B73116 Sgt Gordon, Russell enlisted with the 48th Highlanders 1st Battalion in the fall of 1939, likely September. He left Toronto by CN train on 17 December 1939 with the 1st Battalion, bound overseas from Halifax on the Reina del Pacifico as part of the Canadian Contingent. On 28 June 1943, as the battalion departed from Scotland on HMS Derbyshire for the landings at Pachino, Sicily on 9 July  he was Platoon Sergeant in Support Company. (research needed to show when he left the battalion during the Italian Campaign, following the Sicily Campaign.)

NOK: father: Gordon (first name unknown) at 1 Bell Street, Toronto. Address of Russell 156 Woodmount Ave. Toronto