Brown, Walter Leslie

Normandy Massacres

Date of birth:: August 13th, 1910 (Peterborough/Ontario, Canada)
Date of death:: June 6th, 1944 (near Caen, France)
Buried on:: Canadian War Cemetery Beny-sur-mer
Plot: XIII. Row: C. Grave: 1.
Nationality:: Canadian

Biography

Walter Leslie Brown was the son of George C. Brown and Florence Brown. A lifelong bachelor, he pursued a calling as a clergyman in the Church of England, serving in Windsor before joining the Canadian Army at age 31 on April 1, 1941 in Toronto.

He began his military service on 15 April 1941 as an Honorary Captain with the Chaplains Pool in Borden, Ontario. Soon after, he was attached to the Grey and Simcoe Foresters, a reserve infantry regiment. In 1942, he qualified to drive military vehicles and transitioned from the 2nd Canadian Army Tank Brigade to overseas service. By June 1943, he was stationed in the UK and assigned to Canadian Army Headquarters.

Walter received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp before being attached to the 27th Canadian Armoured Regiment (Sherbrooke Fusiliers) in May 1944. As their chaplain, he had just weeks to learn the spiritual and emotional needs of the men before D-Day.

On 3 June 1944, Walter boarded a transport ship bound for Normandy. Amid rough seas and rising fear, he moved among the troops, offering comfort and prayer. Reverend R.A. Dickey, a fellow chaplain, recalled the emotional toll on the soldiers as they approached the French coast. Walter was the first Canadian chaplain to land at Juno Beach on 6 June, carrying only a suitcase filled with communion supplies.

Tragically, Walter was killed shortly after the landing. On the night of 7 June, while delivering medical supplies with two corporals, their jeep was intercepted by Hitler Youth forces under orders to take no prisoners. One corporal was killed instantly, the other wounded. Walter surrendered but was taken and executed. His body was found weeks later in a roadside ditch, identified by the suitcase beside him.

Walter left his belongings to his mother, Florence.

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