WELLINGTON COUNTY – Many Wellington County residents died while fighting for the Canadian military during the Second World War.
Those soldiers left loved ones behind and some have family members still residing in the county.
Information about the following fallen soldiers from was complied from information on Veteran Affairs Canada’s Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
WILLIAM KAY, ELORA
William Kay
Private William James Kay was the son of Adam Kay from Elora, who was a First World War veteran.
Kay was born in Georgetown and moved to Elora when he was a young child. He went to school in Salem and Elora. He then attended and graduated from the School of Practical Science in Calgary.
Before enlisting in the military Kay worked as a mechanic at the Ford Garage in Elora and Elora and Fergus Motors.
He enlisted in Elora in April 1942 with the Kitchener-Waterloo Regiment. His brother Ronald Kay also served overseas.
William Kay served in England, France, Belgium and Holland. He was mentioned in dispatches “due to his brave action during the battle of Nieudrop.”
He was part of a group commanded by Captain Ron Goodenough that captured 70 German prisoners.
Kay died of wounds in Belgium on Feb. 20, 1945. He is buried in the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands and his name is engraved on the Elora cenotaph.
HENRY RENNIE, ELORA
Henry Rennie
Pilot Officer (PO) Henry Thompson Rennie served in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He died on March 22, 1943, at age 21, after two years of service.
After Rennie’s death he was awarded a United States Distinguished Flying Cross, which was presented to his mother, Clara Rennie of Elora.
A citation with the award stated, “For extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight against the enemy while on duty with the 9th [United States Army Air Forces] in the Middle East as a radio man and gunner on a bomber.
“PO Rennie participated in 25 combat missions, each over one hour’s duration, against the enemy since August 1942,” the citation continues.
“Through his initiative, ability and unswerving devotion to duty, PO Rennie reflected great credit on both himself and the RCAF.”
Rennie is buried in the Fort Scott National Cemetery in Kansas, U.S. and his name is engraved on the Elora cenotaph.
GEORGE WARE, ROCKWOOD
George Ware
Gunner George Ware was born on May 8, 1917 to Albert and Alice Ware of Rockwood. Ware was raised in Rockwood and attended Eramosa S.S. #9. He had four siblings: Albert, Alice, Evelyn and Peace.
He worked as a farmer and operated farm tractors and equipment before enlisting in Guelph on June 1, 1940. Prior to enlisting for overseas service, he was a militia member of the 43rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment headquartered in London, Ontario.
Ware completed basic training in March 1940 and then went to Camp Sussex in New Brunswick for further training as a tank driver and mechanic. He completed this course on Feb. 17, 1941.
Ware travelled to Liverpool, England on July 30, 1941. He was stationed with his regiment in England until they landed at Juno Beach, Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944).
Ware was 28 when he died on Aug. 15, 1944. He is buried in the Bayeux War Cemetery in Calvados, France and his name is engraved on the Rockwood cenotaph.
S. Verdun Woyce
Flight Sergeant Stanley Verdun Woyce grew up in Palmerston. His parents were James and Annie Woyce and his aunt was Jos. Woyce. He enlisted in February 1941.
Woyce trained at Manning Pool and then graduated from Guelph Wireless School in 1942, making him a qualified wireless operator. He graduated from Jarvis in March 1942.
He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and went overseas in April 1942.
He was reported missing on Jan. 8, 1943, after a Lancaster bomber he was on failed to return to its base after a raid on Ruhr Valley in Germany.
Woyce was 26 years old when he went missing. He is buried in the Runnymede Memorial cemetery in Surrey, England and his name is engraved on the Palmerston cenotaph.
RALPH BRADY, ERIN
Ralph Brady
Corporal Ralph Poston Brady operated his stepfather John Maxwell’s farm in Erin before enlisting in 1940.
He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was posted as an armorer at Trenton in 1943. Brady died suddenly at the Royal Canadian Air Force hospital on June 16, 1944.
Maxwell stated in a newspaper clipping that Brady “was to have undergone a minor operation and we were informed he died under the anesthetic before the operation could be performed.”
Brady was born in Toronto to Charles and Ita Brady. Ita changed her last name to Maxwell after remarrying.
He had four brothers: Ernest, Jack, Donald and
William. Ernest and Jack were both leading aircraftmen, and William was a sergeant who was killed over Germany in 1941.
Brady is buried at Toronto Westminster Memorial Park and his name is engraved on the Erin cenotaph.
ROSS PRIEST, PUSLINCH
Priest brothers
Brothers Private David Lorne Priest and Lance Corporal Ross Elmer Priest both died while serving in the Canadian military during the Second World War. Their parents were David and Annie Priest of Puslinch.
Ross was married to Verna Priest of Palmerston.
David died on July 8, 1944 while serving with the Highland Light Infantry of Canada. He was 19 years old.
Ross died on Nov. 11, 1946 while serving with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. He was 27 years old.
David is buried in France in the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. His name is engraved on the Aberfoyle cenotaph.
Ross is buried in the Puslinch Crown Cemetery (Section H, Row 5, Grave 3).
DOUGLAS WHEELER, BELWOOD
Douglas Wheeler
Trooper Douglas Walter Wheeler was born on May 15, 1923 in Belwood. His parents were Walter and Elizabeth Wheeler.
Douglas was raised on the Wheeler’s family farm with his four brothers and six sisters: George, David, William, Arthur, Gladys, Myrtle, Maggie, Mary, Ida and Wilma.
He worked as a farmer before enlisting in Fergus on Nov. 5, 1942 at 19 years old, under the National Resources Mobilization Act.
Wheeler died two years later, at age 21, on Aug. 9, 1944. He is buried in the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery and his name is engraved on the Rockwood cenotaph.
Wilfred Wolf
Pilot Officer Wilfred Lawrence Wolf was from Palmerston. His parents were Jacob and Margaret Wolf. Jacob died in 1926, when Wilfred was about four years old.
Wilfred was the youngest of six children. His siblings were John, Robert, Stewart, Mary and Fanny Wolf. Fanny died in 1918, before Wilfred was born.
Wolf was flying on the Lancaster bomber of 432 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, based at East Moor in Yorkshire, England when it crashed near Aldborough on Feb. 2, 1944.
According to a plaque in Aldborough honouring Wolf and the six other people on the plane, “Their aircraft, on a cross-country training flight, had caught fire and was losing height when the pilot, with great skill, managed to avoid the village and instead came down on Studforth Hill, a short distance to the south.”
Wolf was 20 years old when he died. The others were all between 20 and 24 years old.
He is buried in the Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery in Yorkshire, England and his name is engraved on the Palmerston cenotaph.
Robert Caldwell Little
Flight Sergeant Robert Caldwell Little was a wireless air gunner in the Royal Canadian Air Force who went to elementary and high school in Arthur. He was born on a farm near Caledon and had five brothers and two sisters.
Before joining the military Little worked for the Royal Bank in Arthur, St. Thomas, Chatham and Strathroy.
Little trained for the Air Force at Jarvis and his wireless badge in Quebec. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941 and went overseas in May of 1942.
“In recent letters home, he told of visiting interesting places in many parts of the British Isles,” stated an article in the Toronto Telegram.
According to an article in the Toronto Star, Little’s mother believed the flight on which he died was his first operational flight, “as his last letter stated that he had just arrived in the Mediterranean and until then had not been on operational duty.”
Little is buried in the Malta Memorial cemetery in Malta and his name is engraved on the Arthur cenotaph.
EVERETT BESSEY, HILLSBURGH
Everett Bessey
Private Everett Bessey was the son of Wesley and Isabel Bessey of Hillsburgh. He was born on Dec. 12, 1923 in Guelph and enlisted on April 15, 1941 at age 17.
Bessey died at age 21 on April 20, 1945 while serving in the Essex Scottish Regiment of the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps.
Everett’s name is engraved on the Erin cenotaph and he is buried in the Netherlands at the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery.
Alvin Campbell
Sapper Cyril Alvin Campbell served in the 10th Canadian Field Party Company of the Royal Canadian Engineers.
He was born on April 26, 1921 and his parents were William John and Henrietta Campbell of Fergus.
He enlisted on Sept. 29, 1942 in Barrie at age 21. Campbell was killed in France on Aug. 8, 1944 when he was 23.
He is buried in the Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery in Cintheaux, France and his name is engraved on the Fergus cenotaph.
