309 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND McLAUGHLIN, William William was born in Bolton, Lancaster, England on August 16, 1918. In November 1939, he enlisted with the Royal Army Medical Corps. During his service, Bill was loaned to the United States Army invasion force and served with them during the D-Day invasion. He was shipped from England to France on that day, as part of the Allied invasion force on a United States Ship, a Landing Ship Tank. These types of ships carried tanks to the invasion area and evacuated the wounded back to England. His direct involvement in this operation lasted for three weeks. He then made his way through France and Germany and was at the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, one of the most notorious camps discovered in Germany. His experience there remained with him for the rest of his life. William’s rank was Lance Corporal and he received a few medals such as Africa Star, 1939-1945 War Medal, 4 War Service Chevrons. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 317 Victory Branch for thirty years. William and his wife Barbara arrived in London, Ontario in 1956 and they remained there until his passing on June 20, 2000. McLEISH, Effie A. Effie was born in Middlesex County, near Arkona, Ontario in 1883. She trained as a nurse at Toronto General Hospital. She enlisted in the Army as a nursing sister in 1915 and went overseas during World War I. Effie was stationed in France and then transferred to Greece, where she served in the Salonika theatre of war. She was struck down with malaria and remained overseas until the end of the war. Effie married J. Edwin Crawford when she returned to Canada. She passed away in 1965 and is buried in the Arkona Cemetery. McLEAN, James Allen “Jim” Jim was born in Dunnville, Ontario on July 15, 1963 to Roland and Barbara. He grew up with three siblings: Debbie, Shirley and Michael. Jim is married to Katarina and they have a blended family of eight children, including: Victoria, Anthony, Jessica, Amber, Tina, Peter, Sarah and Johnny. Jim joined the Canadian Armed Forces, Regular Force, on July 4, 1986 and actively served in peacekeeping missions in Cyprus, Golan Heights and Bosnia. Jim was also deployed in Canada to help during the Winnipeg Flood in 1997, as well as the Montreal Ice Storm in 1988. After retiring from the Army on December 4, 2000, Jim played in hockey tournaments to raise money to help the homeless. As a result of some of the military exposures and combat that he faced, Jim was eventually diagnosed with PTSD. With the support of his service dog, Lucky, Jim is able to control his stress and anxiety, and enjoys being a part of the community again. As a Veteran managing PTSD, he and Lucky speak at school assemblies and other organizations. Jim has been a member of The Royal Canadian Legion’s Hespeler Branch 272 for two years and has also participated for a number of years with the Waterloo Legion’s “Why We Remember” program, teaching youth about the importance of remembrance.
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