LEST WE FORGET 305 ORRISS, Clifford Charles “Cliff” WWII Cliff was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan in 1916. He enlisted in October 1939 with the Saskatoon Light Infantry (M.G.) 1st Division. He was among the first troop of Canadians to land in Great Britain in December 1939. He saw action in Sicily and Italy then back to England to receive his commission and joined reinforcement troops in Aldershot. He returned to Canada in August 1945, after serving for almost six years overseas. Cliff met his future wife, Vi Brown, in January 1941 and they were married later that year, on December 20, 1941, in Brighton, Sussex, England. Cliff passed away on September 4, 1995. PARTRIDGE, James Alfred WWII James Alfred Partridge was born on March 17, 1913 in Outlook, Saskatchewan. His parents Frank Herbert and Marguerite Victoria (Fairman) farmed in the Ardath area. James began his working career as an office boy. Between 1935 and 1939, he played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. On November 24, 1939, he enlisted in Regina with the RCAF, first as a service policeman; he also won a national football championship with the RCAF Hurricanes in 1942. He was posted overseas on June 22, 1943 where he completed 28 sorties against the enemy between April 30 and August 24, 1944, some of them during the D-Day Landing. On July 6, his aircraft was hit by flak. His service record includes this sentence: “His efficiency as a Captain of an aircraft marked him out as one of the most valuable members of the squadron.” Later, his squadron flew another 36 sorties. James was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (December 1944) for his skill in piloting his ice-coated aircraft on a successful bombing run to and from the target, all the while evading enemy flak. He and Frances Sylvester Gregory married in St. Catharines, Ontario and raised two sons, Bruce and Allan. His entire working career was spent with Canada Liquid Air, rising to the position of Managing Director by the time of his retirement. He passed away in Toronto on August 6, 2001. PANKRATZ, Frank WWII Frank was born in Arkadak, USSR in 1920. He immigrated to Canada in August 1925 and settled with his parents, Franz and Justina Pankratz, on a farm southeast of Foam Lake, Saskatchewan in the fall of 1929. Frank served in the Merchant Marine during World War II. He was killed in action on the warship “Vancouver Island” when it was torpedoed in the Atlantic Ocean in October 1941. All personnel were lost.
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