Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 55 Nova Scotia Soldiers of the North Shore (NB) Regiment By Gary Silliker Regimental records show that over 60 Nova Scotia soldiers assaulted Juno Beach, sector Nan/Red, on D-Day, 6 June 1944, as members of the North Shore (NB) Regiment (NSR). They were: Major Robert B Forbes ; Sergeant BF Elliot; Lance-Sergeant DW Webb; Corporals G Cleveland , MJ Gorman and GW Lepage; Lance Corporal MS Brown ; and Privates JMAuriat, EAAker, SR Andrews, JAAresnault, GH Baker, A Bennett, NM Bradley, BT Broom, WR Budge, GA Byrne, WG Burke, GA Campbell, DN Crowell, AJ Desroche, L Doucette, SJ Falls, A Foster, MB Frank, RA Gimlet, HJ Gormley, PE Harvey, MM Hodgson, RSV Isenor, CD Kane, SM Lake, HT Lewis, DC Lever, EF Mader, WH Mader, JT Marsh, J Marshall, LH MacCulay, A MacDonald, LF MacDowell, JA MacQuarrie, JS McCann, JE McDougall, AJ McLean, JA McNeil, VA Mitchell, JA Montgomery, JE Ogden, WW O’Handley, RWOikle, LAOuthouse, AL Pierce, LE Porter, T Powell, HG Rafuse, GP Ryan, JWRyan, NP Scoville, WS Spavold, AR Sponagle, RATravis, KF Teed, and AWinn. Many more men from Nova Scotia would serve in the NSR before the war’s end. Three hundred and eighty-six (386) members of the NSR died during WW II. The regiment’s fatal casualties by rank were: lieutenant colonel (1), majors (4), captains (2), lieutenants (14), warrant officer Class I (1), warrant officer Class II (2), sergeants (13), lance sergeants (4), corporals (35), lance corporals (33), and privates (277). Sixty-six (66) of the regiment’s war dead were from Nova Scotia. A soldier from Cape Breton was one of three men of the NSR awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM). The second highest award for gallantry in action (after the Victoria Cross) for all army noncommissioned ranks. Fifteen soldiers of the NSR were awarded the Military Medal (MM) for bravery in the field, including a soldier from Pictou County. 1944 On D-Day Sergeant Bruce Franklin Elliot (Kentville) died of his wounds and Private Harold Thomas Lewis (Port Lorne) was killed in action. Private Jean Marie Joseph Auriat (Halifax) was killed in action on 7 June (D+1) during the unsuccessful attack on the radar station near Douvres-la-Delvrande. On 4 July the NSR attacked the airfield at Carpiquet. It was the fiercest fight the regiment had since the D-Day landings. Six Nova Scotians died that day. Killed in action were Privates Lawrence Doucette (Grand Desert), Percy Ervin Harvey (Hants Co), William Lockhart (Londonderry), Raymond McDonald (Glace Bay), Thomas Richard (Charles Cove, Guysborough Co) and Howard Welch (Amherst). Privates Henry Collins (Sydney) and Stafford Marvel Lake (Bramber) died of their wounds before nightfall. Sgt Elliot Private Auriat continued ...
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