37 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND BENNETT, John B. John was born in Walton, Ontario on January 25, 1923. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on April 5, 1943 and served as a Morse Code operator with 408 Goose Squadron in Canada and England. His plane lost three engines on its way back from a bombing mission and was forced down in Hanover, Germany in April 1945. They were walked for over a month until finally imprisoned in Petersberg. They were liberated by the British on VE-Day after which John sailed back to Canada on June 9, 1945 and was discharged on September 10, 1945. He graduated as a Veterinarian Surgeon from Guelph University in 1951 and practiced for 35 years in the Newmarket and Toronto areas, retiring in 1986. John was a member of Milton Wesley Legion Branch 426 before he passed away on April 2, 2012. BERNARD, Elmer John Elmer was born on April 28, 1925 in Victoria Harbour, Ontario. He joined the Army in Toronto on January 14, 1943 and went to Newmarket for basic training. He went on to Camp Borden in the Infantry and left by train for Halifax to Pier 21 where he was shipped overseas. He landed in England and trained there as well as in Scotland. Elmer then went to Italy in Scouts and Snipers and to Africa for about a year. Back in Italy, he joined the 48th Highlanders, 1st Special Service Force, and volunteered to go to the Middle East to Japan. He did not go as the war with Japan was over. In Italy, John was also in the Devil’s Brigade, a parachute troop the Germans called the Black Devils. Elmer was discharged from the Army on February 20, 1946, a veteran at the age of 21 after serving for 38 months. He landed in Halifax at Pier 21. He was awarded the 1939-45 Star, the Italy Star, and the France and Germany Star. BENNINGER, Francis George Francis was born on March 18, 1921 in Walkerton, Ontario. He joined the Army in Toronto on April 14, 1944 and was sent to Newmarket for basic training and then to Dundurn, Saskatchewan where he was trained as a wireless operator. While there, he met the girl he was later to marry. Kathleen was also in the service as a member of the WACS. Francis returned to Toronto to serve in the Medical Corps where he commuted between Toronto and Montreal on the train doing clerical duties for the returning veterans. Kathleen was transferred to Camp Borden at that time and they were married shortly after. After his discharge in 1946, Francis resumed working at Knechtel Furniture from where he retired after 43 years. Kathleen passed away in 2004 and Francis resides with his daughter in Hanover.
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