Name: James Bernard King Rank: Gunner Service No: F/77680 Regiment/Service: 23 Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery Date of Birth: April 6, 1920 Place of Birth: Yarmouth, NS Date of Enlistment: March 20, 1940 Place of Enlistment: Halifax Address At Enlistment: Yarmouth, NS Age at Enlistment: 20 Height: 5 feet, 7 inches Weight: 150 lbs. Complexion: Fair Eyes: Blue Hair: Light Brown Trade: Labourer/Clerk Marital Status: Single Religion: Roman Catholic Next of Kin: Mrs. Alice King [Mother] Yarmouth, NS Date of Death: August 8, 1944 Age At Death: 24 Cemetery: Bretteville-Sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery (Calvados, France) Grave Reference: X. F. 8. The 68th name on the WWII list of the Yarmouth War Memorial Commemorated on page 352 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on July 28 James Bernard King was the son of Thomas John King (1885-1968) and Alice May (Doucette) King (1887-1984) of Yarmouth, NS. He was the brother of Roger, Arthur, Irene, Frances, Marjorie, Florence, Verna, Lorraine and Elizabeth ‘Betty’ King. The family lived on Pleasant Street in Yarmouth. Prior to his enlistment he was employed as a clerk at the YMCA Yarmouth. He served in Canada and between March 20, 1940, and July 21, 1943, in the United Kingdom between July 22, 1943, and July 21, 1944, and in France from July 22, 1944, until his death. The 23rd Field Regiment (Self-Propelled), or (SP), of the Royal Canadian Artillery to which James was assigned, transferred to Europe from England one month after D-Day, at the end of July 1944. They were equipped with Sexton 25-pounders. It was part of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division of the II Canadian Corps, of the First Canadian Army. After crossing the Orne River, the 23rd Field Regiment moved into assembly areas near Hubert- Folie. By the early hours of August 8, 1944, they had pushed forward to support the infantry and armor breaking through the German lines. Gunner James Bernard King was killed in action August 8, 1944. On August 8th during the opening phase of Operation Totalize, the 23rd was positioned in the area south of Caen as part of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division’s push toward the Falaise-Trun sector. Specifically, on that date, the regiment was concentrated in the vicinity of Cramesnil and Saint- Aignan-de-Cramesnil, south east of Rocquancourt. As a self-propelled regiment, the 23rd was mobile enough to keep pace with the 4th Armoured Brigade. Their primary task on August 8th was providing creeping barrages and defensive fire tasks to suppress German anti-tank screens and 88mm batteries located in the woods and high ground around Cintheaux and Bretteville-le-Rabet. Interred at Bretteville-sur-Laize in Normandy, James is also commemorated on a family grave marker for his siblings Arthur, Lilian, and Irene, at the Our Lady of Calvary Roman Catholic Cemetery in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

Sources and Information: Commonwealth War Graves Commission Veterans Affairs Canada