LEST WE FORGET 345 STEVENS, Geoffrey Duncan WWII Geoffrey Duncan Stephens was born October 30, 1890, in Torquay, Devon, England. He was the third and youngest son of James Arthur Percival and Florence Emma Isabel (Bennett) Stephens. His father was a London Lawyer. Geoffrey had a sister Constance and two older brothers, Percival and Herbert. He was educated at prestigious private schools: Wolborough Hill Primary School and Tonbridge School. He was in the cadets for a number of years and attended Brussels University. Before he left for employment with a bank in Canada, he worked for Westminster Bank in London. Geoffrey Stephens worked briefly for the Bank of Montreal in Outlook, Saskatchewan before enlisting in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in Montreal. After receiving a commission from the Special Reserve of the Royal Fusiliers in June 1915, he was discharged from the Canadian Contingent. Attached to the 1st Trench Mortar Battery, he joined his comrades in the Flanders area. In the early hours of Sunday, July 9, 1916, Geoffrey Duncan Stephens was killed by a sniper’s bullet somewhere near Dranoutre in the Ypres Salient. His captain reported that he “was very brave and always did his work keenly and well and will be very much missed in the Battery.” He is buried in Dranoutre Military Cemetery in West Flanders, Belgium. SWANSON, Clifford W. C. “Cliff” WWII Clifford was born in Churchbridge, Saskatchewan on January 10, 1918. He enlisted in the Air Force on July 14, 1942. He served as an Aero Mechanic, Leading Aircraftman in Regina and Mossbank, SK; Gimli, MB; Lethbridge, AB and St. Thomas, Ontario during World War II. He was discharged on December 10, 1943 and received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and the War Medal 1939-1945. Cliff returned to Churchbridge to farm and married a local girl, Ruth Kaeding in 1946. They raised four sons. Cliff passed away on February 24, 1980. STOBBE, Alvin Jacob RCMP Alvin was born in Rabbit Lake, Saskatchewan on January 2, 1934. He joined the RCMP in 1954, serving for twenty years in Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa and achieving the rank of Sergeant. He was a loyal member of the RCMP retired Veterans. He bought a farm after his retirement where he lived until his death. Alvin passed away on June 15, 2019.
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