• Normandy Massacres

Date of birth:

February 21st, 1916 (Rivers/Manitoba, Canada)

Date of death:

June 9th, 1944 (France)

Buried on:

Canadian War Cemetery Beny-sur-mer
Plot: IV. Row: C. Grave: 16.

Service number:

H/100799

Nationality:

Canadian

Nelson Joseph Vickery was born in Rivers, Manitoba, and grew up in a Canadian family where his father, Alfred Vickery, was recorded as his next of kin. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Nelson worked as a labourer and lived a modest life shaped by the rhythms of rural Canada. He was unmarried at the time of his enlistment.

In 1942, Vickery formally enlisted in the Canadian Army. His attestation papers and medical examinations reveal a healthy young man, fit for active duty, who pledged to serve “so long as an emergency exists.” He was initially assigned to the 103rd Battalion and, through training and service, demonstrated qualities that earned him promotion from Private to Lance Corporal.

In June 1944, Vickery was among the Canadian soldiers transferred to England and then deployed to France as part of the Allied invasion of Normandy. Just three days after D-Day, on June 9, 1944, he was captured and murdered by German forces during the fierce fighting that followed the landings. His death was formally reported to his father through official correspondence, which also conveyed the arrangements for his burial.

Nelson Vickery was laid to rest with honour in the Bény-sur-Mer Canadian Military Cemetery in France.

In the aftermath of his death, his family received both the condolences of the Canadian military authorities and the practical support of estate settlements and war service grants. His mother, Rebecca Vickery, was named as the sole beneficiary of his estate.

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• Photo 1: Canadian Virtual War Memorial
• - Service record(s)

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