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John Angus McDonald served in the Canadian army during the Second World War.
Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
![John Angus McDonald]({"id":"4ed340d3-fb18-4951-9754-2a12286ea014","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"7090_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":2118456,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T22:54:14.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T22:54:14.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #7090","alt":"John Angus McDonald","caption":"Donald John McDonald (1913-2000), eldest brother of John Angus McDonald. \rDonald served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), while all three of his younger brothers served in with The Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders.","creator":"Memory Project Image #7090 - Veteran #4032","source":"John Angus McDonald","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/7090_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/7090_original.jpg","credit":"John Angus McDonald","pivot":{"mediable_id":"6d8f5081-acbd-46e3-ac33-e76a79561300","media_id":"4ed340d3-fb18-4951-9754-2a12286ea014","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":1},"translations":[{"id":"2348e96c-19dd-43fb-a0c3-361a27b53f88","media_id":"4ed340d3-fb18-4951-9754-2a12286ea014","title":"Memory Project Image #7090","alt":"John Angus McDonald","caption":"Donald John McDonald (1913-2000), eldest brother of John Angus McDonald. \rDonald served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), while all three of his younger brothers served in with The Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders.","creator":"Memory Project Image #7090 - Veteran #4032","source":"John Angus McDonald","locale":"en","credit":"John Angus McDonald"},{"id":"d6c93dc5-256e-42d6-8dc4-2c632a88d6a4","media_id":"4ed340d3-fb18-4951-9754-2a12286ea014","title":"Memory Project Image #7090","alt":"John Angus McDonald","caption":"Donald John McDonald (1913-2000) le plus grand fr\u00e8re de John Angus McDonald.\rDonald a servi dans l'Aviation Royale Canadienne (RCAF) alors que ses trois jeunes fr\u00e8res servaient avec The Stromont, Dundas, et les Glengarry Highlanders.","creator":"Memory Project Image #7090 - Veteran #4032","source":"John Angus McDonald","locale":"fr","credit":"John Angus McDonald"}]} "Memory Project Image #7090")
![John Angus McDonald]({"id":"db3dc290-e331-4ddd-b1ad-47efae2b76ef","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"7091_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":3657994,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T22:54:21.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T22:54:21.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #7091","alt":"John Angus McDonald","caption":"The three youngest McDonald brothers - all members of The Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders - in Horsham, England, 1942. \rFrom left to right: James William (wounded in action at Boulogne on September 19, 1944; 1916-2008); Francis Ronald (killed in action at Caen on July 20, 1944; 1920-1944); John Angus (1918-).","creator":"Memory Project Image #7091 - Veteran #4032","source":"John Angus McDonald","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/7091_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/7091_original.jpg","credit":"John Angus McDonald","pivot":{"mediable_id":"6d8f5081-acbd-46e3-ac33-e76a79561300","media_id":"db3dc290-e331-4ddd-b1ad-47efae2b76ef","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":2},"translations":[{"id":"c07a2634-efa4-4d52-8f1b-fbfb8b6ed662","media_id":"db3dc290-e331-4ddd-b1ad-47efae2b76ef","title":"Memory Project Image #7091","alt":"John Angus McDonald","caption":"The three youngest McDonald brothers - all members of The Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders - in Horsham, England, 1942. \rFrom left to right: James William (wounded in action at Boulogne on September 19, 1944; 1916-2008); Francis Ronald (killed in action at Caen on July 20, 1944; 1920-1944); John Angus (1918-).","creator":"Memory Project Image #7091 - Veteran #4032","source":"John Angus McDonald","locale":"en","credit":"John Angus McDonald"},{"id":"e0f8c340-b9b4-4ba1-83b1-01399288a080","media_id":"db3dc290-e331-4ddd-b1ad-47efae2b76ef","title":"Memory Project Image #7091","alt":"John Angus McDonald","caption":"Les plus jeunes fr\u00e8res McDonald - tous trois membres des The Stormont, Dundas, et des Glengarry Highlander \u00e0 Horsham, Angleterre en 1942.\rDe gauche \u00e0 droite: James William, bless\u00e9 pendant son service \u00e0 Boulogne le 19 septembre 1944 (1916-2008), Francis Ronald, tu\u00e9 pendant son service \u00e0 Caen le 20 juillet 1944 (1920-1944), John Angus (n\u00e9 en 1918).","creator":"Memory Project Image #7091 - Veteran #4032","source":"John Angus McDonald","locale":"fr","credit":"John Angus McDonald"}]} "Memory Project Image #7091")
![John Angus McDonald]({"id":"f7a38bba-6f5b-4af1-994e-6cf8735ded60","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"7089_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":642046,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T22:54:09.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T22:54:09.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #7089","alt":"John Angus McDonald","caption":"Biographical and service information of Mr. John Angus McDonald.","creator":"Memory Project Image #7089 - Veteran #4032","source":"John Angus McDonald","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/7089_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/7089_original.jpg","credit":"John Angus McDonald","pivot":{"mediable_id":"6d8f5081-acbd-46e3-ac33-e76a79561300","media_id":"f7a38bba-6f5b-4af1-994e-6cf8735ded60","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":3},"translations":[{"id":"6dd128ed-83c6-40db-9232-9170657c6a1b","media_id":"f7a38bba-6f5b-4af1-994e-6cf8735ded60","title":"Memory Project Image #7089","alt":"John Angus McDonald","caption":"Biographical and service information of Mr. John Angus McDonald.","creator":"Memory Project Image #7089 - Veteran #4032","source":"John Angus McDonald","locale":"en","credit":"John Angus McDonald"},{"id":"bd0328bd-f6aa-4bb3-ae7f-cee99013de79","media_id":"f7a38bba-6f5b-4af1-994e-6cf8735ded60","title":"Memory Project Image #7089","alt":"John Angus McDonald","caption":"Informations biographiques et portant sur le service de monsieur John Angus McDonald.","creator":"Memory Project Image #7089 - Veteran #4032","source":"John Angus McDonald","locale":"fr","credit":"John Angus McDonald"}]} "Memory Project Image #7089")
![Janine McDonald Seaver]({"id":"57af491c-4072-4a2c-b3a2-9f178efb0732","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"7088_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":748999,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T22:54:07.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T22:54:07.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #7088","alt":"Janine McDonald Seaver","caption":"Postscript on Mr. John Angus McDonald's service. Prepared by his daughter, Janine McDonald Seaver.","creator":"Memory Project Image #7088 - Veteran #4032","source":"Janine McDonald Seaver","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/7088_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/7088_original.jpg","credit":"Janine McDonald Seaver","pivot":{"mediable_id":"6d8f5081-acbd-46e3-ac33-e76a79561300","media_id":"57af491c-4072-4a2c-b3a2-9f178efb0732","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":4},"translations":[{"id":"ab33baf5-49b0-4a38-9b64-7b2032448e2c","media_id":"57af491c-4072-4a2c-b3a2-9f178efb0732","title":"Memory Project Image #7088","alt":"Janine McDonald Seaver","caption":"Postscript on Mr. John Angus McDonald's service. Prepared by his daughter, Janine McDonald Seaver.","creator":"Memory Project Image #7088 - Veteran #4032","source":"Janine McDonald Seaver","locale":"en","credit":"Janine McDonald Seaver"},{"id":"f64e0d41-7719-4d1f-8392-ee62235902d2","media_id":"57af491c-4072-4a2c-b3a2-9f178efb0732","title":"Memory Project Image #7088","alt":"Janine McDonald Seaver","caption":"Postface sur le service de monsieur John Angus McDonald, r\u00e9dig\u00e9 par sa fille ; Janine McDonald Seaver.","creator":"Memory Project Image #7088 - Veteran #4032","source":"Janine McDonald Seaver","locale":"fr","credit":"Janine McDonald Seaver"}]} "Memory Project Image #7088")
Transcript
I was born on the 18 March, 1918 in Lancaster Township, Glengarry County, Ontario. I attended Centre Ward Separate School, Gonzaga High School and Cornwall Collegiate Institute, all in Cornwall, where I was a member of the cadet corps. I was employed at the Crystal Bottling Works before enlisting in the First Battalion, SDG [Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry] Highlanders in June 1940.
I trained at Kingston, Ottawa and [Camp] Debert, Nova Scotia, before going overseas in July 1940. I took part in the Normandy invasion, landing on D-Day, 6 June, 1944. I fought with the battalion until January 1945, when I was sent to England to help in the training of reinforcements. I returned to the battalion at the end of April 1945 in Holland, just in time to march into Emden, Germany, on the 6 May, two days before V-E [Victory in Europe] Day.
On the 12 February, 1944, I married Kathleen Burnett of Manchester, England. After the war, I took a position with the Commonwealth Institute of Entomology in London, England, where I remained until 1967 when I returned home to Canada.
There were four brothers in the service during the war and all served overseas. Donald with the RCAF [Royal Canadian Air Force], James, John Angus, myself; and Francis with the SD and G Highlanders. Francis, the youngest, was killed in the Battle of Caen, Normandy, on the 20 July, 1944. James was shot in the knee while the battalion was engaged in fighting for the [English] Channel port of Boulogne on the 19 September, 1944. I was lucky enough to come out with no scratches.
D-Day, we were in the reserves, as I say. We had only one fatal casualty that day. But then the next day, we moved up, sixth of June, into the line and we came up against the 1st [Panzer] SS [Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Division: Waffen-SS division initially established as Hitler’s bodyguard regiment] and the 12th [Panzer] SS Division [Hitlerjugend: a Waffen-SS armoured division made up mainly of Hitler Youth members]. That was nasty, so on the seventh of June, the battalion had 30 killed and 90 wounded in the one day. That was just a start, anyway.
I served with Captain Ralph Gault; and I thought, I told you about them sending me out to train reinforcements. This friend of mine, we were in the same regiment, Captain Ralph Gault. I was telling him about that and he said to me, they didn’t do that, not the reason they sent you out, you crazy so and so. He said, they sent you out because they didn’t want another casualty in the family. My younger brother had already been killed; my other brother had been wounded and they sent me out because it was like a "Private Ryan" business, they didn’t want another casualty in the family. It was only about 50 years after the war that my friend, Captain Gault, told me.
