29 www.on.legion.ca ALEXANDER, James “Jim” Jim was born in Patina, Ayrshire, Scotland on December 14, 1917. He enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces (Regular Force) on July 9, 1943, serving with A Company of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment. He deployed from Halifax in December 1943 and landed in Normandy during World War II. He also served in England, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Rising through the ranks, he became a Sergeant in 1945 and was awarded the Military Medal by King George VI that same year. Of the 847 men who landed with him, only 83 returned to England in December 1945; Jim was wounded multiple times. After his discharge on September 19, 1946, Jim worked as a carpenter and contractor, eventually becoming the shop carpenter at the Simplicity factory in Hespeler. He married Elsie Frances Crowe in 1947 and raised four children—Becky, Shelley, Jay, and Jamie. Jim taught himself the Great Highland Bagpipe and regularly played at Remembrance Day services. Many remember his lunchtime piping by the river near Simplicity. He was a dedicated community member: a proud fifty-year member of The Royal Canadian Legion Hespeler Branch 272, founding member of the Hespeler Junior Pipe Band Association, and President of the Clan Donald Society of Canada (Grand River Branch). A passionate bird watcher and amateur historian, Jim left a legacy of resilience, service, and pride in his Scottish heritage. Jim passed away on March 9, 2000. ALLEN, Henry Harold Henry Harold Allen was born on September 30, 1879, to Henry Allen and Sarah Jane Graham of Stayner, Ontario. While a student of Theology, Henry married Hannah Freeman Carruthers in Toronto in 1906, and the couple had a daughter, Helen Kathleen. They moved to Aurora where Henry served as minister at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. This profession would have enabled him to become a Chaplain in the military if he so chose, but he elected instead to join the ranks of fighting men. Henry enlisted in the Army (Regular Force) on September 15, 1915, with the 9th Mississauga Horse, which recruited for the 81st Infantry Battalion, C.E.F. His unit sailed to Liverpool aboard the S.S. Olympic on April 28, 1916, and trained at West Sandling Transit camp in Kent. On June 10, Henry was appointed as Acting Corporal in his Battalion. On the morning of his death, it was reported that he was feeling ill and went into his tent after parade. Shortly thereafter, tragedy befell, and Henry went into a coma after accidentally ingesting what may have been medicine for the unit’s horses. He died at Shorncliffe hospital on June 15, 1916, and is buried at the on-site cemetery. Henry was 36 years old. We Will Remember Them Ontario Command
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