WorldWar II
FallenSoldiers - RockwoodCenotaph
Page 30
GORDONEARLMACK
B115290Trooper
Born:
28April 1925 inEramosaTownship, Ontario
PreviousOccupations:
Farmering, BarnConstruction andCarpenter
Enlisted:
14August 1943 inOrillia, Ontario
Died:
21February 1945 at the age of 19
Buried:
GroesbeekCanadianWar Cemetery, near Nijmegen, Nether-
lands
GordonEarl Mackwas born on 28April 1925 toGeorgeErnest and JennieMay (nee Lillie)Mack of
Lot 16, east half of Con.VI, EramosaTownship. Hewas the third of their four sons (LloydGeorge
b.1919, DonaldThomas b.1921, and JamesA. b.1928). After graduating fromGrade 8 from
EramosaS.S. #7, hewent toworkwith his father and brothers on the farm andbuilding barns in
thearea. He alsoworked as a carpenter forWilliamMcCutcheon in various locations throughout
Erin andEramosaTownships. His hobbieswere fishing, hunting, trapping and readingZaneGrey
westernnovels. When hewas 17, he joined themilitia of the 29thBattery of the 11thFieldRegiment
(Artillery), headquartered inGuelph. He attended a training camp fromMay toNovember 1942.
On 14August 1943 inOrillia, he enlisted in the same regiment andwent through basic training
and additional training inWindsor, NovaScotia. On 26 June 1944, Gordon embarked for England
fromHalifax, arriving seven days later. At this time, hewas in a tank regiment but on 31August,
he transferred into theCanadianBaseReinforcement Battalion of theCanadian InfantryCorps,
in response to the urgent need for infantry to replace heavy losseswhile fighting along the coast
of France and intoBelgium. Upon arrival inBelgium on 17October, hewas assigned to the
Royal Hamilton Light InfantryRegiment (RHLI),Anti-TankSupport Unit. Thiswas shortly after the
beginningof theBattle of theScheldt (where theRhineRiver enters theNorthSea). At this time,
theRHLI was involved in fighting on the islands north of theBelgian port city ofAntwerp, and for
thenext monthswas involved in the liberation of theNetherlands. His letters homementioned the
grim conditions at the front. On 25 January 1945, hewrote to his parents about his hope to live in
southernWales and join theRoyal Navywhen thewar ended.
In the final days of OperationVeritable (8 to 21February 1945), theRHLI was involved in
exceptionally heavy fightingalong theKalkar (Calcar) GochRoad. Trooper GordonEarl Mackwas
killed inaction on 21February 1945 near the town of Keppelen, Germany. In a letter to his parents,
hisCaptain spoke highly of TrooperMack and described how his four-man squadwas advancing
along the side of a roadwhen theywere hit by an artillery shell. Only one seriously injuredman
survived.
Trooper GordonEarl Mackwas initially buried a fewmiles northwest in a cemetery in the small
village of Louisendorf. Shortly after the end of theWar inEurope, his bodywas exhumed and
reburied in theGroesbeekCanadianWar Cemetery, near Nijmegen, Netherlands. His name is
alsomemorialized in theBooks of Remembrance in thePeaceTower of theCanadianParliament
Buildings, Ottawa.
