GRUNIG, PTE. CECIL Reg. # 115602
The Royal Regiment of Canada, B Coy
Canadian Army Overseas
Cecil Casselman Grunig was born about 1916 in Hagerman Twp. or Magnetawan the son of Godfrey Grunig and Sarah ‘Sadie’ Jane Patterson. It was in the latter location that he lived with his parents in 1921.
Cecil married Mae Victoria Morris. In 1945, the couple lived in Magnetawan. They had 2 children
Cecil died in July 2001 in Huntsville and is buried at Wattenwyle,
Cecil wrote numerous letters back to the students of Godfrey Grunng’s class,
In a letter of March 5, Cecil wrote that he was somewhere in Germany.
He noted that he had just arrived back from the lines and was pleasantly surprised to receive mail.
At time of writing Cecil was sitting in a hay mow and was using a milking stool as a table.
Cecil wrote again on March 25, 1945 thanking the local 'cadets for gifts he had received'. His address was again given was somewhere in Germany.
Once again Cecil had just returned from the front.
As noted, Cecil was in the Royal Regiment of Canada, B Coy. Wikipedia provides following description:
“On 1 September 1939 the regiment was mobilized as part of the Canadian Active Service Force as Canada prepared for participation in the Second World War. When war was declared on September 10, the RCR had already been allocated to the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade, a formation made up entirely of Ontario units. Moving to the United Kingdom in December 1939 as a component of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, the RCR saw hard training for almost four years.
On 10 July 1943, the RCR landed at Pachino in the opening waves of the Allied invasion of Sicily – the last member of the regiment to participate in these original waves – George F. Burrows of Chatham Ontario – died on April 11, 2012, in Windsor, Ontario at the age of 88. The regiment and its sister units in the 1st Brigade, The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment and the 48th Highlanders of Canada fought in several battles as the division advanced north and then east towards Messina. After the 38-day campaign on the island was completed, the regiment was involved in another amphibious landing (codenamed Operation Baytown) at Reggio di Calabria, as part of Allied invasion of the Italian mainland in September.
The RCR fought in several battles of the Italian campaign, including key engagements in the Moro River valley near Ortona in December 1943. During 1944, the regiment took part the Battle of Monte Cassino in attacks on German defensive lines called the Hitler Line and later the Gothic Line.
The regiment was transferred to northwest Europe in February 1945 during Operation Goldflake and took part in the liberation the Dutch city of Apeldoorn. The regiment received 28 battle honours for its participation in the Second World War.“
The Government of Canada website provides the following additional detail:
“The Royal Canadian Regiment was placed on active service on 1 September 1939, under the designation 'The Royal Canadian Regiment, CASF'. It embarked for Great Britain on 18 December 1939, and on 14 June 1940 it went to France as part of the Second British Expeditionary Force, reaching a point beyond Laval before being ordered back It landed in Sicily on 10 July 1943 and in Italy on 3 September 1943 as part of the 1st Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Infantry Division. On 9 March 1945 the regiment moved with the 1st Canadian Corps to North West Europe, where it fought until the end of the war. The overseas regiment was disbanded on 1 March 1946.
On 1 June 1945, a second Active Force component of the regiment was mobilized for service in the Pacific theatre of operations, under the designation '1st Canadian Infantry Battalion (The Royal Canadian Regiment), CASF'. It was redesignated: '2nd Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment, CIC' on 2 September 1945; and 'The Royal Canadian Regiment, CIC' on 1 March 1946. On 27 June 1946, it was embodied in the Permanent Force as the 'The Royal Canadian Regiment.”
On May 11, 1945 Cecil wrote again. The war is now over.
Cecil's next letter was June 14 - still in north Germany
Cecil's last letter is dated December 3, 1945 from Ameerfort, Holland.
