Wakely, Eric Abbott

Pte. Eric Abbott Wakely, second son of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Wakely, 19 Buffalo St., was in that tragic operation of the 2nd Canadian Division on July 25, 1944, when his regiment, the Black Watch, tried to go forward to Fontenay in the Falaise area, and nearly the whole battalion was lost. Nobody knew exactly what happened to the Black Watch. They went over a slope in the night and very little was heard from them. Reports that did come back over the field wireless before it went dead, plus what the few survivors were able to tell, indicated that the battalion fought a mad, tumultuous battle against fearful odds and under merciless fire, particularly from German tanks. Born in Brantford, July 1, 1914, Eric attended Alexandra School and the Collegiate Institute and then took a course in art at the Central Technical School in Hamilton. He was active in the Y.M.C.A., and in his church, Park Baptist, but his keenest interest was in art and he followed this profession into the business world. He was employed by the Dominion Signs and for a time was in business in Toronto. When he enlisted he was with the Chatham Malleable and Steel Co. He trained in Toronto, Brantford and Camp Borden, and in April, 1943, proceeded overseas with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment and was later transferred to the Black Watch. He was married to Miss Janet Goldie.

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