• Normandy Massacres

Date of birth:

December 1st, 1910 (Lower Selma/Nova Scotia, Canada)

Date of death:

June 8th, 1944 (Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe, France)

Buried on:

Commonwealth War Cemetery Ryes
Plot: 2. Row: D. Grave: 1.

Service number:

F/50175

Nationality:

Canadian

Hollis Leslie McKeil was raised in a rural setting. He spent much of his early life working as a laborer in the lumber industry, a physically demanding occupation. He was educated to a modest level, fluent in English, and had a strong mechanical aptitude, with interests in photography, radio, engines, and mechanics.

On August 15, 1940, Hollis married Violet Audrey Jean McKeil, and the couple settled in Truro, Nova Scotia. His enlistment in the Canadian Active Service Force took place just two months earlier, on June 14, 1940, in Amherst, Nova Scotia. He joined the North Nova Scotia Highlanders (Machine Gun). Hollis participated in operations across Canada, the United Kingdom, and ultimately in the Western European Theatre of War.

Tragically, Hollis McKeil was wounded during the Normandy campaign on June 7, 1944, just one day after D-Day. He was hit by shrapnel in the chest and ankle while advancing with his company under heavy fire near Gruchy, France. Despite receiving first aid, he was left behind in a field that soon became no man's land. Subsequent attempts to locate him failed, and he was officially presumed killed in action on that same day. His remains were later interred at Ryes British Cemetery in France.

It later turned out that McKeil was murdered by Waffen-SS soldiers.

Hollis left behind his wife Violet.

Do you have more information about this person? Inform us!

• Photo 1: veterans.gc.ca
• - CAMPBELL, I.J., Murder at the Abbaye, Golden Dog Press, Ottowa, 2000.
  - Service record(s)

Helaas geen map gevonden.