Howard Wesley, Service number B79735  enlisted at No. 2 District Depot with the Irish Regiment of Canada in Toronto. Once with the 1st Battalion, 48th Highlanders overseas Wesley was made A/Cpl on 28 November 44 as the battalion was moving from chasing the Germans through Lombardy, north of Rimini and Cpl on 25 February 1945 when the battalion had moved to the Ravenna area after the successful crossing of the Lamone River in December 44.

As a Corporal,  Howard Wesley is mentioned twice in Dileas, our regimental history of that period. The first is when he was wounded on 23 December 1944 when the battalion was between the Lamone and Senio Rivers in northern Italy. It was a gun shot wound by Machine gun to his left thigh and wrist. The history states that this was his second time to be wounded. The second reference states that he was Mentioned In Dispatches, but doesn’t give the location or date. The MID means that he was named in a War Diary submitted to higher command. Those named did something in a battle that needed to be recognized. It is just one level below the Military Medal for bravery.

Cpl Wesley did not travel from Italy to Holland in March 1945 with the battalion after being wounded. However, Part 2 Orders of September 1945 show him back with the battalion in Holland, embarking from NW Europe on  4 September 1945 and disembarking the next day in the UK as the regiment prepared to return to Canada and Toronto.  In the order is his “Leave address” Miss S McRae, RR2 Beaverton, Ontario.

NOK: Uncle: Dr. Russell Hill – 46 Sherbrooke St, Montreal, Quebec