Name
Ralph George Black
Born
1920-12-26
Birth Place
Occupation
Driver
Died
1944-08-08
Death Place
France
Death
Killed in Action
Other Residence
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Monument
Cemetery
Service Record 1
Regimental Number
A20472
Highest Rank
Sapper
Conflict
Battalion
Royal Canadian Engineers
Company
10 Field Park Company
Enlisted
Enlistment /Transfer Date
1940-08-06
Notes
The Black family farmed on Peel Street at Carlisle on the outskirts of Southampton. After completing school, Ralph and his brother Keith stayed at home working with their dad on their 100-acre mixed farm. Ralph enlisted in August 1940 and his brother Keith enlisted with the R.C.A.F. in spring 1941. While training at Petawawa, Ralph returned home to marry Juanita Grace Crone from Southampton. Ralph shipped out for England on December 2, 1943 leaving behind his wife Grace and daughter Beverley. On February 6, 1944 another daughter, Cheryl Wendy Lee, was born. Cheryl died two months and six days later due to Spina Bifida. Ralph George Black was killed August 8, 1944 at 13:45, a victim of friendly fire, two months and two days after D-Day. The following is from the Canadian Veterans Affairs Normandy 1944 information file concerning events on August 8: … the prolonged confusion on the congested and murky battlefield, combined with obstinate enemy resistance, soon robbed it (the operation) of momentum. In his plan, Simonds expected air support would break the logjam. Unfortunately, American Flying Fortresses dropped some of their bombs on Canadian and Polish troops, killing or wounding 300 of them.Sources & Links
- a) Bruce County Genealogical Society Surname Collection;- b) Canadian Active Service Attestation Paper, Ancestry.ca, accessed May 22, 2020.
- c) Streeter, Bill. June 6, 1944: D-day Saugeen Times, https://saugeentimes.com/june-6-1944-d-day/, accessed June 8, 2020. (and in BCM&CC Reference Boxes)
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- Library & Archives Canada
- War Graves Commission
- Find a Grave