Browse "Second World War"

Hugh Lester Campbell, air marshal (b at Salisbury, NB 13 July 1908; d at Ottawa 25 May 1987).

Huron Eldon Brant, Mohawk soldier, war hero, automobile mechanic (born 30 December 1909 in Deseronto, ON; died 14 October 1944 near Bulgaria, Italy). Brant was awarded the Military Medal (MM) for attacking a superior enemy force during the battle for Grammichele in Sicily (seeSecond World War) but was killed later during a battle on the Italian mainland (see The Italian Campaign).

Ian Willoughby Bazalgette, aviator (b at Calgary 19 Oct 1918; d in France 4 Aug 1944). He joined the Royal Air Force in 1941 and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry in 1943.

In 1939, Canada found itself at war for the second time in a generation. As in the First World War (1914-18), thousands of Indigenous soldiers and nurses volunteered for the war effort at home and abroad, serving with distinction in the Canadian army, navy, and air force. At least 3090 First Nations soldiers enlisted in the Canadian military in the Second World War, with thousands more Métis, Inuit, and non-Status Indian soldiers serving without official recognition of their Indigenous identity.

Jack Hamilton Warren, public servant, banker (b in Howard Twp, Ont 10 Apr 1921).

Jacques Alfred Dextraze, "Ja Dex," soldier (b at Montréal 15 Aug 1919; d at Ottawa 10 May 1993). He served during WWII in Iceland, England, France, Germany and the Netherlands and was promoted from private to lt-col commanding the Fusiliers Mount-Royal.

James Campbell Clouston, naval officer (born 31 August 1900 in Montréal, Québec; died 2 or 3 June 1940 at sea, in the English Channel near Gravelines, France). Born and raised in Montréal, Campbell Clouston joined the British Royal Navy in 1918 and served on ships in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. During the Second World War, Clouston acted as pier master during the Allied evacuation at Dunkirk, overseeing the evacuation of nearly 200,000 servicemen between 27 May and 2 June 1940. He died at sea after his boat was sunk by German aircraft. In September 2017, a commemorative plaque was dedicated to him in Montréal.

Janusz Zurakowski, aviator (born 12 September 1914 in Ryzawka, Russia ; died 9 February 2004 in Barry's Bay, ON ). Raised in Poland, he joined the Polish Air Force in 1937, escaped to England and took part in the Battle of Britain.

Jean Victor Allard, soldier (b at Saint-Monique de Nicolet, Qué 12 June 1913 - d at Trois-Rivières, Qué, April 23 1996).

John Emilius Fauquier, air force officer (b at Ottawa 19 Mar 1909; d at Toronto 3 Apr 1981). Educated at Ashbury College, Fauquier, a commercial pilot, joined the RCAF in 1939, eventually commanding 405 (Pathfinder) Squadron, RCAF, and from December 1944, 617 (Dambuster) Squadron, RAF.

John Weir Foote, VC, Presbyterian minister, soldier, Member of (Ontario) Provincial Parliament, cabinet minister (born 5 May 1904 in Madoc, ON; died 2 May 1988 in Coburg, ON). During the Second World War, Honorary Captain John Foote was the only Canadian chaplain to be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for bravery among troops of the British Empire.

John Robert Osborn, VC, soldier, labourer (born 2 January 1899 in Foulden, Norfolk, England; died 19 December 1941 in Hong Kong). During the Second World War, Osborn’s heroic act was the first to earn a Canadian the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for bravery among troops of the British Empire.

Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn was the first Canadian soldier in the Second World War to perform an act of such great bravery that he would be awarded a Victoria Cross.

Kenneth Stuart, army officer (b at Trois-Rivières, Qué 9 Sept 1891; d at Ottawa 3 Nov 1945). Stuart graduated from RMC in 1911 and served with the Royal Canadian Engineers overseas 1915-18.

Leonard Joseph (Birch) Birchall, CM, O Ont, air force pilot, war hero, educator (born 6 July 1915 in St. Catharines, ON; died 10 September 2004 in Kingston, ON). During the Second World War, Birchall became known as the “Saviour of Ceylon” for alerting Allied forces of an approaching Japanese fleet. Captured after sending his message, he is also renowned for the courage and leadership he displayed while a prisoner of war.

​Leonard Austin Braithwaite, CM, OOnt, QC, lawyer, politician (born 23 October 1923 in Toronto, ON; died 28 March 2012 in Toronto). Braithwaite was the first Black Canadian elected to a provincial legislature. He served as a Liberal member of the Ontario Legislature from 1963 to 1975.

Leonard Warren Murray, naval officer (b at Granton, NS 22 June 1896; d at Derbyshire, Eng 25 Nov 1971). Murray joined the navy in 1911, served in WWI and by 1939 was deputy chief of the naval staff.

Lloyd Samuel Breadner, air chief marshal (b at Carleton Place, Ont 14 July 1894; d at Boston, Mass 14 Mar 1952). Commissioned in the Royal Naval Air Service 28 December 1915, he won a Distinguished Service Cross as a fighter pilot in 1917.

Mary Greyeyes Reid, Cree veteran of the Second World War (born 14 November 1920 on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation reserve, Marcelin, SK; died 31 March 2011 in Vancouver, BC). The first Indigenous woman to join Canada’s armed forces, Mary became a member of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps during the Second World War. The military tried to boost Indigenous recruitment and demonstrate Canada’s military might by posing her in a staged photo that has since been widely circulated in Canada.

Masumi Mitsui, MM, farmer, soldier, Canadian Legion official (born 7 October 1887 in Tokyo, Japan; died 22 April 1987 in Hamilton, ON). Masumi Mitsui immigrated to Canada in 1908 and served with distinction in the First World War. In 1931, he and his comrades persuaded the BC government to grant Japanese Canadian veterans the right to vote, a breakthrough for Japanese and other disenfranchised Canadians. Nevertheless, Matsui and more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians were displaced, detained and dispossessed by the federal government during the Second World War (seeInternment of Japanese Canadians).