283 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND PANCHEN, William George William was born on June 13, 1919, in New Hamburg, Ontario, to William Harry and Marie Louise (Hopf) Panchen along with three siblings, Margaret Elizabeth (Thomas), Ethel Rosalie (Hughes) and Harold Joseph Panchen. He obtained his education at Holy Family School in town. He enlisted in 1941 in the Royal Canadian Navy (Regular Force) with the HMCS Hallowell (a frigate ship) and William was trained as a stoker. He served on the High Seas during World War II. In 1943, he came home on leave and married Lois “Betty” Isabel (Plummer) who had travelled in from Ajax where she worked as a bomb girl with Defence Industries Ltd. The two had previously met at a dance in Stratford. After the wedding they both resumed their roles in the war. Once the war was over, 1945, Bill and Betty moved to Hamilton where he worked with Canada Post and Betty worked at Robinson’s Department Store. They raised two children, Richard and Bev (Magill) and they had five grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. William passed away in October 1979, at the age of sixty, and is laid to rest in Avondale Cemetery in Stratford, Ontario. PARKS, Jim Jim was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on September 22, 1924. He started his military journey at the age of ten by joining the Army Cadets in his hometown of Winnipeg. At the age of fifteen, he joined the Reserves with the Winnipeg Rifles and later that year joined the Active Force Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. He transferred to the Royal Winnipeg Rifles at Camp Debert, NS and in August 1941 sailed on the SS Orbita to Aldershot, England. In 1943, preparation for the invasion started, including three weeks Assault Training in Scotland. On June 6, 1944, Jim landed on D-Day Juno Beach, Courseulles-sur-Mer with the assault wave attached 6th Field Company of the Royal Canadian Engineers, the landing time at H hour minus two minutes. Following the D-Day landing, he took part in battles to liberate Normandy, notably the battles at Putot and Carpiquet; Belgium at the Leopold Canal; and the Netherlands. He finished the war in Emsden, Germany and was discharged on May 10, 1945. Following the war, Major Parks stayed active in the reserves as an officer with the Winnipeg Rifles and the Royal Canadian Signals Corps retiring as a Major in 1964. Jim currently lives in Mount Albert, Ontario. PARKER, John Kenneth Ken was born in Toronto, Ontario on August 27, 1923. In March 1944, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve as an Engine Room Artificer. He served aboard the HMCS Dunver, in the North Atlantic, as part of a Striker Force protecting convoys. In 1945, at the conclusion of the war in Europe, he returned home for a one month leave to marry Elspeth (Betty) Mettam. At the conclusion of his leave, he boarded a train destined for the west coast to rejoin his ship at Esquimalt, BC and prepare for the war in the Pacific and ultimately the invasion of Japan. During the train trip across the country, the war with Japan came to an abrupt end with the dropping of two atomic bombs. He was stationed for a period at HMCS Esquimalt before returning home to Toronto where he remained stationed until his discharge in February 1946. His marriage to Elspeth lasted 76 years until her passing in 2021. They had two children. He worked as a tool and die maker for Canadian Acme Screw & Gear and subsequently for the Toronto Transit Commission before retiring in 1991. He presently lives in Mississauga in his 101st year.
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