland, Stoddart Publishing Company Ltd., Toronto, 1989
euro-t-guide.com
Point Pleasant Park:
http://www.pointpleasantpark.ca/en/home/default.aspx
WyrdLight.com
Peter Lucas: plucas@tiscali.co.uk
Jennifer Hart: jenniferhart3@hotmail.co.uk
De La Salle Cadets and Band, 1936
31