During the six years of the war, ten men from Port Elgin and area died while in uniform.
Below is a brief story for each of them for their time spent in the war.
Two of the men died in Canada and are buried in the Port Elgin Sanctuary Park Cemetery.
John Amer Howe – He was born in Port Elgin in 1896 and in 1916 he enlisted with the 160th Bruce Battalion and went overseas to England in October of that year. It was not until February of 1918 that he arrived at the wars front. He served in both France and Belgium until the war ended and then remained as part of the occupying force until May of 1919. He returned home to Port Elgin and built a family life around his business with a Shell Service Station and a Ford Car dealership. In 1940 he attended the Royal Military College in Kingston and received his officer’s designation in the Canadian Army as a Company Commander. As its Major he was called to organize recruits for the Bruce County 98th Anti-Tank Battery. The group of approximately 150 soldiers trained at Camp Petawawa as part of the 4th Canadian Division and arrived in England in early August of 1941. It was December 19, of 1941 that he was admitted to the camp hospital feeling tired, with low energy and generally not well. He was sent to the Westminster Hospital and was diagnosed with issues related to his heart. He retuned home to Port Elgin in February 1942 and his health continued to deteriorate and he died on September 13, 1942, at age 46, He is buried in Sanctuary Park here in Port Elgin.
James Edward Jones was 23 years old and working as a baker in Port Elgin when he answered the call to join with Company Commander Howe in the 98th Anti-Tank Battery in July of 1940. In uniform he married his wife Isobel in July of 1941. Training of the 98th was at Camp Petawawa, north of Ottawa. Just 2 months after his marriage Pte. Jones was taking part in a tactical scheme of a night training operation travelling in a large army truck with the driver and two officers at 1:15 a.m. The vehicle hit a bump on the trail and the driver hit his head and lost control of the vehicle which ended up in the Ottawa River. In the pitch black dark the other 3 survived but Pte, Jones drowned, and his body was found at 6:20 a.m.
The findings of a full military hearing were that “The accident was not the fault of the driver or the vehicle”. There were more than a dozen witnesses and Company Commander John Amer Howe was one of them. James Edward Jones had died from drowning and had a small laceration on the top of his head. He is buried in Sanctuary Park in Port Elgin.
There was a Port Elgin man who died that had volunteered in the 98th Anti-Tank Battery that was organized by John Amer Howe. He was killed in the Italian campaign that drove the German Army out of Italy.
John Reginald Sturgeon – John was born in 1912. He was single and lived at home. John worked in plumbing and heating when he enlisted with the 98th Bruce Anti-Tank battery being organized by John Amer Howe. The group trained extensively at Camp Petawawa, North of Ottawa and arrived in Glasgow in October of 1941. Training continued and in November of 1942 John reached the rank of Sergeant. It was not until November 15, 1943, that the 98th, now folded into the 4th Canadian Anti-Tank Battalion became part of the invasion force of Italy with the purpose of driving the German Army out of that country. The Canadians drove the Germans northward and by early 1944 they were fighting near Mount Cassino south of Rome. This was a ferocious battle that lasted for more than 4 months. It was not until May 25th that the Germans were pushed back. Sadly just 2 days earlier, John Reginald Sturgeon died. He was originally buried in a war area temporary cemetery, but he was moved to the Cassino War Cemetery. He lies there with 3,991 of his comrades that lost their lives in the horrible battle at Mount Cassino. Included there are 852 Canadians.
After successfully pushing the Germans out of Normandy in the north of France in August of 1944, the fighting then moved into Belgium. There was one Port Elgin man who died there during the battles that took place before pushing the Germans into Holland.
James Douglas Stoddart – Jim was born in Port Elgin on February 1, 1925, a son of Mary and Fred. He had a brother George. After grade 10 he went to work on the Great Lakes as a sailor. On February 22, 1944, at age 18, he enlisted in the Canadian Army and was sent to Chatham and Ipperwash for training. On September 7, 1944, he arrived in England and once there he was assigned to the Lincoln and Welland Regiment. Nine days later he arrived in France where the Canadian Army had just finished clearing the Germans from Normandy in late August. He caught up to them in Belgium where the push was on to continue the fight to clear the Germans. The battles went on into October and by late in the month they were nearing the Holland border. On October 26, James was shot in the chest, and he was pronounced dead on arrival at the field hospital. He was 19 years of age. His body was buried in a temporary grave site near Brasschaat in Belgium, North of Antwerp. After the war ended, his body was moved to the Bergen op Zoom Canadian War Cemetery across the border in Holland. There are 1,088 soldiers buried there and 968 are Canadians. I visited his grave site in 2016.
Surprisingly there were six men from Port Elgin that died in WWII while serving as members of aircraft crews in either the Canadian or British Airforce.
George Andrew Eaton was born in Port Elgin on October 19, 1913. He was a Junior Partner in his father’s law practice when he joined the 98th Bruce Anti-Tank Battery being organized by John Amer Howe on May 27, 1940. That September he married. His wife Lillian lived in North Bay. He was immediately given the rank of Lieutenant. After training in London and at Petawawa the 98th left for England that December. Training continued in England. In June 1943, he was promoted to Captain and became part of the Royal Canadian Regiment who were preparing to be part of the invasion force of Italy that July. The march through Sicily and up through Italy continued into the fall of 1943. On October 23, George received wounds of abrasions to his forehead and face. He was treated and admitted to hospital for observation and returned to his group after a few days. It was a few weeks later, near the Moro River in Central Italy that
George was wounded again. This time it was far more serious. His left knee had been hit by a piece of a mortar bomb. Multiple surgeries were done but healing was not accomplished. It was not until March 29, 1944, hat he arrived back in England. Skin graft surgeries were done in April and May and things improved gradually. It was determined that he could not return to his group and do Army General Service again, so he was sent to the Army Air Co-Operations Squadron for training. This was a Division of the Royal Canadian Air Force. His training began in July of 1944. His Air Officer Training was completed on August 12. He continued to be attached to the Army Air Operations. His military record for this period includes very little information. This was true for all Air Crew members as details of individual flights and activities were not recorded in their personal records.
Then early in 1945, the following casualty report was filed:
Eaton, George Andrew March 1, 1945
Attached to No. 2 A.C. P. SQDN. R. C. A. F.
Died – As a result of Multiple Injuries received in an air crash due to an accidental collision during flying exercises whilst on duty at 22:30 hours.
(Ordinary Casualty)
UNITED KINGDOM
Captain George Andrew Eaton was buried in the Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey England, a one-hour drive southeast of London. There are 5,627commonwealth soldiers buried there including 2,729 Canadians. George was buried in Section 50, Row C in Grave 8.
We Will Remember Them
Researched by G. William Streeter
