233 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca WHITELAM, George Thomas WWI George was born in Long Sutton, England in 1883. He joined the Canadian Army and served with the 78th Battalion in Canada, England and France. Private Whitelam was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal and was discharged on February 28, 1919. George passed away in 1951. WHITFORD, James W. WWII James was born in London, England in 1922. Soon after the cessation of the London Blitz, he qualified as an AB AA3 in the Royal Navy and was drafted into the division of the Coastal Forces. Shortly after, he was installed as a member of the crew of HMML 143, a small ship equipped with torpedo tubes and other armaments. For the first year, duties were confined to protecting coastal convoys, rescuing downed aircraft crews and patrolling enemy coastlines. Later, the ship was equipped as a minesweeper. This duty would extend well into the months following war’s end. Most memorable was the sweeping in advance of the American Task Force for its landing at Omaha Beach on D-Day. After the Invasion came the clearing of mines in French and Dutch territorial waters. James was awarded the 1939-45 Star, the Atlantic Star, the France and Germany Star, the War Medal and the NGS Medal with Minesweeping Clasp. James was a member of the Imperial Vets Legion # 844 for fifty-five years. WILLIAMS, Gordon Ivan WWII Gordon was born in 1922 in Carberry, Manitoba. He joined the RCAF in 1942 and was sent overseas in 1943. He served as a Warrant Officer with the 97th Division (RAF) Squadron Pathfinder Force in England, France, Germany and Holland. On January 30, 1944, he and his crew flew their Lancaster bomber for a Berlin bombing and were on their homeward leg when they were intercepted by a Messerschmitt night fighter. Their cockpit was shot away and the pilot and bomb aimer Williams were hurled away from the rest of the wreckage. The fuselage crashed into a farm house just south of Amsterdam killing the farmer, his wife and four of their eight children as well as the five remaining crew. These five crew members remained in the ground for fifty-seven years while Pilot Hart and Evan Williams were buried by the Germans in Zwanenburg Cemetery. In 2001, the crash was excavated and the remains of the five crewmen were re-interred in the Zwanenburg Cemetery with Hart and Williams. WILLIAMS, Evan WWI Evan joined the Army and served during World War I.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==