Browse "Second World War"

Frank Bing Wong was a Chinese Canadian corporal in the Canadian Army during the Second World War. From 1942 to 1946, Wong served in the North West Europe campaign. Learn all about Wong’s experiences as he recalls the sights of battle and the impact that the Liberation of the Netherlands had on the Canadian war effort.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

Frank Robert Miller, CC, CBE, engineer, air chief marshal (born 30 April 1908 in Kamloops, BC; died 20 October 1997 in Charlottesville, Virginia ).

Frederic Franklin Worthington, "Worthy," army officer, engineer, adventurer (b at Peterhead, Scotland 14 Sep 1889; d at Ottawa 8 Dec 1967).

George Clarence Jones, naval officer (b at Halifax 24 Oct 1895; d at Ottawa 8 Feb 1946). Jones joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1911 and spent WWI at sea in British warships.

He rebelled against service discipline and was released in Oct 1944. Lost in a world without air combat - "It's the only thing I can do well; it's the only thing I ever did I really liked" - he joined the Israeli Air Force in 1948, and died when the aircraft he was ferrying to Palestine crashed.

George Mitchell Croil, airman (b at Milwaukee, Wis 5 June 1893; d at Vancouver 8 Apr 1959). Croil flew with the Royal Flying Corps in Salonika and trained pilots in the Middle East in WWI. In 1919 he joined the Canadian Air Board and was one of 62 officers granted RCAF commissions in 1924.

Gilbert Clarence Monture (Big Feather), OC, OBE (Order of the British Empire), Mohawk mining engineer, civil servant, army officer (born 27 August 1895 on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, ON; died 19 June 1973 in Ottawa, ON). Monture was a university student during the First World War and interrupted his studies to enlist in the Canadian military. After the war, he completed university and became a world-renowned mining engineer.

Gordon Minto Churchill, lawyer, teacher, politician (b at Coldwater, Ont 8 Nov 1898; d at Vancouver 3 Aug 1985). One of John Diefenbaker's closest Cabinet confidants, Churchill was a knowledgeable and respected parliamentarian who served as Tory House leader in the Diefenbaker era.

Guy Granville Simonds, army officer (b at Bury St Edmunds, Eng 23 Apr 1903; d at Toronto 15 May 1974).

Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, army officer, governor general (b at London, Eng 10 Dec 1891; d at Slough, Eng 16 June 1969). The last British governor general of Canada (1946-52) was born into the Irish aristocracy.

Henry Duncan Graham Crerar, army officer (b at Hamilton, Ont 28 Apr 1888; d at Ottawa 1 Apr 1965). A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, he was commissioned into the artillery in 1910 and was counter battery staff officer of the Canadian Corps at the end of WWI.

Harry George DeWolf, naval officer and veteran of the Second World War, vice-admiral, Chief of Naval Staff, Royal Canadian Navy (born 26 June 1903 in Bedford, NS). DeWolf was best known as the commanding officer of HMCS Haida, one of Canada’s eight Tribal Class destroyers during the Second World War. DeWolf entered the navy in 1918 and retired in 1961. A new class of offshore patrol vessels has been named in his honour.

Howard Douglas Graham, lawyer, army officer (b at Buffalo, NY 15 July 1898; d at Oakville, Ont 28 Sept 1986). A WWI veteran, having enlisted at age 17, Graham rose to become chief of the general staff 1955-58. He practised law in Trenton, Ont, 1922-39, and was mayor in 1933.

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, VC, DFC, pilot and master bomber (born 19 October 1918 in Calgary, Alberta; died 4 August 1944 near Senantes, France). Bazalgette died after his plane was hit during a bombing mission over occupied France during the Second World War. He was posthumously awarded a Victoria Cross (VC) in August 1945.

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 (Jake) Warren, OC, public servant, diplomat, business executive (born 10 April 1921 in Howard Township, ON; died in April 2008 in Ottawa, ON).

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.