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I am wondering if there is any way to get more details on his death on 10-23-1944 aside from KIA. His nephew said he had heard he was killed by a sniper but nothing in his file. He served with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders Canada and is buried at Bergen-Op-Zoom. Thank you.

It's generally very challenging to get precise details for KIA. Died of Wounds sometimes have some details. For KIA, at best you might be able to infer from other sources. Some ideas:

Look into Operation Vitality, the clearing of S. Beveland. That will provide some general background.

From a quick review of some Wiki's I'm not clear if this Op started Oct 23 or Oct 24 for the Camerons but 10 fatal casualties from the 23rd (in Bergen Op Zoom) point that way (just one on the 24th). Days with more casualties make it tougher to tease out details.

War Diary. I can see some months available online but no sign of Oct 44. Does the entry for 23 Oct or shortly after provide any detail on which sub-units took casualties? If not, can be tough to get any further. LAC will have these, can try the Project 44 website to see what they have. Diaries rarely mention enlisted men by name. Specific mention of a popular Sgt is not out of the question.

Can you place him in a Company within the unit? Look closely at everything in his file to see if it is indicated anywhere. Medical records, personal letters (his overseas address should include his Coy) can be useful for this. General Army records in his file almost never indicate this.

Do you have his complete file or the default 'genealogical package'? The latter often excludes many of the records that are useful for this kind of digging.

It may be possible to find Coy info from other unit records. Part I Orders (if preserved in the War Diary) may include Coy postings, though you need to work back from date of death to date of joining unit to see if there is a record. Some units were good at recording these, others much less so. LAC is the first place to try, there may be other copies at other Archives. Do the Winnipeg/Manitoba Archives have anything on their War Diaries? Better chance with a Sgt, check all the dates he was promoted.

If you are fortunate enough to find a Coy, can that be linked to any details in the WD or other sources?

What is out there for regimental history. memoirs, etc that might provide more detailed accounts of that action?

Snipers are a common story passed down. An individual enemy rifleman is much more likely.

Hope this helps.

PoppyHomewood wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 13, 2024 3:00 pm

I am wondering if there is any way to get more details on his death on 10-23-1944 aside from KIA. His nephew said he had heard he was killed by a sniper but nothing in his file. He served with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders Canada and is buried at Bergen-Op-Zoom. Thank you.

Some info I found, that you may want……still looking

I found the war diaries for that date, and also Ops Logs and Comm Logs. As Kevin indicated if is unlikely their is any other info in those pages, but at least you can see what the Battalion was doing on those dates

Also, here’s a link to the War Diaries if you want to look at them yourself

https://recherche-collection-search.bac ... e011329486

You may already have most of this info, but thought I would post it anyway.

It was interesting to note that he served in Kisha as part of the Canadian Army in the Aleutian Campaign

Also, just before he joined the QOCH of Canada he attend the First Canadian Army Sniping School…….so he trained as a sniper himself

His records indicated that he embarked for England on 25 May 1944 and disembarked in England on the 2 Jun 1944

The ONLY ship that was transporting troops from Halifax to England at that time was the Empress of Scotland ( departed 26 May 44 and arrived Clyde on the 1 Jun 1944)

Info on Convoy A.T. 118 . This was a single ship convoy with no escorts and I’ve added the the actual Convoy Plot

I’ve found the info on Convoy AT118…….and his name is on it, confirming he sailed on this ship to England

And here’s the link to the page his name is on

https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/ooci ... c5694/4438

Cheers

Thank you klambie and Temujin for all your help. I am sure his nephew will be very grateful to get this.