Profile image
Military service
Service number:
E/21962
Age:
26
Rank:
Lance Sergeant
Force:
Army
Unit/Regiment:
Royal Canadian Artillery
Division:
3 Anti-Tank Regt.
Death:
June 8, 1944
Burial/memorial information
Grave reference:
XIII. F. 4.
Additional information
Son of Walter Boyd and Margaret McKillop Beresford, of Arvida, Quebec. Brother of 4th Engineer James Beresford, who served with the Canadian Merchant Navy, and who died on December 10, 1941.
Digital gallery of Lance Sergeant William Beresford
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Grave Marker
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Letter
This letter was sent by the Director of Records in Ottawa to the Head of the Chaplain Service and then through to the District Chaplains. Most families knwe absolutely nothing about how their loved one died. Source: Whitehouse via Archives Canada -
Letter
This letter by a Royal Canadian Artillery gunner explains exactly what happened to L/Sgt Beresford and the other 31 men with him on 8 June 1944. They had been captured by the SS and were POWs at the time. Source: Whitehouse via Archives Canada -
Document
L/Sgt Beresford is opposite the name of 20 year old Robert Munro Findlay on this list. They were found in a common grave after the Allies had driven the Germans from the area. The Canadian Army HQ did not allow anyone to find out about these murders until after the war. They were worried that there would be retaliations. Source: Whitehouse via Archives Canada -
Letter
L/Sgt Beresford lies in the grave next to that of Pte. Robert Munro Findlay of Toronto. Pte. findlay was a student of Lawrence Park Collegiate in Toronto and it was during the research into his death that the information on L/Sgt Beresford was found. Source: Whitehouse via Archives Canada -
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) -
Sculpture
An aluminium sculpture and granite base were erected at 2890 Davis Place, Jonquière, Quebec. This memorial consists of two parts, a granite base erected by local citizens in June 1952 to the local war dead of the Second World War, and, an aluminium sculpture wheel unveiled by Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 209 (Arvida) in June 1969. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [base] A NOS MORTS GLORIEUX DE LA GUERRE 1939-45 TO OUR GLORIOUS DEAD WORLD WAR 1939-45 RENALD ALLAIRE JAMES BERESFORD HARRY GORDON BLACK WILLIAM BERESFORD JEAN-CHARLES MERCIER ERNEST VEILLEUX LOUIS-PHILIPPE VEILLEUX POUR PERPÉTUELLE MÉMOIRE LES CITOYENS JUIN 1952 IN PERPETUAL MEMORY THE CITIZENS JUNE 1952 JE ME SOUVIENS [plaque/plaque] UN HOMMAGE DE LA LEGION ROYALE CANADIENNE FILIALE 209 - ARVIDA JUIN 1969 http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/nic-inm/sm-rm/mdsr-rdr-eng.asp?PID=4086 -
Memorial
Lance Sergeant William Beresford is also commemorated on the Memorial at Putot-en-Bessin, FR … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens … May 2022 -
Memorial
This monument is dedicated to the memory of the Canadian soldiers of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and to all other Canadian combatants who played a part in the Liberation of Putot-en-Bessin on 7 June 1944. Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens … May 2022. -
Memorial
Remembering brothers lost … Brothers In Arms Memorial, Zonnebeke, BE … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens … May 2022
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 248 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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