Name: Robert Kenneth Vidito Rank: Private Service Number: F/57239 Service: Calgary Highlanders, Royal Canadian Infantry Corps Date of Birth: January 10, 1924 Place a Birth: Bridgetown, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: July 26, 1943 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Halifax County, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Digby, Digby County, Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 19 Height: 5 feet, 9 ¼ inches Complexion: Medium Eye Colour: Blue Hair Colour: Light brown Occupation: Farmer Marital Status: Single Religion: United Church of Canada Next of Kin: Beatrice Vidito (Mother), Digby, NS Date of Death: October 9, 1944 Age: 20 Cemetery: Bergen-op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery, Netherlands Grave: Section 12, Row B, Grave 7 Commemorated on Page 469 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on October 8 Robert Kenneth Vidito was the son of William Wilbert Vidito (1891-1966) and Beatrice Victoria (Marshall) Vidito (1899-1988), of Digby, Nova Scotia. Robert had five brothers, Walter William Vidito (1922-1965), Clifford Eugene Vidito (1930-2024), Charles (1934-2013) Vidito, Nelson Bertram Vidito (1936-2012), and Earl George Vidito, and three sisters, Patricia, Edith Vidito (1932-2022) and Lois Vidito. Robert also had a half-brother, Stanley ‘Stan Richard Vidito (1917-1993), from his mother’s marriage to her first husband Aubrey Stanley Vidito (1897-1918), who died of illness serving in WWI (interred at the Haifa War Cemetery in Palestine (Israel today). Robert completed the 5th grade in school but left school to work. He worked for an oil company fueling boats, painted and did other odd jobs with his father, worked at dry cleaning in a local tailor shop, was an express truck driver, helped his father coaling-up train engines on the Dominion Atlantic Railway (DAR), and worked as a farmer before the war. After enlisting in July of 1943, Robert completed basic training at Canadian Infantry Basic Training Centre (CIBTC) No. 60 (Camp 60) from August 6 to October 7, 1943, and advanced training at Canadian Infantry Training Centre No. 14 at Aldershot in Kings Co., NS from October 8 to November 16, 1943. He arrived in England January 5, 1944, and transferred to France on August 31, 1944. Securing a major port for the Allies was of vital concern after the Normandy Campaign. Antwerp had the second largest port facilities in Europe, with 45 kilometres of docks. After the failure to clear many of the Channel Ports in September 1944, the need for port facilities north of Normandy grew acute. Allied supply lines were moving farther and farther away from Normandy, where most of their supplies were landing in Europe, resulting in very long supply runs by truck to the Allied armies. Antwerp had fallen with intact port facilities in September, however, the waterway leading to Antwerp, the Scheldt Estuary, was lined with German forces, and in particular heavy coastal batteries on Walcheren Island prevented any Allied supply ships from approaching the Scheldt to land supplies in Antwerp. First Canadian Army was given the task, as the left-most of the Allied armies on the continent, of clearing the Scheldt Estuary. Private Robert Kenneth Vidito, serving with the Calgary Highlanders, was killed in action in the Battle of the Scheldt on October 9, 1944, and is interred at the Bergen-op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery.

Source: Canadian Virtual War Memorial findagrave