Name: Harold Alexander McGowan Rank: Private Service Number: F/78052 Service: Canadian Scottish Regiment, Royal Canadian Infantry Corps Date of Birth: February 8, 1917 Place of Birth: Weymouth, Digby County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: April 11, 1941 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Halifax County, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Weymouth North, Digby County, Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 24 Height: 5 feet, 9 ½ inches Complexion: Medium Eye Colour: Blue Hair Colour: Brown Occupation: Labourer Marital Status: Single Religion: Church of England Next of Kin: Mrs. Robert McGowan (Mother) Date of Death: July 15, 1944 Age: 27 Cemetery: Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, France Grave: Section XVI, Row H, Grave 2 Commemorated on Page 372 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on August 7 Harold Alexander McGowan was the son of Robert Dollver McGowan (1882-1969) and Leonora Ann ‘Nora’ McGowan (1881-1951), both of Scottish descent and residing in Weymouth, Digby Co., Nova Scotia. His parents were married in 1910 in Weymouth. His brothers were Stewart McGowan and Clarence Morris MacGowan (1915-1997), and his sisters were Mrs. Francis Landell and Winfred MacGowan. Both of Harold’s brothers served during WWII, Stewart in the Provost Corps of the Canadian Army, and Clarence in the Merchant Navy. He played the harmonica and accordion, and he liked some sports. He also took minor tailoring jobs and worked as a labourer prior to enlisting. He had spent the summers farming and the winters logging and ice cutting. After enlisting in April of 1941 in Halifax, Harold completed his basic training at the No. 60 Canadian Infantry Training Camp (CIBTC 60), also known as Camp 60, in Yarmouth, NS, from April 19 to June 25, 1941, his advanced training at No. 14 Aldershot, Kings Co., NS, and then joined the Pictou Highlanders at Dartmouth on August 30, 1941. He proceeded to McNab’s Island on November 28, 1941, returning home on December 12, 1941. Next, he proceeded to the Devil’s Battery at the mouth of Halifax Harbour in the community of Eastern Passage at Hartlen Point on December 19th until December 22, 1941, and was furloughed from March 1 to 15, 1942. Harold departed Canada on May 7, 1944, for the United Kingdom, and he went thereafter to France on June 23, 1944. Harold was killed in action on Saturday July 15, 1944, serving with B Company of the Canadian Scottish Regiment near Caen. Interred at Beny-sur-Mer, the inscription on his grave reads: “OF WEYMOUTH, NOVA SCOTIA. HAROLD, A LOVING SON. GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. MAY HE REST IN PEACE”.

Sources: findagrave Canadian Virtual War Memorial