353 www.on.legion.ca TASSE, Robert James Robert was born in Cutler, Ontario on November 13, 1910. He was the sixth child of Joseph and Laura, part of a large family shaped by hard work, long seasons, and the quiet endurance of farm life. The family lived in a very rural area and Robert had minimal formal education, stating he “learned self on farm”. He was capable with his hands fixing things and he enjoyed playing the guitar, violin and accordion. He had spent twelve years driving truck and doing miscellaneous jobs as well as farm work. In 1939, he and his brother George moved to Sault Ste. Marie to work at Dominion Bridge Steel. Enlisting in the Army (Regular Force) on August 31, 1942, in Sault Ste. Marie, he did his basic training in North Bay, Ontario and Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. With his military pay, he bought his first $50 war bond. Robert asked and was taken on strength of the Royal Canadian Artillery, 2nd Anti-Tank Regiment, “F” Battery, stationed at Petawawa, Ontario, joining his brother, George, there in March 1943. Shortly after arriving, he fractured a bone in his right wrist. After release from hospital, he was re-posted to “G” Battery. That summer, he assigned $30 a month of his pay to his sister Rose from his $1.50 a day as a gunner. Mobilized, the unit arrived in the UK on Christmas Eve. On July 7, 1944, the Regiment landed in Normandy and was immediately engaged in the area around the north of Caen. As the campaign pushed south of Caen, Robert’s “G” Battery supported the Calgary Highlanders in the brutal fight for Verrières Ridge. It was one of the most fiercely contested positions in Normandy, and the cost was staggering. Robert was killed in action on July 20, 1944. He was first laid to rest along the St. Martin de Fontenay Road, in the ground he had fought to liberate. Two years later, in 1946, he was reburied at Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery. There, he was placed near his brother George, who had fallen on the very same day, serving in the same regiment. Back home, their 74-year-old mother received the news families dread most. Two letters. Two sons. Both lost to the cauldron of war. TAWTON, Lloyd Elliot Lloyd was born on March 19, 1953, in Cooksville, Ontario. Lloyd enlisted in the Navy Reserve when he was seventeen years old and served on HMCSYork. At the age of 21, he enlisted in the Regular Forces and served with the Corps of Signals and Corps of Engineers. After 42 years of service that included a peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, deployment to Baden, Germany, and one full deployment to Alert with an additional six partial deployments. As well, during Lloyd’s service, he was deployed to each of Canada’s northern islands, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Wainwright and Cold Lake, Alberta. Lloyd actively participated in the local communities. After retiring from the Regular Forces in 1992, Lloyd became a Commissioned Officer working with youth through the Cadet Program. He was released in 2013. He is currently an active eleven-year member of his local Royal Canadian Legion Branch 171 in Alliston, Ontario. We Will Remember Them Ontario Command
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==