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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Leonard Richard Cole

In memory of:

Rifleman Leonard Richard Cole

June 11, 1944

Military Service


Service Number:

B/64519

Age:

22

Force:

Army

Unit:

Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, R.C.I.C.

Division:

1st Bn.

Additional Information


Son of Richard Walter and Amelia Agnes Cole, of Toronto, Ontario.

Commemorated on Page 276 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:
Grave Reference:

IV. B. 13.

Location:

Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery is about 1 kilometre east of the village of Reviers, on the Creully-Tailleville-Ouistreham road (D.35). Reviers is a village and commune in the Department of the Calvados. It is located 15 kilometres north-west of Caen and 18 kilometres east of Bayeux and 3.5 kilometres south of Courseulles, a village on the sea coast. The village of Beny-sur-Mer is some 2 kilometres south-east of the cemetery. The bus service between Caen and Arromanches (via Reviers and Ver-sur-Mer) passes the cemetery.

It was on the coast just to the north that the 3rd Canadian Division landed on 6th June 1944; on that day, 335 officers and men of that division were killed in action or died of wounds. In this cemetery are the graves of Canadians who gave their lives in the landings in Normandy and in the earlier stages of the subsequent campaign. Canadians who died during the final stages of the fighting in Normandy are buried in Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery.

There are a total of 2,048 burials in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. There is also one special memorial erected to a soldier of the Canadian Infantry Corps who is known to have been buried in this cemetery, but the exact site of whose grave could not be located.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

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  • Grave Marker– Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery - April 2017 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Cemetery– Stone of Remembrance - Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery - April 2017 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Entrance– Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery - April 2017 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Cemetery– Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery - April 2017 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Newspaper clipping– Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star July 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Telegram 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of Leonard Cole– Rifleman Cole enlisted in the 2nd Bn (Reserve) Queen's Own Rifles, in May 1941. After joining the 1st Bn in England in 1942, he was placed in Charlie Company. Rfn Cole survived D-Day but was killed five days later at Le Mesnil Patry, west of Caen.
  • Obituary– This obituary of Rifleman Cole was clipped from a Toronto paper in 1944 by Mrs Josie McQuade.
  • Grave Marker– This photo of Rfn Cole's gravemarker was taken by Padre Craig Cameron of The QOR of C on JUne 6th, 2003.
  • Grave Marker– The grave marker (2010) at the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, located outside Reviers, about 4  kilometres from Juno Beach in Normandy, France. May he rest in peace. (K. Falconer & J. Stephens)
  • Beny-Sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery– The Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, located at Reviers, about 4  kilometres from Juno Beach in Normandy, France. (J. Stephens)

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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