• Normandy Massacres

Date of death:

June 9th, 1944 (Highway Caen-Bayeux/Calvados, France)

Buried on:

Canadian War Cemetery Beny-sur-mer
Plot: IV. Row: G. Grave: 5.

Service number:

L/103459

Nationality:

Canadian

John Sawatzky was born into a Mennonite family of prairie farmers in Saskatchewan, Canada. Sawatzky enlisted in the Canadian Army during the Second World War, joining the Regina Rifle Regiment, which was mobilized for overseas service in 1940. The regiment trained in Canada and the United Kingdom before being assigned to the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division.

On 6 June 1944 (D-Day), the Regina Rifles landed on Juno Beach at Courseulles-sur-Mer, suffering heavy casualties but successfully establishing a foothold. In the days that followed, the regiment pushed inland toward Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse, facing fierce counterattacks from the 12th SS Panzer Division “Hitlerjugend.”

On 8 June 1944, Sawatzky was part of an outpost south of the Caen–Bayeux highway that was overrun by the 12th SS. He, along with Lance Corporal David Moloney and Privates Cecil Borne and Norman Morin, was taken prisoner. Instead of being treated according to the Geneva Conventions, the four men were executed in a clearing near Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse.

Their deaths were part of a wider pattern of atrocities committed by the 12th SS against Canadian prisoners in Normandy. More than 150 Canadian soldiers were murdered in similar incidents, including the infamous killings at the Abbaye d’Ardenne.

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

• Photo 1: Canadian Virtual War Memorial
• - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Helaas geen map gevonden.