B103245 Rifleman John Klacza, was born in Bolesew, Poland 26 March 1925, the son of Frank  Klacza and Wilhelmina Lempka, of Toronto, Ontario who came to Canada c. 1936.  Klacza had a sister and younger brother and attended Niagara Street School in Toronto. His family were Roman Catholic. He left school at age 16 but spoke both English and Polish.

Klacza was a naturalized citizen and worked as a labourer for the Dominion Bridge Company Limited (doing “war work”) when he enlisted in the Army in Brantford on 27 January 1944.

He was 18 years old and had brown eyes, and dark brown hair, was 5’7″ tall and weighed 141 pounds. He trained at Brantford and Camp Borden. (Because of his place of birth,  he was able to serve anywhere in the Active Service Army with “the exception of the most secret assignments.”)

Klacza arrived in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1944 and posted to a reinforcement unit until taken on strength by The Queen’s Own Rifles on 22 August 1944.

Klacza was wounded (both legs, buttock and left arm) on 30 October 1944 after stepping on a mine while in action in Holland. He returned to the QOR on 28 November 1944

Rifleman Klacza was killed in action in the early hours of 26 February 1945, aged 20 and is buried in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, grave reference VIII. H. 15. His epitaph reads:

DIED FOR FREEDOM OF CANADA
UMARL ZA, WOLNOSC POLSKI
[Translation “He died for the freedom of Poland”]