BRUMPTON, HERB
Herb enlisted in 1943 in Toronto and joined the air force. He was posted to England with the Essex Scottish Regiment.
Herb Brumpton
Wilf Brumpton notes that his dad commented after the war that he never wanted to see mutton again! (This writer’s father made the same comment – with the further observation that the wool was still floating on the stew when it was served.)
He was sent to New Brunswick and while there ended up with dysentery. He recovered enough to be deployed to England, but while at Aldershot he had a very serious recurrence of dysentery and was shipped home and discharged as medically unfit.
During World War II the Essex Scottish regiment was among the first Canadian units to see combat in the European theatre during the invasion of Dieppe. By the end of The Dieppe Raid, the Essex Scottish Regiment had suffered 121 fatal casualties, with many others wounded and captured. Wilf was part of a rebuilding that was occurring after the regiment was badly depleted following Dieppe.
The Essex Scottish later participated in Operation Atlantic and suffered heavy casualties attempting to take Verrières Ridge. By the war’s end, the Essex Scottish Regiment had suffered over 550 war dead; its 2,500 casualties were the most of any unit in the Canadian army during the Second World War.
Wilf and Jim Brumpton, sons of Herb note that while at Camp Borden, Herb was used as a model for a recruitment painting.
