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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Austin Emery George

In memory of:

Gunner Austin Emery George

November 21, 1950

Military Service


Service Number:

B-800443

Age:

29

Force:

Army

Unit:

Royal Canadian Artillery

Division:

2nd Field Regiment

Citation(s):

1939-45 Star, Italy Star, France and Germany Star, War Medal 1939-45, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and clasp.

Additional Information


Born:

December 4, 1920
White Head, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia

Enlistment:

July 5, 1940
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Son of Levi Matthew and Jeanette (Nettie) (née Munro) George of Canso, Nova Scotia. Brother of John Robert, Clarie Munro, Donald Fraser, Mrs. Winnifred Sharpe, Mrs. Muriel L. Cameron.

Gunner George had previous Second World War service. He was demobilized on 20 October 1945. In late 1949, he returned to Toronto where he stayed until enlistment.

Commemorated on the Wall of Remembrance, Canoe River Memorial, Korean War Cairn and Canoe River Monument.

Commemorated on Page 26 of the Korean War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:

CANSO CEMETERY
Nova Scotia, Canada

Grave Reference:

Plot A, Row 2, Grave 45

Location:

Canso, Nova Scotia

Digital Collection

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  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star November 1950. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star November 1950. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star November 1950. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Memorial– Memorial at Canoe River train crash site.  In November of 1950 thousands of soldiers were sent to Fort Lewis, Washington, for training before their journey to Korea. They went by rail.  At 10:35 in the morning of November 21st, a troop train carrying 340 soldiers - soldiers of the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery - was just east of the village of Canoe River, British Columbia. An express train on the same track was speeding in the opposite direction. And the two crashed, head-on. The troop train was tossed into the air, its engine thrown back onto the coach cars behind it. Steel cars were shattered by other steel cars in a raging inferno.  Seventeen Canadian soldiers died that morning, and the bodies of four of them were never found. Many of those who escaped death suffered horrible injury including massive burns.  The sacrifice made by the men at Canoe River was no less than that of all war veterans who died in the service of our country.  These Canoe River men also died so that others might live in peace. We remain eternally in their debt.
  • Monument– Reverse of Korean War Veterans War Memorial.  It is a memorial to the victims of the Canoe River crash. The monument is located in the Brookside Cemetery in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
  • Inscription

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