Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 53 continued ... and was posted to the Toronto Scottish Regiment (M.G.). Mel arrived back in France in July 1944 and was wounded on 31 October 1944, in the Netherlands, during the Battle of the Scheldt (he was awarded the Commander-in-Chief’s Certificate for Gallantry for his actions that day). He continued to serve in the front lines before being sent home April 1945 due to the length of his overseas service. Melville William Coppell died in New Glasgow on 25 July 2007, at age 88, and is buried in the Gladstone Cemetery, Four Mile Brook. Gerald 'Gerry' Lorraine Crouse was born in Italy Cross. Gerry resigned from the West Nova Scotia Regiment and sailed from Halifax in late March 1939. He enlisted in the 2/Mancs on 4 April. Gerry served in D Company and was evacuated from Dunkirk in early June 1940. In July 1941 Gerry transferred to the CanadianArmy and was posted to the West Nova Scotia Regiment. He took part in the invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and suffered a serious head wound on 12 December at Ortona, Italy. After the war he served as a company quarter master sergeant (CQMS) in the WNSR. Gerry operated a taxi business in Bridgewater and was also employed as a commissionaire at CFS Mill Cove. Gerald 'Gerry' Lorraine Crouse died on 25 November 2012 at Camp Hill Veterans Hospital. He was 95. Gerry was the last known surviving member of the Halifax 100. Clyde Reginald Cruickshanks was born in Halifax on 25 April 1918. He was the eldest of three children born to Adam and Bertha (Henneberry) Cruickshank. Clyde enlisted in the 2/Mancs on 21 March 1939. After training, he joined the regiment at Aldershot and sailed to France in September 1939. On 26 May 1940, elements of 2/Mancs were fighting a rearguard action so others could proceed safely to Dunkirk for evacuation. Clyde’s unit were overrun by superior German forces and forced to surrender. They were marched for twelve days into Germany, guarded by SS troops, and then transported by cattle trucks to Stalag 20A in Thorun, Poland. In January 1945, to flee the advancing Russians, the Germans began the infamous 'Long March' of the weakened POWs towards Germany. The POWs on that march were liberated by US forces in April 1945. After a brief hospital stay Clyde finished the war as a motorcycle dispatch rider in the Royal Army Service Corps in Scotland. He made a brief trip to Halifax in 1945, before returning to Scotland to marry a young woman whom he had met while stationed there. Clyde and Monica 'Mona' Robinson were married on 9 November 1945 in Stirling, Scotland. The couple had two small boys - Clyde and David. Mona was pregnant with a third child when Clyde shipped out to Korea, having enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Ulster Rifles. Private Clyde Cruickshanks was killed in action on 27 November 1950 while fighting against North Korean guerrilla forces. His body was originally buried in the Kaesong Cemetery in North Korea. Clyde's remains were returned to UN Forces under Operation 'Glory' in 1954. His remains are buried in the UN Memorial Cemetery Pusan, Korea. Everett Gerald Curran was born in PEI and was living Halifax when he opted to go to England and enlisted in the 2/Mancs. No wartime information was found on his service. After the war he joined the Halifax Fire Department. He died on 10 November 1964 at age 47. Everett Curran is buried in the Gates of Heaven Cemetery, Lower Sackville. William ‘Billy’ Patrick Delaney was born in Halifax and enlisted in the 2/Mancs in late April/early May 1939. He was evacuated from Dunkirk in June 1940. In 1941 Billy opted to transfer to the Canadian Army and was posted to the Toronto Scottish Regiment (M.G.). His unit was involved in the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942. Sergeant William ‘Billy’ Patrick Delaney left the army after the war and became the first firefighter hired at the new naval fire department HMC Dockyard Halifax. Billy retired as a platoon chief and died in September 1985 at age 68. He is buried in the Gates of Heaven Cemetery, Lower Sackville. continued ...
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