I start this story, thinking that I may not know enough about soldier Clifford Taman to do justice to him that he and his story deserve. I have been putting it off for more than a year, since I met his daughter in Hepworth.
Clifford Taman and my dad, in September of 1939, both enlisted in the Perth Regiment. The Perth began recruitment immediately after Canada declared war on Germany on September 10th. Dad joined up in Stratford on September 29th.
Clifford was living in Wingham, and he enlisted in Listowel, on September 12th. Note that this was only two days after war was declared. Clifford was working as a barber in Wingham, and was a member of the local Militia, the 99th Field Battery.
While still in training, on May 10, 1941, Clifford married Leila Irene Ard from Allenford. That November, he sailed to Europe. My dad had shipped out from Halifax two weeks earlier than Clifford.
Both men had left their wives at home in Bruce County, and pregnant. I was born on May 29, 1942, and Karen Anne, days later, in June.
My dad returned home to Southampton, and I got to meet him on September 14, 1945.
Karen Anne never got to meet her father. He died as a result of the worst friendly fire incident involving Canadian troops in all of WWII.
August 8, 1944, was one of the worst days of all for the Canadian Army. The following is from the Canadian Veterans Affairs Normandy 1944 Information file.
“The prolonged confusion of the congested and murky battlefield, combined with obstinate enemy resistance, soon robbed it (the operation) of momentum. In his plan, Simonds expected air support would break the logjam. Unfortunately, American Flying Fortresses dropped some of their bombs on Canadian and Polish troops, killing or wounding 300 of them.”
Initially, I was aware of Ralph George Black from Saugeen Township, Angus Monroe McLeod from Southampton, and Stafford David Nawash from Saugeen First Nation, all who died as a result of this most unfortunate error. Then, when researching my father’s military history, I came across the reference to Clifford Taman as having been in the Perth Regiment with dad and having died. The reference to Allenford, in his military record sent me on a search for his family descendants.
I checked the phone book and there was a person named Taman in Hepworth. When I called and said who I was and what I wanted to chat about, the lady told me that the phone line had been her mother’s, who had died in 2013. She thought that she had an unlisted number all these years.
Her mother was Leila Irene Taman (Ard), the wife of Clifford Taman, and she was Karen Anne Kocher (Taman), the daughter of Clifford Taman.
Karen Anne today is almost totally blind, only capable of seeing shapes and movement. She was most thankful for learning more about the “father she never got to meet”.
We need to keep in mind that war was declared on September 10th, and Clifford signed up on September 12th, 2 days later. This tells us a lot about him as a person.
He is buried in the Canadian Military Bretteville-sur-Laize cemetery in Normandy, France. There are 2,791 Canadian soldiers buried there with him – Ralph George Black and Angus Monroe Mcleod are amongst them.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
Researched and written by G. William Streeter
For Karen Anne
