Born in Chatham, ON., the  son of Mr. & Mrs. Duncan Williams of 143 King St. East, Chatham, ON. Prior to enlisting he had gone to Central School and  CVS and was working as a ‘bell boy’ at the Chatham Hotel. CDN 15/06/44(P) 

Raymond enlisted in Chatham in 1941 in the Army transferring 27 August, 1942. When he joined the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and had gone overseas in February of 1943.  He served in England, France , Belgium, Holland and Germany while serving with the 3^rd North Nova Scotia Highlanders.

The CDN 22/04/43 (P), reported that Pte. Williams had arrived safely overseas.

The CDN 19/07/44 reported that was the first Casualty in the Normandy invasion. The first wounded was reported CDN 15/06/44, thought to be during the invasion of Normandy. He and a Cpl. Dennis James Ash were the first to “Chatham Casualties” from the invasion. Raymond suffered multiple skull fractures from a mortar shell while serving with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders.

A letter to his mother that “The hole is filling up nicely” he wrote.  He wrote that he may have a premature bald spot where he was wounded. In the same letter Raymond gave a vivid picture of the reaction of Nazi units armed with automatic guns when confronted by a Canadian bayonet charge. “You should have seen the Jerries when we charged out of our dirt trenches straight at their automatic guns; they stopped firing and put their hands in the air.”

He did point out how important letters from home were in particular to a soldier in hospital. “It was just like Christmas, hearing from you.

Reported returned from overseas duty CDN 4/02/46 (P).  He was a member of Br. 28, RCL for 55 years.

Raymond passed away 22 July, 2002.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Sources

CDN 11/11/13 (MSRB III(P))

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