Wall of Service
Column
20
Row
13
Private Norman Peter Kelly
Born: June 5, 1919 in Windsor, Ontario
Died: September 1, 2004 in Walkerton, Ontario at the age of 85
Regiment # A58235
First Canadian Division, RCASC (Royal Canadian Army Service Corps)
World War II Medals
Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp
War Medal 1939-45
Defence Medal
France and Germany Star
Italy Star
1939-45 Star
Date of Enlistment: October 2, 1941 (age 22 years, 4 months)
Date of Commencement of Active Service: October 16, 1941 in Kitchener, Ontario
Overseas: May 2, 1942 to December 2, 1945 (43 months) Served in Britain, Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany
Demobilization: January 22, 1946 (26 years, 7 months)
In May of 1942 Private Kelly embarked from Pier 21 in Nova Scotia on his way to Greenock, Scotland and then to Three Bridges, between London and Brighton in England to join his military outfit. He was trained as a Driver/Mechanic and his main service during WW II was hauling supplies and ammunition to the front line troops where he often ended up in hand to hand combat.
Private Kelly was later shipped out to Palermo, Sicily. On the way to Sicily, off the coast of Africa, the ship's loudspeaker suddenly announced a torpedo was coming in on the port bow. "I was waiting for the bang but it just missed us", Kelly remembers. Instead it struck a nearby hospital ship, sinking it. The fighting was violent in Italy as the Allied troops drove the Germans North. At Bari, in Italy, Kelly witnessed a conflagration in the harbour. Earlier in the day a lone German plane had circled the site, it turned out to be a spy plane. Later, several more planes returned and attacked. Thirteen British, American and Canadian ships were destroyed, he said, one blowing up another.
The troops fought their way up the Adriatic side of Italy until Rimini, where they were relieved by the Canadian Fifth Division. Then it was a drive across France, Belgium and into Holland. Kelly described Holland as, "experiencing bitter fighting", but he found the Dutch people to be very friendly despite the fact that many of them were starving to death.
When the war was finally over Private Kelly returned home on the Cunard White Star Liner, the Queen Elizabeth I, docking in New York. He then boarded a train to London, Ontario, where unkown to Kelly, his father, uncle and younger brother were waiting to meet him. Private Kelly's mother had heard his name read from a list of soldiers returning on the Queen Elizabeth. His family made the 150 km journey to London from the hamlet of Chepstow, in Bruce County to surprise him.
Norman Kelly finished his formal schooling in 1933 at the age of 14, completing Grade 8. Following his return from WW II he married Edna Bruder in 1951. Together they had ten children beginning with the birth of triplet sons. In the end there would be four sons and six daughters. During his civilian life Norm was a labourer including such roles as a mixed farmer, teamster, sawyer and roofer.
