John Edward Johnson

Additional information about John Edward Johnson who was killed on February 28th 1945 near Cleve-Xanten in Germany and is buried in the Canadian Cemetery in Groesbeek, ID 2663667, grave number XXII. A. 7.Accidental meetings;Grant Bennington and his wife Deborah from Orangeville Canada were on holiday in Western Europe. It started with a few days in Amsterdam. Grant and Deborah decided to visit the grave of his uncle Jack in Groesbeek on the first day, 5 October 2017 (by train and bus from Amsterdam to Groesbeek). John Edward was called Jack in the family.John Edward was killed on February 28, 1945 in Cleve-Xanten in Germany and is buried in the Canadian Cemetery in Groesbeek, ID 2663667, grave number XXII. A. 7.On the same day earlier my wife Helma and I (Harm) visited the Liberation Museum in Groesbeek. Afterwads we went to the Canadian Cemetery nearby. It was late in the afternoon. There we met Grant and Deborah. They could not find the grave because location information seemed to be missing. We helped to search and found the grave. After a moment of remembering it was later than 5 p.m. The the question was now whether Grant and Deborah could still reach Amsterdam by bus and train. So Helma and I brought them back to their hotel in Amsterdam. We got to know each other during that drive. Grand told various stories about his father Kenneth Bennington and his brother-in-law Jack Johnson. It became an emotional day with great satisfaction.Grant's father Kenneth died a few years ago. Only in his final years he was willing to talk about his war experiences. Grant took notes. It became a war biography.This biography has been added to this information separately;1st : because a coincidence is described on February 24, a few days before Jack died. 2nd: because it gives a clear overview of the experiences of a Canadian soldierGrant writes in this biography at the beginning of page 4;"23 to 28 February 1945 Cleve-Xanten (Germany),Heavy fights and many casualties. Dad's Company "A" came under command of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (RHLI) on September 24. That evening he was instructed to guide a senior officer to the RHLI headquarters. While he waited outside headquarters, it wasn't long before someone asked "where are you from". Father answered "Shelburne" to the colleague with whom he spoke. The colleague said: "Hey, that's a coincidence, one of my colleagues is from there. I'm going to call him because you might know him."It turned out to be Uncle Jack, his brother-in-law! Jack was on his second duty tour and had just returned from home, where he saw his baby girl for the first time. Jack had also just been promoted to captain. They talked all night about how they would finish the war together, while Jack would transfer father to the RHLI. A few days later on the 28th. Dad was told that a mortar shell had killed Jack. Dad was informed that a mortar shell had killed Jack. Father was devasated. What a blow it must have been to his morale”. Grant went into family history after the European vacation, but unfortunately he couldn't find any other relevant life descriptions or experiences about his uncle.During the commemoration on 4 May in the Netherlands, Grant's father and his uncle John have always been in our thoughts since then. Grant and I still write mail each other every now and then.This information is written and posted by Harm Vollema from Lemmer The Netherlands on february 14th 2020. Sluiten