Name: Alexander Joseph McInnis Rank: Private Service Number: F/31928 Service: 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, Canadian Army Awards: 1939-45 Star, France-Germany Star, War Medal 1939-45, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp Date of Birth: Feb 9, 1916 Place of Birth: Sydney, Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: July 21, 1942 Place of Enlistment: Sydney, Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 26 Address at Enlistment: Sydney, Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia Occupation: Carpenter Marital Status: Married Religion: Roman Catholic Next of Kin: Daniel MacInnis (Father) Height: 5 feet, 3 inches Complexion: Medium Hair Colour: Brown Eye Colour: Blue Occupation: Carpenter, Painter, Pipe Fitter, Truck Driver Marital Status: Single Religion: Roman Catholic Next of Kin: Daniel MacInnis (Father), Sydney, NS Date of Death: June 6, 1944 Age: 28 Cemetery: Bayeux Memorial, Bayeux War Cemetery, Bayeux, Calvados, Normandy, France Reference: Panel 27, Column 2 Commemorated on Page 373 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on August 8 Alexander Joseph ‘Scotty’ McInnis was the son of Daniel (b. 1882) and Jane (MacEachern) McInnis (b. 1888). His father was an inspector with the Canadian National Railway (CNR). Alexander had 3 brothers, John, James, and Donald MacInnis, and 7 sisters, Mary, Christina, Cecilia, Teresa, Frances, Shirley, and Mrs. Dan Campbell. He was pre-deceased by three additional siblings, Alexander (d. 1914), Margaret (d. 1920) and Delores (d. 1937). Alexander enjoyed, baseball, softball, and hockey, rugby, and a little swimming. He could sing and noted that he danced and read in his spare time but didn’t have any special hobbies. Prior to enlistment, he was working for the Dominion Bridge Construction Company. On enlistment, he volunteered to be paratrooper. It was noted he had done a little boxing and was keen for excitement. He trained at Fort Benning in Georgia for 6 months, where he received his wings as paratrooper. He was subsequently stationed at Shilo in Manitoba in April of 1943, and went overseas in 1943. Private Alexander Joseph MacInnis was killed in action on the first day of the Normandy Campaign, D-Day, on June 6, 1944. With no known grave, Alexander is remembered on the Bayeux Memorial within the grounds of the Bayeux War Cemetery in Bayeux, France.

Sources: D-Day casualties with ties to Nova Scotia findagrave Canadian Virtual War Memorial