Hello all from Canada where I'm researching my great uncles role in WW2 He was a mining engineer from Northern Ontario drafted into the Royal Canadian Corps of Engineers and stationed on the south coast of England. He was always pretty coy of what he did but before he passed he mentioned that he was transferred to an AMERICAN corps with three others and that they were to prepare the beaches on the British side for the ships to leave for D Day. He also mentioned that his name is on a plaque on a beach in a town on the south coast again undeer the American listing....go figure trying to find it but we really want to. My parents are heading over this spring to start looking. I can get his unit number but alot of the info including his work with the Americans is labelled top secret and requires U.S release! Any help?? Already started looking at ww2 engineering memorials. He stated that he was based Portsmouth almost Lands End area..where to start??

Name, Unit, & number would be a good start if possible.
And welcome aboard.

Cheers,
Adam.

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"Wars cannot be fought with dream stuff" - Sir Percy Hobart.

Any idea what town?
Some of us Brits may be able to get a photo for you.
Welcome to the site.

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Found some more info regarding battalion etc please read...
Prior to D d-day Sept 7 to Oct 14 1943 was with 2nd Battalion Royal Canadian Engineers
Oct 15 March 18 1944 with Canadian Engineer Reinforcement Unit, during this he was attached to 1 Field Squadron Royal Canadian Engineers from Nov4 '43 to Dec 2 '43
March 19 - March 30 1944 was with 2 Field Company Royal Canadian Engineers
March 21- Sept 23 1944 back with the Reinforcement Unit..he attended a deep well drilling course...all of these were in the United Kingdom..trying to narrow down the area,
On Sept 27th 1944 he embarked for France and was seriously wounded May 1 1945..don;t worry he lived to be a fine old mining prospector until he was 85!

My cousin whose helping with this has managed to find the three volume set outlining the Royal Canadian Engineers and can't find any info where these unit where or what they were doing. He also mentioned that since he was never attached to the US forces for pay purposes, it is unlikely they would have records on him..

Maybe we can work backwards, any plaques etc etc that are dedicated to engineers along the beaches specifically the departure points for D Day forces??

Hope this helps! Thanks so much for reading...anyone know any engineers on this board?

Ooops almost forgot, Name is John Duncan ( no middle name) born Mindoka Ontario

redcurlygirl, I have quite a few Canadian research sites listed on this thread Websites for WWII or Related Research (i.e. Family History)

and one of those is this one Military - What to Search: Topics - Canadian Genealogy Centre - Library and Archives Canada

If you haven't already, you really should at least request a copy of your granduncle's military record. Since he lived to 85, he hasn't been gone the 20 years necessary to get his full record, but you should be able to get the genealogical version. Of course since you are quoting dates of service this may be a redundant suggestion.

There are probably more books available now than ever re the Canadian Army in World War II. To find the location where he worked on sites for the ships of D-Day, I'd look to see if I could find some books on the 3rd Division, as they may say where the ships left from. I will have a look through some of my books in case it is mentioned, although mine are mostly about the 2nd Division and they landed in Normandy the beginning of July. I would also try searching for Canadian or American military memorials in England on the Internet.

Good Luck. I'm trying to find out about my father and mother's wartime experiences/records and am finding that I am able to take bits from their memories, letters, and father's records combined with other historical sources to piece together what was happening in their lives.

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."

As he never went to France until September why would he be on a plaque about D-Day?
As going by your info he was on that deep well drilling course and missed it.

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Re : since he was on the deep welling course during D Day...ggod point. He was very adamant that his name is on a commemorative plaque in England ( basically telling my mom on his deathbed) so he didn;t go ashore on D Day but since he was engineering he was in something that was very important to the success of D Day related to building something on the British side..I was thinking of the floating dock construction on the south coast of England and also the top secret boat/beach preparation in the coastal towns on the south before D Day..so I need to look for British preparations info for D Day
Hope that gives some more ideas of where and how to look..remember it was and American group that he was lent to that was working on the beach in England not a Canadian group.
As for his military records we were able to receive them thru a request by my grandmother, his sister. I'll see what other I can get from them as in locations

Excuse my ignorance but shouldn't there be a unit war diary somewhere on this reinforcement unit.....

And where can I find this unit war diary? Maybe that would give locations, any info from Brits on memorials or plaques or even towns where engineering/reinforcements would have been near Lands End/Portsmouth?

found some more info, found out that the (or one of ) Yoyal Canadian Engineers Reinforcement units was stationed at Guillemont Barracks in Cove Hampshire..north of Portsmouth but very inland...any links to anyone out there in England that can help me out?