Name: Cyril Robert Hart Rank: Private Service Number: F/65740 Service: North Nova Scotia Highlanders, Royal Canadian Infantry Corps Date of Birth: November 1, 1923 Place of Birth: Boylston, Guysborough Co., Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: June 26, 1942 Place of Enlistment: Truro, Colchester Co., Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Boylston, Guysborough Co., Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 18 Height: 5 feet, 8 inches Complexion: Dark Eye Colour: Blue Hair Colour: Brown Occupation: Labourer Marital Status: Single Religion: United Church of Canada Next of Kin: Levi Hart (Father) Date of Death: July 25, 1944 Age: 20 Cemetery: Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery Grave: Plot 16, Row A, Grave 4 Commemorated on Page 329 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on July 17 Cyril was the son of Levi Robert Hart (1884-1966) and Mary Eliza "Minnie" Peart Hart (1883-1963) of Guysborough Co., NS. His siblings were Lois Mae (1906-1953), Gordon Curtis (1908-1923), Florence Augusta (1909-1994), Earle Buckley (1911-1978), Verna Serena (1912-2004), Carl Levi Walter (1914-1995), Edgar Havelock (1915-1978), Harold Everett (1916-2002), Cora Shirley (1918-2007), Emma Dorothy (1919-2001), Arthur Herbert (1921-1997), Ross Wilfred (1922-2010), Iva Jean (1924-1936), and Lillian Iona Hart (1927- 2017). Four of his brother’s served in the Second World War. Carl served in the Canadian Army (Service No. F/58680) including service at Aldershot in Kings Co., NS. Edgar served in the RCNVR (Service No. V/25803), including service at HMCS Fort Ramsay in Gaspé Bay, Quebec. Harold was in the Canadian Army overseas, and Ross was in the RCNVR (Service No. V/50744), including service at HMS Scotia at the Halifax Dockyard. Prior to enlistment, Cyril worked as a labourer for National Defence, with one record indicating farming and the other wood cutting. He was assigned to the No. 61 Canadian Infantry Basic Training Centre (CABTC 61) on August 18, 1942, and was admitted to the Debert Military Hospital until September 7th. After completing basic and transferring to No. 14 Aldershot for advanced training on October 14th, Cyril was again hospitalized from December 1st to the 17th of 1942 with acute tonsillitis. He departed Canada March 28, 1943, disembarking in the United Kingdom on April 3, 1943. Assigned to the North Nova Scotia Highlanders on June 10, 1943, he was hospitalized a third time in the Army. Admitted to the 7th Field Dressing Station, he was removed to the No. 14 Canadian General Hospital the next day, where he remained until discharged August 23, 1943. It was determined he had acute rheumatic fever. Cyril boarded a ship on June 4, 1944, in preparation of the Normandy Landings and landed with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders on D-Day June 6, 1944. Cyril was killed in action on July 25, 1944. On July 25th, The North Nova Scotia Highlanders (NNSH) were fighting in Normandy, France, during Operation Spring. Specifically, they were engaged in heavy combat on the outskirts of Tilly-la-Campagne, a heavily defended village south of Caen, as part of the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Initially buried in Tilly-la-Champagne, he was reinterred nine and half kilometers south, at the Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery. Cyril recorded his religion on his enlistment record as the United Church of Canada. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has the Jewish star of David denoting Judaism as his religion or Jewish identity on his headstone. He is also commemorated on a family grave marker at the Boylston United Church Cemetery in Guysborough.