B68048 Rifleman William Henry Shilson was born on  17 September 1917, in Toronto, Ontario, the son of William Henry Shilson and Agnes Flossie Shilson. His father had been a sapper with the Canadian Railway Troops during the First World War. William had one sister Elsie Lillian and five brothers Albert (a private with the 48th Highlanders of Canada who was badly injured in the battle of Ortona in Italy in 1944), Edward, Frederick, Robert and Donald. William attended Charles G. Fraser and Ryerson public schools and was a member of St. George’s Anglican Church.

William was a truck driver for Mac’s Cartage of Toronto from 1938 until June 1940. Previously, he had worked for the Empress shoe factory from June 1937 to October 1938 doing general duties.

William lived at 95 Perth Avenue, Toronto, Canada, at the time of his enlistment. He married Patricia Alice Ann McCarthy on 6 May 1939 and they had a daughter Deanna Marelynn on 21 May 1940.

William Shilson enlisted in the Canadian Infantry Corps on 1 October 1940, after spending three months with the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment. He stood five foot three and a half inches tall and weighed 124 pounds. He had blue eyes, and brown hair, was left-handed, and was considered a healthy man.

According to his military records, he enjoyed boxing, swimming and skating. He played left wing when he played hockey, shortstop when he played softball and inside line when he played rugby.

His basic training was taken at Camp Borden in Ontario in early 1941. He was attached on 27 June 1941, as a rifleman to The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. He was stationed in Sussex, New Brunswick. He was shipped overseas to the United Kingdom arriving at Gourock, Scotland, on 29 July 1941.

William remained in the U.K. for the rest of 1941 through 1942 and 1943 until 6 June 1944, when he participated in the first assault wave during the D-Day invasion of France. Rifleman Shilson received a shotgun wound in the left leg that required hospitalization. Once he recovered from his injury, he was sent back to France to rejoin his infantry unit on 12 August 1944.

Rifleman William Shilson, aged 26, died on 22 December 1944, after action against the enemy at Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The battle of December 19-20 resulted in many casualties for his regiment. He likely died of his wounds two days later.

He was initially buried in a temporary cemetery called the Jonkerbosch War Cemetery, in Nijmegen, Netherlands, but was later reburied in the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, grave reference: II. B. 16. The inscription on his headstone reads:

OUR LOSS IS HEAVEN’S GAIN
BUT YOU LIVE IN OUR MEMORY
WIFE AND DAUGHTER

Tim and Sonja Loen’s family from Nijmegen have looked after his grave since he died.

From Matthew Mogilnicki, a student from All Saints H.S., Kanata, Canada for Faces to Graves courtesy of Vanessa Kirtz, teacher at All Saints H.S. Additional research and editing provided by Kurt Johnson.