B24397 Rifleman James Robert Catling was born on Cockburn Island, Ontario on June 11, 1918, the son of Charles Richard Catling and Loletta May Mitchell. He had five brothers and five sisters and left school at 14 to work as a farmer and foundry worker.

James married Agnes Margaret McLeod on 23 August 1941 and had one son Clarence in 1942.

He enlisted at Camp Bordon in the Army Provost Corps (military police) on 21 September 1942 although he seems to have served elsewhere (N.R.M.A.?) from November 1940 to March 1942. He was then posted to No. 32 Provost Company. In August 1943 he was transferred to the infantry and arrived in the United Kingdom on 21 September 1943. (This transfer may have been a result of having been found Absent without Leave which was probably not compatible with being a military policeman.)

On 10 October 1943, he was transferred from the Reinforcement Unit to The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada.

James landed with B Company in the first wave and was killed in action on D-Day, June 6, 1944, aged 25. He had received seven medals. He is buried in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, grave reference V. B. 11. He left all of his estate to his wife,

Some content from Royal Canadian Legion Magazine.

His page at Library and Archives Canada is here.