Private William Owen Seldon was born January 2nd, 1917 in West Caledonia to Roland Seldon and Effie (nee Bond) Seldon.  Farmers, the family belonged to the United Church of Canada.  William had a brother, George, and two sisters, Rhoda and Roseanna.  William was 25 years old when he enlisted and had worked various jobs, including driving horses, driving trucks, and mining for coal and gold.  William stood 5 feet 8 ½ inches tall (173 cm), weighed 176 pounds (80 kg), and had hazel eyes and light brown hair.

 

      William enlisted on July 24th, 1942, and was designated as a Gunner and given the rank of Private, and the Service number F/3981.  Private Seldon was assigned to the 54th Anti-Aircraft (AA) Battery in Bedford and then to the 25th AA Battery in Torbay, Newfoundland. 

 

      By July 1944, it had become obvious that the chances of German aircraft attacking Canada were slim, so the men from the Anti-Aircraft Batteries were folded into the Brigades embarking for Europe. 

Private Seldon was posted to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit and joined them in the United Kingdom on July 27th, 1944, and almost immediately re-embarked for France, arriving on August 12th.  The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division had landed at Normandy two months earlier and was pushing the Germans eastward, but the Germans were heavily defended with troops, guns, and Panzer tanks.  Amidst this fierce action, Private Seldon suffered a leg wound on August 22nd, 1944.  Initially assessed as a flesh wound and possible fracture below his right knee, it was recorded as healed by September 9th, and Private Seldon was again sent to the front.

 

      On February 3rd, 1945, Private Seldon joined the Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin, and Halton Regiment) to continue the Northern offensive to clear the Germans from France and Belgium.  Private William Seldon perished on February 19th, 1945, killed in action against the enemy.  He was 28 years old.

 

      Private Seldon’s mother Effie soon thereafter received a telegram with news that he was missing in action, followed on March 6th with a letter explaining that “missing” could mean killed or taken Prisoner-of-war.  On March 21st, a final letter was sent that definitively stated that Private Seldon had been “killed in action against the enemy”.

 

      Private Seldon bequeathed his estate to his mother, Effie.  Although his files do not mention it, she would have also been awarded the Memorial Cross Medal (also known as the Silver Cross) and would have been given his war Medals.

 

      Private Seldon was initially interred in Germany at the Bedburg Temporary Canadian Cemetery.  By August 1945, his remains had been disinterred and reburied at the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery (Nijmegen) in Plot IX, Row E, Grave 4.  His headstone bears the inscription “SLEEP ON, TAKE YOUR REST. WE LOVED YOU WELL BUT JESUS LOVED YOU BEST. MOTHER AND DAD”.  Flying Officer Jonathan Walton and Corporal Lester Hanley rest in the same cemetery.

 

      Private William Owen Seldon is commemorated on page 562 of the World War Two Book of Remembrance.  He is also listed on the Caledonia Cenotaph.

 

 

​

​

Online References

War Grave Search – https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2232648/william-owen-seldon/

Local Grave Search - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12905005/william-owen-seldon

Canadian Virtual War Memorial - https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2232648?William%20Owen%20Seldon

Second World War Personnel Records Database (file download size 12.6 Meg) - https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=kia&IdNumber=31981&ecopy=44485_83024005549_0418-00249