DASH, PTE/SPR KENNETH Reg. #M38555
Kenneth Dash was born August 30, 1913 in Kipling, Saskatchewan, son of Herbert and Katie (Wright) Dash.
At time of enlistment on August 6, 2943, in Calgary, Kenneth identified that he was single. His attestation papers were signed on Feb. 10, 1944 in Petawawa. He was a private with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, R.C.I.C. (Royal Canadian Infantry Corps).
Pte. Kenneth Dash
On May 23, 1944 Kenneth married Shirley Gladys Wilbor in Hamilton.
Kenneth died in action on Sept. 13, 1944 and is buried Adegem Canadian War Cemetery.
It is not clear, at time of writing, if Kenneth personally lived in the Whitestone area. However, Kenneth is the second name on the list “Dunchurch Circuit, United Church” – after Kenneth Canning and before Gordon Fenton.
It should be noted that Kenneth’s wife Shirley was the daughter of John and Myrtle (Dunn) Wilbur. John and Myrtle Wilbur lived in Dunchurch in the late 1940’s. John was identified as a merchant. Myrtle Wilbur died March 19, 1952 in Dunchurch. John Wibur/Wibor is also identified as having worked at DIL during WWII.
Moreover, Kenneth and Shirley (Wilbur) Dash’s son, born March 20, 1945 is recorded as having attended Dunchurch school in in 1950 and 1951.
In their summary “The Queens Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, The Second World Ward, 1939-1945” the following is provided: “On 6 June 1944 the Allies invaded German-occupied France. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, unlike their Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa cousins, were not "a Normandy D-Day unit". The Camerons of Canada landed at Graye-sur-Mer on 07 July 1944 as part of 6 Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division, and took up positions first won by the Royal Winnipeg Rifles at Carpiquet. It was here that they were subjected to artillery and mortar fire for the first time since the Dieppe Raid….
The allied advance continued across France with the Canadians on the left flank. To them fell the task of clearing the channel coast. The Camerons began their motorized move to the coast on 1 September, entering Dieppe, wisely abandoned by the Germans without a fight. On 6 September the battalion moved up the coast past Calais into Belgium, and occupied Furnes. Swinging back toward the coast on the 10th they advanced southwest to LaPanne and then northeast to Dunkirk. The battalion went into action at Braydunes, an outpost of the Dunkirk defenses, where D Company occupied the crossroads. Cut off for two days, they managed to hold their objective until relieved on 15 September. By the end of September the channel coast had been cleared.
The War Medals of Kenneth Dash
Details of Kenneth’s Service follow:
Kenneth Dash signed his Attestation Papers on February 10, 1944 in Calgary.
However, from August 1943 to Oct. 1944 Kenneth was in training in Petwawa, part of which time was in hospital.
After a brief time in Hamilton, during which time he married, Kenneth continued training in Petawawa until July of 1944 when he was shipped overseas.
Kenneth was posted to 1 BRMR in August 1944.
He was killed in action on September 13, 1944.
Kenneth disembarked in France on September 1, 1944 and was Taken on Strength to the QOCH (Queens Own Cameron Highlanders).
He was killed in Action just 13 days later.
In the story of the West Cameron Highlanders from Wikipedia, the following description is found regarding the unit’s action in September 1944:
“September 1944 found the unit (West Cameron Highlanders) in the west suburbs of Rouen. From there they moved to occupy barracks formerly used by German Engineers south of Dieppe. For the next four days the unit participated in parades and commemorative ceremonies to mark the 2nd Division's previous visit to Dieppe in August 1942. Aside from the ceremonial duties it was an opportunity to rest and reconsolidate. On 6 September, the battalion loaded on trucks and moved to Autingues, where they spent the night of 7 September, before moving on to Furnes. On 9 September, the unit occupied La Panne Bains, chasing out scattered pockets of German resistance. The next day the unit continued the advance through fire from heavy machine guns, mortars, anti-aircraft guns and heavy coastal guns and spent the night occupying a portion of the German West Wall defences.
The advance towards Bray-Dunes continued on 11 September, against increasingly stiff opposition from elements of the 1055th Grenadier Regiment of the German 89th Infantry Division. Before first light on 13 September, the Camerons launched a concerted attack against Bray-Dunes. "A" and "C" Companies made a right flanking attack through the sand dunes by the coast while "D" Company infiltrated through the enemy lines to size the crossroads. While "D" Company achieved their objective by 0530 hours, "A" and "C" Companies failed to penetrate enemy opposition leaving "D" Company surrounded and cut off. At 1800 hours the battalion launched a right flanking attack through Gyrelde to relieve "D" Company. "A" and "B" Companies were stopped after passing through Gyrelde but "C" Company on the left flank fought through fierce opposition to occupy a position 300 yd (270 m) south of "D" Company but could not complete the link up until the following evening. “
