William McDougall

William enlisted with the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps in October 1939 at 20 years of age. He completed training at Camp Borden, Barrie, Ontario, and shipped overseas in June 1940 with the 2nd Canadian Division. While overseas he was stationed in London, Manchester, Leeds, Windemere and Dover; and served across the channel in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. William trained the Royal Canadian Dragoons on the Staghound (a light armored reconnaissance vehicle) before they were deployed to Italy, and when the allied invasion took place, William was attached to the 1st Hussars, where he operated the new Sherman Duplex in support of the landing troops. When William was in Brussels Belgium, soldiers were asked who could drive a streetcar. He thought ‘how hard could it be?’. Even though he had never previously driven one, he ended up operating the street cars to take the troops towards the front lines. William received the France and Germany Star, the Canadian Service Medal, the Defence Medal, and the 1939-1945 War Medal.

We Will Remember Them