(Commemorated on Hodgson Public School's Honour Roll.)

 

Wilfred Stewart's father, Francis Elliot “Frank” Stewart was born in 1887 into a family that worked in the woollen mills in Hawick, Scotland, the youngest of six children. He arrived in Canada in 1911 with fifty dollars in his pocket and the promise of a job in Galt, Ontario (now Cambridge) as a warehouseman. He soon moved to Alton, Ontario, south of Orangeville, to work as a dyer, a trade he must have learned in the mills in Scotland. He joined the Canadian army in August 1916 as part of the 234th Battalion (now The Lorne Scots), which was based in Peel region. He enlisted at the Ravina Barracks in West Toronto which was located at Weston Road and St. Clair Avenue and shipped to Britain in April 1917 but did not see service in France. He was invalided out of the army in March 1918 because of a pre-existing disability and he moved to Toronto's west end.

 

On February 26, 1919, Frank married Ruby Irene Collins from Hillsburgh, Ontario, not far from Alton. Ruby was born in 1893 and her father was a farmer. By 1911, the Collins' had moved to Woodville Avenue (now Indian Grove). Ruby's father James was working as a carpenter and she and her younger sister Pearl were employed as bookbinders. By the time Ruby married Frank, she and her sister were living at 118 Medland Street, near Keele and Annette. Pearl and her fiance were the witnesses at the wedding. Frank moved in with Ruby and their daughter Jean Irene was born the next year. Wilfred was born on December 29, 1922. His first name, Charters, was after his paternal grandfather and Wilfred was his mother's brother. It doesn't appear that he went by the name Charters at school and was called Wilfred instead.

 

By 1928 the Stewarts had moved to 192 Fairview Avenue, living with Ruby's family and Wilfred had started school at Strathcona. Frank was working as a messenger for Dominion Securities. In 1936 the family relocated to 290 Evelyn Avenue and the next year they moved to 392 Merton Street in North Toronto. Wilfred probably attended Strathcona to Grade 7 and then spent his Grade 8 year at Hodgson Public School, graduating when he was 15. He took an interest in telegraph operations, he played piano and liked to swim. Wilfred was a baseball catcher and a hockey goalie.

 

In 1938 he found a job as a store clerk and truck driver for Young Brothers, a fruit and vegetable store at 561 Mount Pleasant Road, a ten minute walk from his home. His salary was $12.50 a week which was raised to $15 the next year. In April 1939, he joined the Royal Regiment of Canada's reserve unit and attended their summer training camp, knocking two years off his age on his paperwork.

 

Wilfred enlisted in the army on September 8, five days after war was declared by Britain, but two days before Canada declared war against Germany. His father's employer had promised Wilfred a job when the war was over. He stated that he was interested in eventually pursuing auto mechanics.

 

He was assigned to Company B of the Royal Regiment as a private for general duties. Based at the Fort York Armoury, the regiment trained in Toronto. Training was limited due to a lack of equipment. The regiment's individual military skills were more than adequate, but the unit had to borrow one anti-tank rifle and in general, weapons were in short supply.

 

In late May 1940, the Royals moved north to Camp Borden where on June 3, the unit received orders for overseas service. The men were happy to be shipping out, but when they arrived in Iceland on June 16, any excitement evaporated as they were assigned to guarding the country and pioneer work like constructing airfields and roads. The Icelandic summer was much cooler and wetter than an Ontario one.

 

Wilfred received the first entry in his discipline record on the day he arrived in Iceland. He apparently broke camp and was absent from duty for several hours. He suffered several other infractions – a dirty rifle, improperly dressed – over the next few weeks. The regiment was aware that their discipline was slipping and cracked down on the men in August with increased physical training. A rifle range was built and the men were finally able to fire rifles and light machine guns. At the end of September field firing exercises took place over two days.

 

Winston Churchill decided that British troops should be guarding Iceland and he wanted to consolidate the Canadian units in southeast England. Wilfred and the regiment left Iceland on October 28, sailing on Empress of Australia. They arrived in Britain on November 3. A week later Wilfred was transferred to the 4th Recce Squadron, an armoured unit which was involved with reconnaissance. He became a trooper in the unit.

 

Wilfred had leave from November 19 until the 26th and most likely went up to Scotland to visit his uncle and aunts in Hawick. When he returned to Aldershot, he continued training with his new unit. Every three months he was given a week's privilege leave. In March 1941 his squadron was merged with two others to create the 8th Reconnaissance (Recce) Regiment. Wilfred was part of B Company, which comprised 191 men. In battle, the unit would move in advance of the main infantry to provide intelligence about enemy units and their strength, road and bridge conditions. Sometimes the unit would attack weak enemy positions, but in general most fighting was left to the infantry. Regardless, reconnaissance work could be very dangerous due to land mines and ambushes.

 

The 8th Recce was initially equipped with motorcycles, military trucks and light armoured vehicles and the next three years were spent training and in coastal defence of southern England. Wilfred was cited again that year for neglecting to clean his rifle and for failing to keep his clothes clean. Training continued and as the months passed by one of the main problems was boredom among the troops. In May 1942, Wilfred had a routine interview with an officer and mentioned that he wanted to be a carrier driver. He also expressed an interest in the driver mechanic course. He complained that he was being “picked on” by a particular NCO and was being given extra fatigues and duties. The interviewing officer observed that Wilfred lacked initiative, but did his assignments well.

 

His regiment was not part of the Dieppe Raid on August 19, but his former unit, The Royal Regiment, took extremely heavy losses. Wilfred had known many of the fallen. He continued to travel up to Hawick on leave where he'd met Elizabeth (Eliza) Robertston Wintrup, the daughter of a schoolmate of his father's. She was a few months younger than Wilfred and a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS - the women's branch of the British Army) in an anti-aircraft unit. Before the war she had been a Sunday school teacher. In early August the couple got engaged and Elizabeth reached out to her minister for a reference letter. On December 21 Wilfred was given permission by the army to marry. He had already started a two week leave on the 16th. The couple married in the Hawick Registry Office on Christmas Eve.

 

Wilfred was due back from his leave at 2000 hrs on December 30, but he didn't return to camp until 1325 hrs on January 2, 1943. He was confined to barracks for seven days and forfeited 3 days' pay.

 

Training continued through 1943 and all the men wondered when they would see some battle action. For a week in July Wilfred attended a regimental police course. On August 2, he broke barracks after the tattoo call. On August 15 he broke camp again and didn't return until August 26. He forfeited 39 days' pay for this transgression. He was also given 28 days of Field Punishment, which was usually hard labour. After completing his sentence, he may have been transferred to an artillery reserve unit until after D-Day in June 1944.

 

Once the beaches of Normandy were secured, men and equipment flowed across the English Channel. On July 17, Wilfred embarked for France, landing the next day. On the morning of August 16, he returned to the 8th Recce as a reinforcement, one of 33 men. The regiment was the reconnaissance arm of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. It is unclear whether Wilfred returned to B Company but he found the unit on the northern boundary of Falaise approximately 50 kilometres inland.

 

The battle for the Falaise pocket had begun on August 12. The Allied armies were encircling the town of Falaise and had to close a gap which the Germans could use to escape. As the Allies cut off the Germans in Falaise, the escaping German army retreated very quickly north out of France. The 8th Recce began following on August 19, moving northeast on average 25 kilometres per day. The unit reported being under Tiger tank fire on August 22. On August 29 or 30, the regiment crossed the Seine and headed towards the coast, entering Dieppe on the morning of September 1, twelve hours before the infantry. The Germans had withdrawn the previous day. On September 3, the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the war, the 2nd Division had a victory parade through the town with people thronging the sidewalks, cheering wildly.