• Normandy Massacres

Date of birth:

December 13th, 1913 (Chelmsford/Essex, United Kingdom)

Date of death:

June 7th, 1944 (France)

Buried on:

Canadian War Cemetery Beny-sur-mer
Plot: XII. Row: C. Grave: 9.

Service number:

B/138483

Nationality:

Canadian

Ernest William Cranfield was born in Chelmsford, Essex, England, to Charles and Alice Cranfield. He grew up in a close-knit family that included his brothers Jack and Peter, and spent part of his early life in England before relocating to Ontario, Canada, around 1931. By profession, he worked as a shipper. On November 19, 1941, he married Margaret Jean Cranfield in Toronto, establishing a home together in Aurora, Ontario. Margaret would later become his sole beneficiary and steadfast advocate after his death.

Cranfield enlisted in the Canadian Army on January 12, 1943, joining the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. His military service spanned 514 days, including 150 days in the Western Hemisphere and 364 days overseas. He served in the United Kingdom and was deployed to Northwest Europe, where he participated in the D-Day landings. His final days were spent in France during the Normandy campaign. On June 8, 1944, he was officially struck off strength (S.O.S.) from his unit, and on June 17, 1944, he was murdered while a prisoner of war—murdered, as later confirmed by Canadian military records. His death was part of a notorious war crime involving the summary execution of Canadian soldiers by members of the 12th SS Panzer Division under the command of Kurt Meyer.

Cranfield was buried at the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery in France. Initially marked with a temporary metal cross, his grave was later fitted with a standard military headstone. His widow, Margaret, made repeated efforts to obtain photographs of the grave for herself and for Ernest’s grieving family in England, including his mother and grandmother. These efforts were met with bureaucratic delays, but eventually she received the original photographic negative from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

His estate, modest in financial terms, included war savings certificates held by the Bank of Canada and a life insurance policy with the Prudential Assurance Company of London, England. Margaret Cranfield, his widow, was designated the sole beneficiary of his estate and remained actively engaged in settling his affairs and preserving his memory.

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• Photo 1: Operation Picture Me
• - Service record(s)

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