Name: Reuben Earl Heerebout Rank: Trooper Service Number: B/51 Service: 'B' Squadron, 1st Armoured Car Regiment (Royal Canadian Dragoons), Royal Canadian Armoured Corps Date of Birth: September 26, 1909 Place of Birth: Hartville, Hants County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: August 21, 1940 Place of Enlistment: Toronto, Ontario Address at Enlistment: Toronto, Ontario Age at Enlistment: 30 Occupation: Vulcanizer Marital Status: Married Next of Kin: Florence Gertrude Heerebout (Wife) Religion: Baptist Date of Death: December 17, 1943 Age: 34 Cemetery: Agira Canadian War Cemetery, Sicily, Italy Grave: Section C, Row F, Grave 343 Commemorated on Page 169 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on April 8 Reuben was the son of John Heerebout (1869-1929) and Cyrena May ‘Irene’ (Blackburn) Heerebout (1885- 1917). His father was born ‘Jan’ Heerebout in Brouwershaven, a historic port town located on the west coast of the Netherlands (in the province of Zeeland). The family surname is sometimes recorded as Hearabout and Herrebout. His parents married in 1906. His siblings were Shirley Heerebout (b. 1902), Minnie Cornelia Heerebout (1907–1976), Steadman Heerebout (b. 1908), Arthur Heerebout (b. 1911), Granville Murray Heerebout (1912-1945), and Lester Brenton Heerebout (1914–1915), as well as two half-sisters from their husband’s first marriage to Ada L. Robinson (m. 1894), Jennet (Jennie) Heerebout (1894–1936), and Lizzie Heerebout (b. 1896). Reuben was married to Florence Gertrude (Cupper) Heerebout (1909-1984) and together they had three children, Earl Robert Earl (1935-1984), George William (1936-2012), and Beatrice Jean (1937-2013). His brother, Private Granville Hearabout, died in Germany serving with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders in 1945. At approximately 16:30 hours on December 17, 1943, Trooper Heerebout was traveling with a vehicle transport column heading toward the port city of Siracusa (Syracuse) in southeastern Sicily. He was positioned in the rear "box" (cargo bed) of a heavy Canadian utility truck, which was actively towing two other vehicles. To steady himself against the movement of the heavy load, Heerebout was standing at the front of the cargo area, holding onto the back of the driver's cab. As the convoy negotiated a sharp turn at a speed of roughly 20 miles per hour, Heerebout lost his balance and was thrown from the vehicle. He fell directly into the path of the following vehicle in the column and was overrun. He sustained severe multiple injuries, including a fractured skull, and died instantly at the scene.