Researching two Great Uncles

Hello all!

First of all, I want to thank the people who started this forum...what a wonderful job they have done! I've taken a few days before writing my first post because I couldn't tear myself away from all the information here.

1. Your Name: My name is Laura Zimmerman and my username is just something I can remember easily (big fan of Spiderman LOL)
2. Age: I am 44 years old
3. Origins: I am from Ontario Canada
4. Specifics: I would like to know more about the infamous day, August 19 1942 as 2 of my Great Uncles perished that day.
5. Hobbies: At this moment, I have taken it upon myself to do my family ancestry and it is taking up most of my time. As a result, I have a newly found interest in both world wars as more of my family perished in the first world war also.
6. Other: As i said above, this ancestry project has taken me to many time periods as I have also found a Great Great Great Grandfather who was in the Navy starting in 1855. It has been very exciting!
7. Miscellaneous: I am also willing to help others if I can

The two Great Uncles who died in World War II I am referring to are:

Corporal William Edward Salisbury B/37371, Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, R.C.I.C. Memorial at Brookwood
Private Donald F. Salisbury B/36682, Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, R.C.I.C.
Buried at Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, Hautot-Sur-Mer

Thank you all, in advance of any help!

 

Hi Laura,

Welcome to the forum.

Your first option would be to obtain the "genealogical packages" available from the Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa. They hold the service files of all Canadians killed during WWII. These packages are culled from their service files and will give highlights of their training, career and , of course, their loss. Up to 25 pages are sent for free. Should you want to know such things as how many cavities they had when they enlisted you can request the whole file but they will charge you 40 cents per page. Some files are 200 pages in length so that can get expensive very quickly.

There are no restrictions on these items. All Killed in Action service files are wide open to anybody who wishes to inspect them.

If you are applying by post (they don't take email or telephone requests) the LAC currently has about a six month backlog. I find it helps if you can give them as much information as possible. But if you live in the Ottawa area, you can go in after obtaining a Client Card, order the files which will be brought up to the Reading Room and then you can examine them. You are also allowed to bring in a digital camera and use that to take photographs of the documents of interest.

So, on B/37371 Corporal William Edward Salisbury, born 19 December, 1919, his service file is located in Record Group (RG) 24, Volume 26976

For your other great uncle, B/36682 Private Donald Frederick Salisbury, born 24 April, 1921, his service file is located in RG24, Volume 26975

You can apply by following the instructions given here:

Search Help - Second World War Service Files: Canadian Armed Forces War Dead - Library and Archives Canada

That Corporal Salisbury is listed on the Brookwood Memorial means he has no known grave:

Brookwood Memorial

Corporal Salisbury was one of six members of the RLHI who went missing on 19 August as this inscription on the Brookwood Memorial shows:

Veterans Affairs Canada

As far as an outline of Operation Jubilee you might want to have a look at this overview here:

http://www.ww2f.com/western-europe-...ion-jubilee-raid-dieppe-19-august-1942-a.html

Or do a search for "Dieppe" or "Operation Jubilee" on this forum's search engine. You will see a forum member "macrusk" who has given plenty of links on the happenings of 19 August, 1942. and will undoubtedly give more as she locates them.

The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry's own website has several resources on Dieppe, including a nominal roll of those killed as well as the amazing story of RHLI Chaplain John Weir Foote, VC:

The RHLI - Medals awarded for service in Dieppe

Best of luck with your research.

 

Wow..thank you both so very much! I will look into all of these! I also have another family member from WW2, Sergeant George Heath, 6285981, East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) and he won the DCM from serving in the Middle East. I have the newspaper article and have transcribed it as well as I could. It`s just so exciting finding all this!

 

Hi Laura,

Whereas Canadian service records from WWII are wide open, this is not the case with British ones. This thread explains the process one must go through to obtain UK service records:

WWII Forums - 404 Fubar

However, Sgt Heath's Distinguished Conduct Medal was gazetted in the 18 July, 1941 issue of the London Gazette:

Viewing Page 4110 of Issue 35221

Not much there other than than the details you have already offered so you would have to go to the source of the citation which is held at The National Archives, Kew (London):

The National Archives | DocumentsOnline | Image Details

Hopefully, that link takes you to the page where you can order a copy of the citation as a pdf file for a small fee. The citation should give you a pretty fair understanding of what he did to be awarded this medal.

This last link explains the DCM, a now discontinued medal. From it you can see whatever Sgt Heath did to earn it required great bravery:

Distinguished Conduct Medal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Best of luck!

 

Thank you again alieneyes! All your help is very much appreciated!

 

Welcome Aboard Laura

I hope that you enjoy your time here and find the information you are looking for. There are a lot of great folks and they are very knowledgeable.

Looking forward to your posts.

Andrew

 

Thank you very much for the welcome Andrew!

 

Hi Laura,

I recently found a picture of your great uncle Donald that was my Grandmother's. I uploaded it onto the Veterans Affairs Canada website. I get conflicting stories some family members say they were engaged others say they were just good friends. Good luck with your search for information, and please update anything you find.

Thank you.