547 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND WOODHAM, William Charles William was born on September 24, 1891 in Tursern, England and immigrated to Canada in 1898 as farm labour. William was living in McGillivray Township, Parkhill, Ontario. William enlisted in the Army on October 16, 1915 joining the 70th Battalion. He sailed on the SS Lapland to England in April 1916 and joined the New Brunswick Regiment 26th Battalion. William was killed in action on April 3, 1918 in France. He is buried at Wailly Orchard Cemetery in Arras, France. William Woodham’s name is on West McGillivray War Memorial. WORKMAN, James Gordon James was born on June 13, 1922, in Seaforth, Ontario. He was seventeen at the beginning of World War II, when he enlisted in the Army in the Essex Scottish in July 1939 in Windsor but in November 1940, he transferred to the Navy as an Ordinary Seaman, Windsor Division. He was transferred on June 17, 1941to Halifax, Nova Scotia and assigned to HMSC Stadacona. From November 1941 to June 1945, he served on the Prince Henry, HMS Buxton and St. Lambert, a corvette destroyer doing convoy duty from Newfoundland to Londonderry, Ireland. He was discharged from the HMCS York on September 5, 1945, as a Petty Officer. He married his wife Isabelle in December 1942, in Toronto and after his discharge worked in Toronto for a few years before returning to Brussels, Ontario. He owned a plumbing and electrical business and farmed. Interested in politics and his community, James served as Reeve from 1987 to 1997 being instrumental in the construction of a new Fire Hall, arena, a Home for the Aged and minor hockey. He was a member of The Royal Canadian Legion Brussels Branch 218 for over fifty years. Gordon passed away on September 5, 2008. WOON, David “Dave” Dave was born on April 30, 1920 in Coldwater, Ontario, to Nelson and Rita Woon. He was the youngest of seven boys and also had four sisters. David’s father, Nelson, was Coldwater’s Fire Chief from 1912 to 1946. The Nelson D. Woon Memorial stands in a park by the Coldwater River, a tribute to Chief Woon’s lifetime of service to the community. In 1942, Dave joined a newly created special Army unit, the First Special Service Force (FSSF). It was a joint Canada-U.S. commando unit that gained fame as “The Devil’s Brigade” during World War II. Formed in July 1942, at Fort Harrison near Helena, Montana, its members received rigorous training in parachuting and other special techniques. Sergeant David Woon and the unit’s 1,800 men - close to 700 of them Canadians - fought in the Italian Campaign, Southern France and in the Rhineland until the unit’s disbandment in December 1944. After the war, David returned to Montana where he married and raised his family. He passed away on November 20, 1970, in Shelby, Montana. He is interred at the Fort Harrison Veterans Cemetery at Fort Harrison, Montana, where he trained with the FSSF in 1942.
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