Jamieson, James Private Carleton and York Regiment Royal Canadian Infantry Corps B.143446 PERSONEL INFORMATION James Jamieson was born on May 18, 1918 in Toronto, Country of Cork, Ontario. He lived at home with his parents James and Rebecca Jamieson and his sister Margaret Macvay. They were members of the United Church of Canada, which is a Protestant church. James completed primary school at the Dennis public school in Mount Dennis and then went on to high school. He stopped there after one year. After high school he spent three years on a technical training. He did the mechanics course there. During his school days he worked as an operator of a silk weaving machine at Rennie Industries for six years. After graduation, James presented himself to the Canadian army. James was married to Ruth May and together they had two children, a son Robert George Jamieson and a daughter Marlene June Jamieson. 1 He sent this photo to his son Bobby for his 3rd birthday on January 1, 1944. Photo: Canadian Virtual War Memorial. MILITARY INFORMATION On March 2, 1943, James Jamieson registered for military service with the No. 2 District Depot of Intelligence, B Wing, 7th Company in Toronto. He was 24 years old, his height was 5 ft. 8 and he weighed 141 lbs, had light blonde hair and blue eyes. On March 19, he had to show up at the No. 20 Canadian Army Basic Training Center in Brantford. A day later he was referred to the No. 10 Canadian Army Basic Training Center in Borden, Ontario. On June 2 he completed his basic training. On August 14, 1943, he started further training at the No. 14 Canadian Infantry Training Center in Aldershot, Nova Scotia. A month later on September 13, he also completed his advanced training. A day later on September 14, 1943, Jamieson and the No. 5 Canadian Infantry reserve unit set out for England. This voyage took five days and the ship arrived in England on September 19. On November 5th, he was transferred to No. 1 Canadian Infantry Reserve Unit. In the end, it took until March 25, 1944 before Jamieson left England to participate in the fighting in Italy. The journey to Italy was longer than expected and Jamieson did not arrive at the front until April 9. Here he was assigned as reinforcement to the Carleton & York Regiment. It was unclear whether Jamieson fought in Italy or whether he was placed in a reserve unit. On June 23, 1944 he was qualified as ‘Infantry Signaller C’ at the start of Operation Gold Flake. 2 On March 16, 1945 he and the Carleton & York Regiment left Italy together. They arrived in Marseille, France on March 18. This was where the movement of men and equipment started and there was a drive of five consecutive days through France and Belgium before they reached their final destination: the Netherlands. Here, as part of Operation Cannonshot, they took part in the liberation of Apeldoorn and then the advance towards the Veluwe began. THE LAST DAYS The Carleton & York Regiment carried out the first observations of the village of Hoogland on April 20, 1945. The village was approached from Nijkerk via two different roads. During these first observations the liberators were welcomed by the inhabitants, later that day the scouts had to withdraw after an exchange of fire with the German occupiers. Observations were again carried out on April 21, 1945. A platoon of the A- Company was sent out with vehicles and anti-tank weapons to help the Royal 22nd Regiment clear a forest west of Nijkerk. About 200 German soldiers were dug in here. In the evening, men of the D Company created an ambush in the same forest. Nothing else happened here and in the morning they joined the men of the A-Company. On the same evening, the men of the A-Company tried to advance further by circumventing the German defences. But even now they encountered roadblocks, shooting from portable weapons and anti-tank weapons. Ultimately, a position northwest of Amersfoort was taken on the River Eem. Private Jamieson was part of the C or D Company. April 22, 1945 was a cloudy day. As the day passed the weather changed: heavy clouds with rain and it was going to be a wet and cold evening. At 9:11 AM, the D-Company’s position was bombarded by enemy fire from anti-tank weapons. The D-Company did not take over from the B- Company until around 2 PM in the afternoon. The D-Company was given some time to relax, but soon the entire battalion was deployed to carefully search the area around the river Eem. The A-Company started in the adjacent woods, the B-Company started moving towards the river with a number of tanks and two pieces of anti-tank guns. The C- and D-company would pass here as reinforcement later. At 5:12 pm enemy troops were seen at the back of the B-Company. The A- and B-Company took up their defensive positions, but a fight was not forthcoming. At 7:35 PM the C-Company was attacked by a group of Germans armed with heavy machine guns. The C-Company withdrew and encountered a number of road blocks. 3 At 10:17 PM another attack was launched to try to drive away the occupying forces. The Germans fiercely defended the canal, resulting in injuries and deaths on both sides. The attack left the left flank open and it was decided not to continue the attack but to set up a hasty defence on the spot. After the fighting, the wounded on Canadian sides were evacuated to the already liberated hamlet of Langenoord. Here the kitchen of the parish house Concordia, of the Saint Martin's Church, was used as a battalion aid station. In the evening of April 22, 1945, two Canadians were taken to Concordia by jeep. One of these soldiers was James Jamieson. Despite the help of the residents, the two Canadian soldiers died from their injuries on the night of April 22-23. James Jamieson's official date of death was April 22, 1945. He died at the age of 26 in Hoogland. Together with three other soldiers of the Carleton & York Regiment, he was buried in the cemetery next to the Sint- Martinuskerk in Langenoord. After the funeral, the four graves were covered with flowers by the grateful inhabitants of Hoogland. The temporary graves at Langenoord Cemetery in 1945, James Jamieson's grave on the right with the helmet on the cross. 4 Private James Jamieson was awarded with: - 1939-45 Star - Italy Star - France – Germany Star - Defense Medal - War Medal - Canadian Volunteer Service Medal + clasp His wife received a letter on May 5, 1945 stating that her husband James was killed in action in Northwest Europe. After the end of the war, on October 3, 1945, the remains of the temporary graves in Langenoord were transferred to the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery. James Jamieson was buried there side by side with his regiment's comrades. On July 26, 1946, his wife received a letter with the announcement of her husband's reburial. James Jamieson was now buried in the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, grave XIV. H. 11. Jamieson's name was inscribed on the memorial in the Carleton and York Regiment Memorial Park in New Brunswick. After it had become known that Jamieson was killed in Europe, an obituary was posted in the local Toronto newspaper: 5 Life story: Jacco Langenberg, Research Team Faces To Graves. Sources: - Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Library and Archives Canada - Dutch-canadiansremember.ca/biography-Private-Jamesion-James - Canadian virtual war memorial - Mynewbrunswick.ca/Carleton-York-regiment-memorial-park - Foto James Jamieson Donna Maxwell James Jamieson’s grave. Photo Alice van Bekkum 6 On May 5, 2020, a plaque with the names of the killed soldiers is unveiled in Hoogland. William Hartman, Chairman Oranjecomité Hoogland. 7 .