Language selection


Search veterans.gc.ca

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Donald Ross Pethick

In memory of:

Rifleman Donald Ross Pethick

June 6, 1944

Military Service


Service Number:

B/64225

Age:

24

Force:

Army

Unit:

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

Additional Information


Born:

October 28, 1919
Toronto, Ontario

Enlistment:

June 21, 1940
Toronto, Ontario

Commemorated on Page 416 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:

I. G. 1.

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

Send us your images

  • 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
  • Cemetery– 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
  • Photo of Donald R. Pethick– Rifleman Pethick was a June 1940 original in the QOR of C. He served with the Regiment for four years prior to D-Day.  He was killed on D-Day serving with B coy, one of the hardest hit Canadian sub-units on Juno Beach at  Bernières-sur-mer.
  • Obituary– This obituary of Rifleman Pethick found in a Toronto newspaper from June 1944.
  • Grave Marker– This photo of Rfn Pethick's gravemarker was taken by Padre Craig Cameron of The QOR of C on June 6th, 2003.
  • 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.

Date modified: