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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Walter Leslie Brown

In memory of:

Honourary Captain Walter Leslie Brown

June 6, 1944
France

Military Service

Age:

33

Force:

Army

Unit:

Canadian Chaplain Service

Additional Information

Born:

August 13, 1910
Peterbourough, Ontario

Enlistment:

April 1, 1941
Toronto, Ontario

Son of George C. and Florence M. Brown, of Orillia, Ontario. Chaplain 4th Class, B.A., L. Th.

Commemorated on Page 261 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information

Cemetery:

BENY-SUR-MER CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY
Calvados, France

Grave Reference:

XIII. C. 1.

Location:

Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery is about 1 kilometre east of the village of Reviers, on the Creully-Tailleville-Ouistreham road (D.35). Reviers is a village and commune in the Department of the Calvados. It is located 15 kilometres north-west of Caen and 18 kilometres east of Bayeux and 3.5 kilometres south of Courseulles, a village on the sea coast. The village of Beny-sur-Mer is some 2 kilometres south-east of the cemetery. The bus service between Caen and Arromanches (via Reviers and Ver-sur-Mer) passes the cemetery.

It was on the coast just to the north that the 3rd Canadian Division landed on 6th June 1944; on that day, 335 officers and men of that division were killed in action or died of wounds. In this cemetery are the graves of Canadians who gave their lives in the landings in Normandy and in the earlier stages of the subsequent campaign. Canadians who died during the final stages of the fighting in Normandy are buried in Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery.

There are a total of 2,048 burials in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. There is also one special memorial erected to a soldier of the Canadian Infantry Corps who is known to have been buried in this cemetery, but the exact site of whose grave could not be located.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

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  • Newspaper Clipping– Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

    Details

    Newspaper Clipping
    Newspaper Clipping – Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Memorial– Honourary Captain Water Leslie Brown is also commemorated on the WWII Memorial in Orillia, ON … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

    Details

    Memorial
    Memorial – Honourary Captain Water Leslie Brown is also commemorated on the WWII Memorial in Orillia, ON … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Memorial– Honourary Captain Water Leslie Brown is also commemorated on the WWII Memorial in Orillia, ON … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

    Details

    Memorial
    Memorial – Honourary Captain Water Leslie Brown is also commemorated on the WWII Memorial in Orillia, ON … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Keys– Set of Keys found in a box of tools purchased at a garage sale.

    Details

    Keys
    Keys – Set of Keys found in a box of tools purchased at a garage sale.
  • Remembrance Day Ceremonies– The Remembrance Day ceremonies this year at Huron will be particularly poignant as they mark the return to the College of the field communion kit of Capt The Rev Walter Brown. An alumnus of Huron, Fr. Brown was the only allied chaplain executed by the enemy during WWII. Fr. Brown landed on D-Day at Juno beach but was captured on June 8th and summarily executed by the SS (Kurt Meyer's unit). This kit was found by Huron alumnus, Christopher McCreery and is the actual communion kit that Fr. Brown carried with him during the war.

    Details

    Remembrance Day Ceremonies
    Remembrance Day Ceremonies – The Remembrance Day ceremonies this year at Huron will be particularly poignant as they mark the return to the College of the field communion kit of Capt The Rev Walter Brown. An alumnus of Huron, Fr. Brown was the only allied chaplain executed by the enemy during WWII. Fr. Brown landed on D-Day at Juno beach but was captured on June 8th and summarily executed by the SS (Kurt Meyer's unit). This kit was found by Huron alumnus, Christopher McCreery and is the actual communion kit that Fr. Brown carried with him during the war.
  • Photo of Walter Brown– Chaplain Brown killed WW2. Source: UWO newsletter online 2006

    Details

    Photo of Walter Brown
    Photo of Walter Brown – Chaplain Brown killed WW2. Source: UWO newsletter online 2006
  • Grave Marker– A photograph of the headstone at the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, located at Reviers, about 4 kilometres from Juno Beach in Normandy, France. May he rest in peace. (J. Stephens)

    Details

    Grave Marker
    Grave Marker – A photograph of the headstone at the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, located at Reviers, about 4 kilometres from Juno Beach in Normandy, France. May he rest in peace. (J. Stephens)
  • Cemetery– The Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, located at Reviers, about 4 kilometres from Juno Beach in Normandy, France. (J. Stephens)

    Details

    Cemetery
    Cemetery – The Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, located at Reviers, about 4 kilometres from Juno Beach in Normandy, France. (J. Stephens)
  • Memorial Stained Glass– Beechwood National Military Cemetery Hall of Colours Military Chaplains stained glass window

    Details

    Memorial Stained Glass
    Memorial Stained Glass – Beechwood National Military Cemetery Hall of Colours Military Chaplains stained glass window

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