Venerable Gunners of the Second World War and Korea

The Royal Canadian Artillery Association wishes to recognize remaining members of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery who served during the Second World War or Korea.

If you know of a Veteran that served the Guns during the Second World War or Korea, please ask them on our behalf if they would like their names recorded on this list. If they agree, please forward to the Secretary, secretary.rcaa.aarc@gmail.com a short biography with the following information: Veteran’s full name, rank on retirement from the Canadian Forces, birth city, units served in, information on their career after the war and two photos, one in uniform during the war and a recent photo. We would also request the following information (but will not post online): mailing address and birthdate.

Sergeant Roland (Roly) Montgomery Armitage

Roly was born on 8 February 1925, and grew up on a farm on March Road, about 20 kilometres due west of Parliament Hill. He originally joined the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion despite the advice of his father, who was wounded in the First World War, urging him to join the artillery so he wouldn’t have to march. During training at Fort Benning, Georgia, it was discovere that he was underage and he was sent back to Canada. He took a dispatch rider  course and bacame a member of 5th Battery, 3rd Medium Regiment, RCA, CASF. Landing in the second wave at Juno Beach he fought with the Regiment through the remainder of the war and was in Wilhelmshaven on VE Day. While waiting for repatriation he was involeved in the management of the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in the Dutch town of Noordwijk Aan Zee. After the war Roly finished high school and married Mary Spearman, a girl from Stittsville he’d known before the war. He later enrolled in the Ontario Veterinary College, graduating in 1951 and spending 20 years living in Shawville, Que., where he looked after the horses up in the logging camps as well as the livestock on the local farm. Roly eventually moved on to running the Carp Airport and the Rideau Carleton Raceway, raising and training Standardbred horses. He’s been the mayor of West Carleton Township and a member of the old regional council.  He’s been awarded the key to the city, the Order of Ontario and named to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. He married twice, had four children and wrote three books.

Gunner Nick Kazuska

Nick Kazuska was born on 17 November 1919, in Hampton, Saskatchewan. He joined the Canadian Army in 1940 and trained in Regina, where he was posted to the 9th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment. He was sent to England in 1941 and assigned as the #3 gun layer on the 40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft gun. He was wounded in 1943 after a near miss from an enemy shell.  He spent his 104th birthday celebration plucking away at an upright bass as a local band played around him at the Preston Park Retirement Residence  chapel in Saskatoon where he now lives.

Sergeant Russell Kaye CD

Sergeant Russell Kaye was born 9 February 1924. He joined the Canadian Army in February 1942 in Moncton, New Brunswick at the age of 19. After completing basic training and advanced training at Petawawa he was stationed in Debert, Nova Scotia before being transported to Borden, England. From Borden he was relocated to Southhampthon, England for extensive training in preparation for D-Day landings. At day break on the morning of June 6 1944, Russ sailed across the English Channel with E Troop, 43rd Battery, 12th Field Regiment, RCA, CASF and landed at Juno Beach. Russell continued with the Canadian Army after the Second World War including the United Nations in Korea.

Gunner Alex Moeller

Alex Moeller was born 20 August 1923. A long time resident of Baysville, Ontario, Alex arrived with his parents in 1934 for a summer holiday. His first job was as a butcher with Dominion Stores in Toronto but the Scond World War found him volunteering with the Canadian Army. He served with Major Conn Smythe’s 30th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, 6th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RCA, CASF and landed in Normandy a few weeks after D-Day. On his return in 1945, he found work where he could, learning valuable trades by working at De Havilland and Canada Rogers Sheet Metal. After years of self-study and exams, Alex became a Stationary Engineer at A&P Canada Company’s head office.