175 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND KEMSLEY, Donald “Don” Don was born in Picton, Ontario in 1924. He joined the Navy (Regular Force) with his brother Howard in Kingston on July 1, 1942, when he was seventeen years old. In March 1943, a British Navy troopship took him around Africa to Egypt, then to Malta in preparation of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily on July 10, 1943. Don served as an Able Seaman in World War II with the Royal Canadian Navy in both the Italian and Normandy Campaigns. He saw action as a gunner during convoy escort duty in the north Atlantic. His medals included the Italy Star and the France and Germany Star. After the war, he returned to Picton and married Helen. He worked as a stationary engineer for Kodak in Toronto for 36 years before retiring back to Picton. He and Helen had four children. Don returned to Italy for the sixtieth anniversary of the Italian Campaign in October 2004. The key areas where Canadians fought were the Battle for Ortona, the Breaching of the Gothic Line at Rimini and the Canadian landing in Sicily. He was a fifty-year member of The Royal Canadian Legion Picton Branch 78. Don passed away in 2009. KEMSLEY, Howard Howard was born in Picton, Ontario on June 26, 1923. He enlisted in the Navy (Regular Force) and joined the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve with his brother Don in Kingston, Ontario on July 1, 1942. He was an able seaman in Canada and on the High Seas. He was listed as on divisional strength from July 1 to August 9, 1942. Requesting a leave, Howard went home to Picton to wed Mary Hopkins on January 3, 1943 prior to being sent overseas. He received the 19391945 Star, Atlantic Star with France and Germany Clasp, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, and War Medal 1939-1945. After an honourable discharge on September 17, 1945, Howard worked as a stationary engineer for Goodyear in Toronto for over 25 years. Howard and Mary had five children. He was an eighteen-year member of The Royal Canadian Legion Long Branch 101. Howard passed away in Toronto, Ontario on October 11, 1975. KEMSLEY, Frank William Frank was born on May 10, 1893, in Picton, Ontario. He enlisted in the Amry (Regular Force) in 1914 and served in the Canadian Army Service Corps during World War I as a Private in the 1st Canadian Divisional Supply Column. Leaving Quebec on September 30, 1914, aboard the Franconia and arriving in England on October 14, 1914, then arriving in France on February 6, 1915. Frank returned to Canada on the SS Baltic, April 29, 1919, to May 6, 1919. After he returned home to Picton, he married Cynthia Brooks in September 1920, worked as an auto mechanic, had three sons, and died in June 1967.
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