Sydney Brown was from North Bay, Ontario. He was born in 1918 and enlisted with the RCAF. Brown was flying with the 420 Snowy Owl Squadron when his Wellington bomber was shot down and he was killed April 15, 1943. The collection currently consists of a dozen photographs and some miscellaneous materials. See also the collection for Zave Brown, his brother, who was killed in 1945.
Title
WWII
These collections contains all materials relating to Canadian from 1939 to 1945. Some individual collections may contain materials beyond this time frame. External links in collection descriptions are to casualty and burial information at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Zave Brown was born in September, 1925 and enlisted with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. Brown served overseas with the RHLI until his death in Holland on March 9, 1945. The collection currently consists of a number of personal photographs of Zave and of his time in the service. See also the collection of his older brother Sydney who was killed in 1943.
Edward Bryer was born in May, 1920, the son of George and Annie Bryer of Marchwell, Saskatchewan. He enlisted with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada and served overseas until his death on August 3, 1944. Bryer is buried in Brettevill-sur-laize Canadian cemetery in France. The collection currently consists of seven letters.
Stewart Hastings Bull was born in Windsor, Ontario in 1916. He was educated at the University of Toronto and enlisted with the Essex Scottish in 1940. Bull was wounded at Caen, France by a mortar a few months after D-Day. He was hospitalized for several months and never returned to the front. Bull finished with the rank of Major. The collection consists of his memoir of the war transcribed from a recording by Bull in September, 2002 at the age of 86, as well as two photographs of Bull from 1941.
Lt. Harvey Simion Burnard was from Theodore, Saskatchewan. Burnard enlisted in January, 1942 and served overseas with the South Saskatchewan Regiment, R.C.I.C until he was killed at age twenty-five on July 25, 1944 in France. The collection consists of more than fifty letters written by Burnard.
Rifleman Edgar Dawson Butler was born on May 9, 1918, in Arkona, Ontario, to parents James and Hannah (“Annie”) Theodoria (née Thornicroft) Butler, part of a large family with eight siblings. On July 13, 1940, he married Gertrude Donna Butler. Prior to his enlistment Butler worked as a farmer.
He enlisted into active service on August 18, 1941, with the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, Royal Canadian Infantry Corps. Shipping to England in December of 1941, Butler remained there until the Normandy landings in 1944. As part of D-Day operations on June 6, 1944, Butler was with 14 Platoon of Charlie Company near the village of Bernières-sur-mer when he was killed by mortar fire. He is buried at Beny-Sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, Calvados, France.
Content notes:
The letters are written by Butler to his sister Leona (Mrs. John Cadman), of Sarnia, Ont., between November 1941 and May of 1945 . Only twenty-five letters have transcriptions available at this time.
External links:
Rfn. Dawson Butler’s service record (Serv/Reg# B64737) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Dawson can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Karl Vincent Butler was born May 6, 1912, son of Horace and Violetta Butler of Sydney, Nova Scotia. Butler served as a Lance Corporal with the West Nova Scotia Regiment, R.C.I.C. and was part of the invasion of Italy in 1943. He was killed August 2, 1943 in Italy, age 31. The collection consists of more than seventy letters, some photographs, postcards, and other miscellaneous items.
External links:
L/Cpl. Butler’s service record (Serv/Reg# F54612) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Butler can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
