George Herbert Mason

My Fallen soilder was George H. Mason and this is the information I retrieved about him.

George Herbert Mason was born September 13, 1923 Toronto, Ontario to Ella May (nee Shiniman) and Herbert Stanley Mason. In December of 1942 when he enlisted, he was 18 years old, living with his parents and his 16 year old sister, Isabelle May, on Bloor Street West in Toronto. He had left Bloor Collegiate after 2 years of high school and was working for Goodyear Tire Company “splicing tire plys” when he enlisted. He was 5 feet 9 inches tall with brown eyes and black hair.

George was a member of the Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment), R.C.I.C.. He embarked from Canada on 13 May, 1943 and disembarked in the U.K. on May 22, 1943. The Lorne Scots that spring had the task of guarding Headley Court, the stately home near Leatherhead Surrey, where the corps headquarters had been located. It was a serious business: much time spent training (there were sessions on aircraft recognition, and on drills in case of gas attack) and on the ranges. The company was disbanded in April 1944.
During World War II, the 8th Brigade consisted of the following units:[3]

• 1st Battalion, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
• 1st Battalion, Le Régiment de la Chaudière
• 1st Battalion, The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment
• 8th Infantry Brigade Ground Defence Platoon (Lorne Scots)

On July 4, 1944 George embarked from the UK and disembarked the the next day in France. The 8th went ashore in the area Courseulles-sur-Mer, Bernieres- sur-Mer and St. Aubin-sur-Mer. Its task was to clear the beach and establish a beachhead perimeter before moving inland. Although the 8th Brigade reached is objectives by D-Day evening, “mopping-up” of by-passed German strongpoints took longer.

George was killed in action (by shell fire) on July 29, 1943 in France while serving with the 8th Infantry Brigade Group Defence Platoon (C.A.).
He was buried in Beny-Sur-Mer, France.

In February of 1946, George’s parents received
notice that their son’s remains had been “carefully exhumed from the original place of interment and reverently reburied in grave 9, row G, plot 13, of Beny-sur-Mer Canadian Military Cemetery, Beny-sur-Mer, France.