Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission Mrs. Ivy Patricia (Penny) Lake Parkinson Canadian Virtual War Memorial

William John Lake Private B/37572 Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, R.C.I.C November 11, 1920 Halifax, NS April 17, 1940 Hamilton, Ontario Niagara Falls, Ontario 19 6 feet, 1 inch Medium Hazel Light Brown Single (at enlistment) Baker Presbyterian Margaret Lake (Mother) Ontario August 19, 1942 21 Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery A. 24 Commemorated on Page 88 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on February 25 William John Lake was the son of John Gallop Lake (1888-1930) and Margaret Amelia (Farewell) Lake (1889-1960). Both his parents were born in Newfoundland. William had an older sister Gladys Amelia (1914-2009) and four brothers, Gordon (1917-1992), Heber (1919-1989), Nelson (1922-2015) and George (1924-2008). Gordon served, as a Leading Stoker, in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve during WWII. In the 1921 census, the family is all living in North Sydney, Cape Breton, NS, but the family all moved to Ontario. Before enlisting, William was working for the Wire Weaver Co. in Niagara Falls, ON. He had served four months with the Militia in the Lincoln and Welland Regiment. William served and trained in Canada until July 23, 1940, departing from Halifax for England and arriving in the at Gourock, Scotland on August 2, 1940. He then served in the UK until August 18, 1942. While stationed in the UK, William met and married Ivy Patricia Penny (1916-2018) of 113 Bayonne Road at Fulham Cross in Fulham, London, England, on August 4, 1942 in Fulham – only fifteen days before the Raid on Dieppe. William departed England aboard the transports on the evening of August 18, 1942, in preparation for Operation Jubilee the next morning. William was killed in action August 19, 1942, during the Raid on Dieppe (Operation Jubilee). He served with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry which landed at Red and White Beaches at Dieppe, part of the main center force. One report indicated “This soldier [William] was last seen by B-37388 Pte. McChesney G. trying to board an ALC 10 yards from shore at 1130 hrs. He was not wounded, but had no cover from sniper, mortar and machine gun fire. He may have been taken prisoner because most of the rescue craft had been loaded and started to leave and Pte. Lake may not have boarded.” Letters from William’s friends in his unit to his mother indicate “he was seen in the Casino, and later at 2:30 pm making his way to the beach at Dieppe. He had been wounded in the shoulder and was bleeding badly but was in good spirits”. His fate was confirmed in a letter dated September 18, 1942, from a Private James Molloy from his Prisoner of War camp in Germany to his family in Niagara Falls writing that, “Tom Reid and Bill Lake are gone […]” The next spring, back in England on April 13, 1943, Ivy Patricia Lake delivered her and William’s son, Michael T. Lake. William’s widow Patricia remarried Thomas Parkinson and was living at 43 Stockton Road, West Hartlepool, County Durham, England, after the war. Later, Patricia, Thomas and Michael eventually settled in Canada. Patricia lived to the age of 102.