C65492 Rifleman Clarke Lynson Lawson was born 8 May 1905 in Brighton, Ontario, son of George Lynson Lawson and Sarah Elizabeth Maybee.

Clarke was educated at the Lawson Settlement School and Brighton High School and later attended Kingston Dairy School. Following this, he took a radio course by correspondence and held a radiotrician diploma. Clarke’s main interest was in his purebred cattle.

Clarke was an avid hunter and fisherman. He loved the outdoors and worked as a farmer. His bright and sunny disposition attracted all who came in contact with him.

On 12 August 1936, he married Stella Peters at Wicklow, Ontario and later had a daughter named Helen Marie.

Clarke enlisted with the Midland Regiment on 15 November 1940 in Coburg, Ontario. He went overseas on 22 March 1943 where he was posted to the Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit and then transferred to The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada on 11 June 1943.

He survived the landing on Juno beach on 6 June 1944 but died later in the day while liberating the village of Anisy – the final objective for The Queen’s Own Rifles on D-Day. He is buried in Beny-sur-Mer Cemetery, grave reference I. F. 4.

Two years after Clarke’s death, his wife Stella was once again met with tragedy as her daughter was killed at the age of seven in a shooting accident.

In 2017 in the presence of members of the regiment, the Village of Anisy named a new street in his honour: Rue Clark Lawson ( photo below.)

Some information taken from the Juno Beach website page researched by then student Josh White.