John Thomas Walsh

John Walsh's parents were born and married in Salford, England, a city near Manchester. His father, also called John Thomas, was a bricklayer who had been born in 1881. He married Hannah Eardley, who was two years younger, in 1904. Their first son, Edward (“Ted”), was born the next year and in 1906 they had another child, Alice, who died in 1909, aged two and a half. In 1910 a daughter, Hannah (“Nan”) was born. That year John Sr moved to Toronto to work, leaving Hannah and the children in Salford. By September 1912 he was able to send for them and the family was reunited in Toronto.

On June 29, 1913, John Jr was born at 268 Main Street, south of Danforth Avenue. In 1914 the family was living at 448 Main Street. John's brother Ted would have been one of the first students to attend Secord School when it opened in 1915. John Sr bought 307 Westlake Avenue (it was number 500 until the mid-1920s) as Hannah had given birth to twins, Lorraine and Alsace (“Elsie”) who were born in 1915. Although John Sr was in his 30s when the First World War began in 1914, he enlisted in the Canadian army in March 1916. He claimed that he had done six months' army service when he was younger. He arrived in England in April 1917, but mainly performed guard duty in England and never left for France.

At home in 1917, little Lorraine passed away at the age of one. For a short while Hannah moved the family out of the Westlake house and lived in a house that was at 175 Barrington Avenue. They moved back to 307 Westlake when John Sr was invalided out of the army in September 1918. The medics had discovered that he suffered from heart trouble. When he returned to Canada in June 1918, he had treatment at the military hospital in Hamilton for a few weeks. In 1920 another daughter joined the family and was named Bertha.

John had started school at Secord around 1918. By 1922 the population of the neighbourhoods of Cedarvale and Little York had exploded and Secord School was over capacity. Danforth Park school opened that year and children who lived west of Chisholm Avenue migrated to the new school. Nan and John were among the first Danforth Park students.

In late March 1924, John Sr was rushed to Toronto General Hospital where he had emergency surgery for a perforated ulcer but he died from peritonitis on April 1. He was 42 years old. Life became tough for the family and 19 year old Ted found himself the main provider. John Jr continued at school until he was 16. He only attended Danforth Park and as the rules for school attendance were less formal than today, he may have entered school late, or he attended the small continuation class which the school had. Before East York High School opened in 1927, Danforth Park and other schools in the neighbourhood provided some basic high school classes.

John went to work at The Sangamo Electric Company of Canada on George Street where Moss Park is today. The company produced electrical meters. Fellow Danforth Park Honour Roll member Anthony Higgins was also working there at the time. John worked at Sangamo during 1929 and 1930 in the Inspection department. He must have found odd jobs for several years until he moved to Shawinigan Falls, Quebec to work for CIL's new cellophane plant in 1932. Shawinigan Falls, now known as Shawinigan, was an industrial town with pulp and paper, chemical and textile industries, all powered by the hydro-electric generating station. Most factories had social clubs and sports teams, playing other local factory teams. John played hockey and softball. The Laurentians gave him the opportunity to enjoy skiing and he liked to swim.

Once war was declared on September 3, 1939, John decided to join the army, and he enlisted in Shawinigan Falls on May 31, 1940. He stated his reason for joining as “adventure.” He was trained for an artillery unit and was posted to Petawawa.

In Toronto on December 21, 1940, John married Mary Webb, who moved in with his mother and sisters on Westlake. Not much is known about Mary, but most likely she was his girlfriend in Shawinigan Falls. The couple had a two week honeymoon before John had to return to Petawawa.

John with his wife Mary, circa 1941. From The Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

By February 1941, John was appointed an Acting Lance Bombardier in the 14th Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery. He was promoted to Acting Bombardier the next month and was posted to Debert, Nova Scotia, quickly becoming an Acting Sergeant. He qualified as a gun number on May 22. Each soldier who manned an artillery gun was assigned a number to carry out his specific duty. They were cross-trained to be able to carry out the duties of most of the other positions. Since John was an acting sergeant, he would have been the gun's commander, responsible of the operation of the gun and of the men manning it. He was also responsible for maintenance and servicing of the gun.

John shipped to England in July, after having had a two week leave in Toronto with Mary and his family. He arrived in Gourock, Scotland after a ten day crossing. He continued to England where more than three years of training and, for some, eventual boredom began. He was confirmed a sergeant on August 10. Like all soldiers during this period, John had a week's privilege leave every three months. He probably visited his parents' families in Salford when he could.

He took courses in tank equipment and maintenance, and Browning machine guns, among other classes. It was reported that he was “liking his work.” The regiment was not utilized for the disastrous Dieppe raid in August 1942, but in the spring of 1944, training intensified and leaves were cancelled. The regiment was using M7 Priest self-propelled artillery vehicles which would support armoured operations. Although it had been developed for the American army, it was used by the British and Canadians for the D-Day invasions. All the crews spent days waterproofing the vehicles, filling the cracks and joints with a mudlike grout so than an amphibious landing would be possible.

Gunners of the 14th Field Regiment with their Priest self-propelled howitzer gun, France, June 20, 1944. From Library and Archives Canada.

The 14th Field Regiment boarded their Priest vehicles onto landing craft on June 1 and set sail a few days later. The men played cards to pass the time and once at sea, the choppy waters made some of them ill. Just before midnight on June 5, Allied bombers began attacking the 100 kilometres of Normandy beaches that were to be invaded, continuing until 0515 hrs on the morning of June 6. At 0610 hrs the naval destroyers began bombarding the beaches and the towns nearby. At 0720 hrs, 600 metres from shore, John and his unit started firing from their Priests. It continued for half an hour, naval shells flying over their heads as each Priest fired between 100 and 150 shells, continually adjusting their co-ordinates as they approached the shore. At 0744 hrs John's unit opened fire on the town of Bernières-sur-Mer. The first Canadian infantrymen touched down at 0749 hrs.

D-Day, from a landing craft of the 14th Field Regiment as they approached the beach near Bernières-sur-Mer. Note the shells exploding on the beach. Library and Archives Canada photo.

At 0925 hrs, the 14th Field Regiment landed. They moved off the beach and had 18 guns in action near the town by 1130 hrs. They had difficulty advancing through the narrow streets as the celebrating citizens stopped their way, pushing bottles of Calvados brandy into their hands. The enemy had retreated from Bernières, but every Priest vehicle was carrying a stone boat underneath containing ammunition and mortar bombs and land mines were strapped to the back, making them a highly explosive target, should they be hit by enemy fire. When some of the first Priests emerged from the town, the Germans were waiting with their artillery. The infantry regiment of the Chaudières were able to take the guns and the unit proceeded, regrouping at noon in a church courtyard. By evening they had pushed five kilometres inland to Bény-sur-Mer and went to sleep in foxholes.

By June 8 after heavy fighting against German tank units, they had taken Putot-en-Bessin, 10 kilometres southeast of Bény-sur-Mer and 6 kilometres from the objective of Carpiquet airfield, in the outskirts of Caen. The Canadian situation became quiet for a few weeks, with the Allied commanders worried about the lack of forward movement. Finally a plan called Operation WINDSOR was put in place and on July 4 the Canadians fought to take the airfield, succeeding the next day. At the same time Operation CHARNWOOD began, to take the city of Caen. The Allied air forces bombed the city almost to dust and John's artillery unit was set back from the lines, but their Priests continually pummelled strategic targets. At one point in July they were stationed on the northern outskirts of Caen, 275 metres from a cross-roads nicknamed “Hell's Corner,” an area that the Germans kept under harassing fire.

Once Caen fell on July 18, the Canadians pushed south to take the Bourguébus Ridge by July 23. After this success, the 14th Field Regiment and most of the Canadian army had a respite to relax and regroup. By August 1, John and the regiment were at a rest camp north of Caen, doing maintenance and trading their Priests for 25 pounder guns which were towed behind vehicles. There were softball games and swimming in the ocean. On August 13, they moved forward 20 kilometres south of Caen and John's 81st Battery provided support to the North Nova Scotia Highlanders as they tried to close the Falaise gap, cutting off the Germans before they could retreat. On August 15, John and the artillery were situated on high ground above Falaise. The battery continued to support the North Novas until August 22, when Falaise was cleared and the Germans were beating a swift retreat to the French border. The Canadians had taken hundreds of prisoners.

The unit headed east on August 23, moving about 25 kilometres per day. On August 29, four days after the Americans liberated Paris, the unit crossed the Seine River at Elbeuf. Then they began to push north towards the coast, to take Boulogne and Calais. Once again John's battery was covering the North Novas. Other artillery tasks that they occasionally undertook were shooting propaganda leaflets over the town and in battle, shooting coloured smoke bombs to indicate targets to the air force. On September 14 John was promoted to Warrant Officer 2nd Class.

Allied artillery ringed Boulogne on September 17 and the town fell on September 22. Next, Calais had to be taken if the Allies were to use Boulogne's port. The battle started on September 25 and on September 30, the regiment was providing supporting fire for cleaning up Calais. The Germans surrendered the next day. On October 2, John's unit had crossed into Belgium and had a couple of days to perform maintenance on their equipment.

The next objective was the Scheldt estuary, an 80 kilometre long channel which joined Antwerp to the sea. The unique geography was a challenge. The Germans held a stronghold north of the estuary on the island of Walcheren, next to the South Beveland peninsula and Hitler ordered them to fight to the death. The south bank was dyked flat fields which allowed the Germans to see anything advancing. Field Marshall Montgomery, the commander of the First Canadian and Second British Armies made the Scheldt offensive the army's top priority.

Battle of the Schedlt. From www.canadainternational.gc.ca.

The regiment joined The Battle of the Scheldt on October 5, supporting the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade which comprised The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, The Regina Rifle Regiment and The Canadian Scottish Regiment. They were pushing north through the flat fields that had had been flooded when their dykes were destroyed. John's regiment began shelling Middelburg near the Dutch border and Aardenburg just across it. On the morning of October 12 the Canadians were able to cross the Aardenburg road. By October 28, their objective was Nieuwvliet, 14 kilometres north and 2 kilometres away from the coast. When the Battle of the Scheldt was almost over, the regiment was given a break on November 1 in Ghent, Belgium, billeted in private homes. They happily put a crease in their trousers and tidied themselves up for their friendly hosts.

On November 10, the regiment moved 185 kilometres northeast to Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The Germans had retreated to a line just north of the city and over the German border to the east. Once again the men were billeted in homes of people who were very welcoming. The regiment's war diary noted that they were experiencing static warfare. They had to hold the Nijmegen Bridge and bridgehead, although the Germans were not aggressively trying to retake them. A battery had to be on duty at all times, but it gave the men the opportunity to take leaves to Belgium. They continued protecting Nijmegen into December.

Thursday December 14 was a foggy day – cold and rainy and the visibility was poor. John's battery had a dance organized in Nijmegen at 6 pm and John drove several of his officers and men in a jeep which had slitted headlights so that enemy aircraft couldn't detect any light. The dance ended around 10:30 pm and John drove three officers and two men home. As they approached the driveway for the regimental headquarters, the jeep crashed into a truck parked on the main road with no lights on. John's passengers suffered minor injuries, but John was thrown clear and was unconscious. He died on the way to the hospital. A court of inquiry was held two weeks later and it was determined that no one was at fault.

John is buried in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery. Mary remarried a Mr. Forrester in the late 1940s and moved to Whitby, Ontario. John's mother Hannah continued to live at 307 Westlake and in the early 1950s John's sister Elsie and her husband William Beamish owned the house. They were still living there in 1969.