Pilot Officer WILLIAM KENNEDY FERGUSON (photo added)



Rank | Pilot Officer |
Forenames | WILLIAM KENNEDY |
Surname | FERGUSON (photo added) |
Initials | W K |
Place of Birth |
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Date of Birth | Sunday, 29 February 1920 |
Date of Death | Friday, 15 January 1943 |
Age | Unknown |
Nationality |
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Residence or Entered Service From | TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA |
Service Number | J/85171 | Force |
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Service/Corps/Regiment | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Unit / Ship / Battalion / Squadron | 401 (Royal Canadian Air Force) Squadron |
Military Honours and Awards | |
Place of Burial/Commemoration |
SAINT-MARTIN-DES-ENTREES (SAINT GERMAIN) COMMUNAL CEMETERY
Roll of honour |
Grave/Memorial Location | |
Previous Place(s) of Burial | Unknown |
Epitaph | NO EPITAPH |
Family Details | SON OF WILLIAM LAUDER FERGUSON AND MARY SOPHIA FERGUSON (nee HANNAH) OF PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO, CANADA |
Additional Information
WILLIAM KENNEDY FERGUSON was the eldest of 6 children. His father, William Ferguson, worked for a carpet company in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, until. he purchased the Strathroy Woolen Mills. The family then moved, the following year, to Front Street East in Strathroy. WILLIAM attended Peterborough Collegiate Institute after grade school. He was played basketball and baseball and was involved with the local Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA).
After working in the insurance business WILLIAM joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940. He served as a Pilot Officer in 401 (Royal Canadian Air Force) Squadron. During a mission over Bayeux on Friday 15th January 1943, his Spitfire EN-183 was shot down and he was killed.
He is the only Commonwealth burial in SAINT-MARTIN-DES-ENTREES (SAINT GERMAIN) COMMUNAL CEMETERY On the day he was buried there were many local villagers attending the funeral service. The Germans checked everyone's identity papers and went on to make many arrests. 10 of those arrested were sent to concentration camps. 5 did not return after the war.
On 6th June 1994, on the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landings, the village people renamed the main street in Saint-Martin-des-Entrees Rue W.K. Ferguson. Some of Pilot Officer WILLIAM KENNEDY FERGUSON's family were able to attend the ceremony.1
References |
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1. | Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial and Strathroy Cenotaph Roll of Honour. |
2. | Photograph kindly provided by historian François Oxéant. |
3. | Photograph from Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial. |
4. | Copy of original document from the Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial Book of Remembrance p.158. |
Acknowledgements and Credits |
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Source of original data: | Commonwealth War Graves Commission |
Headstone photograph: | Carl Shilleto |
Cross marker photograph: | |
Individual photograph: | Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial. |
Additional photographs provided by: | Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial. |
Additional information provided by: | Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Find a Grave sponsored by François Oxéant, Strathroy Cenotaph Roll of Honour, Strathroy-Caradoc Museum, Pilot Officer William K. Ferguson facebook page. |
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What other people have said
Francois Oxeant
In memory of P/O William K. Ferguson and Maurice Lithare, Charles Malas, Jules Jehanne and Charles Riviere, who died in the Nazi concentration camps for having attended the burial of the pilot.
On Thursday, July 10, 2014