The two men above are the great-grandfathers of Malvern Collegiate student Jack Skinner who is doing a journalism co-op at Beach Metro Community News this year. Both men were members of the Canadian military during the Second World War.Above left, Vincent Leclair Chapin who was wounded in August of 1944 near Caen, France.Above right, Frederick A’delbert ‘Bert’ Skinner who was killed in the battle for Foret la Londe in France on Aug. 19, 1944.
By JACK SKINNER
The 80th anniversary of D-Day will happen on Thursday, June 6. On that date in 1944, The Battle of Normandy started for Canada from the D-Day landing site on Juno Beach on the coast of France.
One of the most crucial events during the Second World War, D-Day was the beginning of the push to take back control of western Europe from Nazi Germany by the military forces of Great Britain, France, the United States, Canada and other Allies.
The Allied countries had to invade the five beaches of Normandy, France in order to liberate Europe. Those beaches were called Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Canada was in charge of Juno Beach.
Canada had 14,000 soldiers, sailors, and airmen fighting on D-Day. By the end of D-Day, there were more than 1,000 casualties among Canadian forces and 381 of them died.
The Battle of Normandy went on in France until late August of 1944, and more than 5,000 Canadians were killed in the battle. My great-grandfather was one of them.
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A few weeks ago my editor at the Beach Metro Community News asked me to write a story on the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
He wanted me to share the stories of my two great-grandfathers who fought in the Second World War and their connections to D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.
Here are the two stories of my great-grandfathers’ – Vincent Chapin and Bert Skinner – and what happened to them during the Second World War.
VINCENT LECLAIR CHAPIN
Vincent Leclair Chapin, my great-grandfather, was a support company commander/army captain, and the soldiers referred to him as “Captain Chapin”.
Vince joined the 1st Canadian Scottish Regiment in Vancouver as a second lieutenant on Dec. 6, 1941. In May of 1942 he transferred to the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders in Britain.
The Camerons helped fight in the Dieppe Raid in August of 1942 a few months after Vince transferred. A total of 916 Canadians lost their lives in the Dieppe Raid, the Camerons alone suffered 76 casualties and Vince was called on to help reinforce the officer ranks.
During his time in England, Vince went from arms instructor to platoon commander, and to support company commander and was later promoted to captain in March of 1944.
Vince set off from London to Normandy with the Camerons to help with the liberation of Europe a month after D-Day. He landed on July 8, 1944.
A month later, Vince and the Camerons formed part of the second Canadian Corps whose objective was to break the Germans who had hold of the city of Caen, France, around 22 kilometres from Juno Beach.
On Aug. 8, 1944, at about 9 a.m., as the Camerons were holding an orders group, a shell landed in the farmyard where the officers were meeting. The shell killed the commanding officer and the shell splinters wounded three other officers. One of the wounded officers was the support company commander who had just come up to join the group, my great-grandfather Captain Vincent Chapin.
His family received a message a week later notifying them that Vince was wounded in action and they didn’t know how badly he had been hurt. Vince spent three months in hospital before returning home to Ottawa as a result of his injuries.
In Ottawa, he was part of a team that helped returned soldiers demobilize and return to a normal life.
While wondering what he would do for the rest of his life, a buddy of his told him the government was recruiting a trade commissioner. A year later he was the trade commissioner at the Canadian Embassy.
After Vince retired, he and his wife along with his four children moved across the river from Ottawa to Alymer in Quebec.
FREDERICK A’DELBERT ‘BERT’ SKINNER
My other great-grandfather was named Frederick A’delbert Skinner, but he went by Bert.
He served in the Royal Regiment of Canada and took part in the Battle of Normandy, arriving in France on July 27, 1944 – about six weeks after D-Day. He was a Lance Corporal.
In his last year of high school (1942), Bert and some buddies decided to enroll in the Royal Canadian Air Force after graduation. He grew up in London, Ontario, and went to London South Collegiate Institute (now called South Secondary School.)
The idea to join the air force was influenced by his older brother Jack who was already in the air force. Bert trained in Manning Depot in Toronto and was later sent to Dafoe, Saskatchewan for further training from February to July 1943.
At age 19, Bert applied for discharge from the air force to join the C.A.S.F. (Canadian Army). During his time with the army, he moved around to a number of postings including Brantford, Ontario, and Toronto.
In early 1944, Bert’s son Richard Wayne Skinner was born in Springdale, Newfoundland. Bert had leave for the birth, but the family quickly moved back to his home of London, Ontario.
A couple of months later Bert returned to his military service on June 14, 1944, a week after D-Day.
He then set off for the United Kingdom, then France to join the Algonquin Regiment. On July 27, 1944, he reported to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Canada and was later put into action.
Bert fought in a total of 17 battles during his time in France. He was shot and killed on Aug. 19, 1944, in the battle of Foret de la Londe which took place a little south of Rouen, France.
He was buried 10 days later on Aug. 29, 1944, at the Bretteville-sur-Laize War Cemetery just south of Caen, France.
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Bert is special in my family. Even though I didn’t know him, my dad didn’t know him and my grandpa (my dad’s, dad) barely knew him, he is someone who is talked about at family gatherings and especially remembered and talked about during this time of year. He also has the same birthday as me.
I gathered this information from my Uncle (Dave Skinner), who went on a trip to England back in 2011 to find out the history of the Skinner family.
When he found the information on Bert’s life, he also found old photos of him when he was a kid, war medals, badges and documents. My Uncle Dave gathered all this information and wrote a book on Bert Skinner’s life when he returned to Ottawa (where he lives).
I believe the 80th anniversary of D-Day should be remembered at least every year if not every five years.
After I read the book on Bert Skinner I was interested and fascinated by what people had to live with at the time; it felt like I was reading a movie script.
Who knows what the world would look like today if the Allied forces didn’t defeat Nazi Germany and their allies during the Second World War?
We as humans need to be thankful for the people who risked their lives to defend our country.
Malvern Collegiate grads remembered
As I’m a Malvern Collegiate student, (doing a co-op at Beach Metro Community News) I was also interested to learn more about former Malvern grads who had fought on D-Day.
Since the 80th anniversary of D-Day is this Thursday, now is a good time to remember them.
The information below on Malvern Collegiate graduates who fought on D-Day and in the Battle of Normandy appeared in a previous Beach Metro Community News article written by David Fuller:
Former Malvern C.I. students Sgt. Morris Murray, RCAF; Corporal Cameron Leander Jones, of the 7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment, 17th Duke of York’s Royal Canadian Hussars; and Corporal Howard Powell Kidd, of the Highland Light Infantry, fought on D-Day.
Murray was the navigator in a Halifax bomber sent to destroy artillery emplacements on the invasion beach near Mont Fleury.
He lived at 90 Kingswood Rd., graduated from Malvern in 1933 and worked at the Inglis plant as an accountant. Although he had already volunteered for the air force in the summer of 1942, Murray married his girl Fern Hillier just before sailing for England.
He was part of a massive air assault across the English Channel from his home airbase in Yorkshire on June 5, 1944 – the night before D-Day.
With next to no resistance from the German Luftwaffe (air force), only two aircraft were lost that night – Murray’s was one of them. Halifax “MP-W” was hit by flak and crashed inland between the villages Grey-sur-Mer and Vers-sur-Mer.
Jones was onboard a ship on the English Channel, approaching the Normandy coast. His older brother Richard was in the RCAF and their younger brother Ross was with the army. Brothers Allan and David and their sister Merle were still at home at 164 Lawlor Ave.
Jones attended St. John’s school and matriculated from Malvern Collegiate in 1940. Within the year of coming over to England, Jones was assigned to the 7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment slated to take part in the landings on June 5, the original date for the invasion. After a weather delay, General Dwight Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for June 6 and Jones was among the second wave to reach the beaches that day.
As the Allied armies fought their way inland in what became known as the difficult Battle of Normandy, Jones was killed on July 9 not far from the airfield at Carpiquet, which had been captured in a fierce battle just four days earlier.
Kidd was a Malvern graduate from the year 1922. He was among the first soldiers to go ashore on D-Day and also survived the landing. Kidd was killed in action on July 8 at the age of 37.
He had moved to Kitchener in the late 1930s, was married to Margaret Polland Kidd and had a daughter named Mildred. Kidd was the son of Thomas Henry and Mildred Maud Kidd.
The final resting place for Murray, Jones and Kidd is the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery in France. Jones is buried just nine rows away from Murray.
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