B64802 Lieutenant John James Chambers, was born in Gateshead-on-Tyne, Durham, England on 29 October 1922, the son of Corporal Edward Septimus Chambers and Anna Winifred Hunter. His father served with the Northumberland Fusiliers in the First World War and with the Veterans Guard during the Second including two years as a prisoner of war guard in Gravenhurst, Ontario. John was a member of St. Michael and All Angels Anglican Church in Toronto.
Immediately after graduating from McMurrich Public School, Central Technical School (where he was an Army Cadet), and the Ontario College of Art, he enlisted with The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada (Active Army) on 29 September 1941, having served with the Reserve Battalion as a Rifleman from June to August 1941. He was 5’11 1/2″, 152 lbs, with blue eyes, a fair complexion, and brown hair.
Chambers trained in North Bay, Niagara on the Lake, Ontario (with the QOR 3rd Battalion), Debert, Nova Scotia (attached to the Royal Winnipeg Rifles) and was temporarily attached to the British Columbia Regiment before going overseas in 1943.
Lieutenant Chambers, just 22, was killed in action in the early hours of 26th February 1945, aged 22 after only three weeks of active service. He is buried in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, grave reference VIII. H. 8.
His epitaph reads:
IN LIFE
LOVED AND HONOURED
IN DEATH
REMEMBERED
The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum and Archive 