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World War Two Roll of Honour

Flying Officer Frederick Arthur George Wilmott Gerty
June 2, 1942
405 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
Service Number J/15170
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany. Age 29
Son of William Brimsley and Violet Lucy Gerty, Vancouver, B.C.
Husband of Marjorie Ann Gerty.

"Fred" Gerty was born in Cambridge, England and in 1922 his family moved from Dublin, Ireland, to Chilliwack. He attended both Chilliwack Central School and Chilliwack High School and entered Chilliwack Business College. He was an enthusiastic musician and a member of the Canadian Legion Band. In 1938 he moved with his mother to Abbotsford and met his future wife, Marjorie Hulton‑Harrop, who he married in 1941. Fred enlisted in the R.C.A.F. in July 1940 and graduated from Edmonton as an observer. Before going overseas he was stationed at Rivers, Manitoba and Fingal, Ontario until he began operational flying with 405 Squadron. He took part on several missions over Germany and occupied Europe until June 2, 1942 when he lost his life on a raid to Essen when his aircraft crashed near Krefeld and the crew buried at Hauptfriedhof. After the war the crew was reburied. Other members of the crew killed were Pilot Officer R.L. Baltzer R.C.A.F., Flight Sergeants J.A. Thompson, L.D. Jackson, S.L. Reid, J.M.W. Fortin all of the R.C.A.F. and Sergeant J.L. Turnbull R.A.F. Fred Gerty is also commemorated on the Abbottsford War Memorial.

 

Private Rudolf Goetz
March 8, 1945
11th Canadian Field Ambulance, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps
Service Number K/1553. Original Unit of Service – A Squadron 9th Armoured Regiment, 5th Motorcycle Regiment, British Columbia Dragoons
Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Nijmegen, Netherlands. Age 23
Son of Gerhard and Anna Goetz, Yarrow, B.C.

In 1924 the Goetz family moved from the Ukraine to Dalmeny, Saskatchewan and later to Yarrow where Gerhard Goetz practised veterinary medicine. Rudy attended Yarrow Bible School and graduated in 1941. He maintained an interest in animals and liked to box. The Goetzs were Mennonites, and although many Mennonites retained pacifist views, about 4500 Mennonites joined the armed forces. Goetz served with the 11th Canadian Field Ambulance and served at the front for only three days when he was killed in action, March 8, 1945, evacuating the wounded.

 

Private George Andrew Good
December 26, 1943
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
Service Number K/45872. Original Unit of Service – Rocky Mountain Rangers
Moro River Canadian War Cemetery, Ortona, Italy. Age 28
Son of George E. and Isabella Good, Chilliwack, B.C.

George Good was the son of George and Isabella Good of Spadina Avenue. Prior to his military service he worked as a logger on the coast and in the Harrison Lake District. During the summer months he helped his father in the fruit business and was a familiar figure throughout the valley. George enlisted in May 1942 and went overseas in December. He took part in the invasion of Sicily, in July, but contracted malaria in August and was sent to a North African hospital for treatment. He was able to return to his unit and was involved in heavy fighting between December 24-26, 1943. The regiment fought against German paratroopers and were engaged in "mouseholing", the practice of clearing out a house and then garrisoning it so that the enemy could not re‑infiltrate the home. Private Good was killed in action December 26, 1943. Another local man, L.H. McConnell of the same regiment was killed on the same day.

 

Flying Officer Frank Herbert Grainger
16 October 1943
131 Operational Training Unit, Royal Canadian Air Force
Service Number J/12769
Irvinestown, Church of Ireland Churchyard, County Fermanagh, Ireland. Age 20
Son of Herbert and Amy Grainger.
Husband of Joyce E. B. Grainger, New Westminster, B.C.

After attending school in Rosedale and graduating from Chilliwack High School, Frank Grainger joined the R.C.A.F. His early flight training was conducted at Boundary Bay and at Claresholm, Alberta. In Claresholm he was awarded his pilot's wings and commissioned in July 1942. In September he married his high school sweetheart, Joyce Ker of Sardis and was posted to a Coastal Command Squadron located in Scotland. With this unit Frank flew Sunderland aircraft on anti‑submarine patrols. He was transferred to Northern Ireland to serve with 131 Operational Training Unit. His Catalina aircraft crashed at the St. Angelo (VHF) receiving station in the county of Fermanagh. All crewmen and passengers were killed. A pair of candlesticks and plaque were donated in his memory to St. John the Baptist Anglican Church.

 

Pilot Officer George Henry Green
February 24, 1941
70 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Service Number 42499
Naples War Cemetery, Italy. Age 26
Son of George William and Eleda Mae Green, Sardis, B.C.

Educated at Sardis Public School and Chilliwack High School George was the first local boy to see action over Germany and Norway during the Second World War. He was most active in school and community affairs and his other interests included basketball and badminton, the later a sport in which he was very high ranking. George enlisted in the Royal Air Force in June 1939, received his wings in October and was commissioned in April 1940. On one raid, over Berlin, he was caught in an electrical storm and the aircraft wings became covered in ice. The aircraft went into a tailspin and George ordered his crew to bail out. One engine of his bomber restarted and George was able to fly the crippled aircraft back to England. He was hospitalized following a raid over Norway when a flock of seagulls flew into his Wellington bomber and broke the glass in the cockpit and sent shards throughout the compartment. After his recovery he rejoined 70 Squadron and in November 1940, flew a bomber to Egypt. On February 24, 1941, on a raid against an Italian target George and his crew failed to return.

 

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