Greetings from an Island in the Pacific!

[maj4bz]

Hello all;  Pleased to be part of this forum.  My particular area of interest is the Canadian War Dead 1939-1947, of which three are identified as being in the Manchester Regiment.  I suspect that there are more, of course, and I hope to unearth them and their hitherto hidden stories.

Rob Forbes
Vancouver Island, BC

[Timberman]

 Hi Rob
Welcome to the forum.
If you put the Halifax Hundred in the forum search
box a lot of information comes up.
Can I ask what area of the Island your from.
Timberman

[maj4bz]

I am at the southern tip, in Victoria, the provincial capital.
Bumping into the Halifax 100 is what prompted me to join this forum.

[Timberman]

Thanks
I asked, as I lived in Comox as a child.
Timberman

[Timberman]

 There is also a Facebook page at this link.

https://www.facebook.com/halifax100

Also if you put Daniel Serrick in the search box I did a bit on him in the snippets.

Timberman

[mack]

hiya rob
i dont know if this lad qualifies

3532996 robert,vernon clarke
1st manchesters
captured 15-2-42 at singapore
resided 17 florist st,stockport
father james,vernon clarke,wholesale sweet+chocolate dealer
mother annie,florence clarke,his mother had previously married joseph kettle[he died 1911]she was from york,ontario
robert was born in york,ontario on 29th may 1919
the family moved to stockport from ontario in 1922,his mother died in 1931
robert died of cholera at tamarkan POW camp on 20-9-1943

mack

[maj4bz]

Thanks, Mack!

That's exactly the kind of fellow that I am looking for - a Canadian born who served in the forces of another country (UK).  Of course, the CWGC sent their list to Canada's veteran's affairs, but I already have 25 other people who (for whatever reason) are not included in the 47000 names in that database.

Robert Clarke is a new name for me.   

Rob

[PhilipG]

Welcome to the forum, Rob.          When travelling in England by train in WW2, it seemed almost impossible not to come across Canadian Army personnel -  recognizable by the impressive quality of the material and the colour of their battledress.   Until joining HM Forces in 1942, I worked in the Ardwick, Manchester district, the home of a battalion of the Manchesters, and on occasion saw Canadian soldiers occupying the barracks there.    On one wartime journey I spoke to some soldiers of the Essex Scottish Regiment, the regimental title seeming to me to be a strange place name.  The depot was based in Windsor, Ontario and as you will know in the Dieppe Raid of August 1942 the regiment was to suffer heavy casualties.

In 1943 I had a very brief wartime visit to Windsor, Ontario and whilst staying with friends there, I was to learn how devastating an effect the number of casualties suffered by the regiment in the Dieppe Raid had been on the citizens of that city.     Very sad.     

PhilipG.

[maj4bz]

Thanks, Philip.

Indeed, the father of a friend of mine was in the Essex Scottish at Dieppe.  And he came back.  Never spoke of that day to his son.  In fact, the son didn't even know about his father's wartime history until after he had passed away and he was looking at some memorabilia.  Sad is an understatement.

Rob

[mack]

my mum was engaged to be married to a canadian soldier who was killed at dieppe,i never asked her his name because i felt like i was intruding on her memories,she told me his family were excited about their future wedding,but permission wasnt granted until after the raid,it seems strange that my existence is down to a german bullet,had he survived,i would never have been born,she met another brave man near the end of the war,who had been fighting the japs in burma,he was my dad

mack