Windsor War Chest · Honour roll

Windsor-Essex honour roll (starting list)

A starting roll of people already named and sourced on Windsor War Chest, each linked out to the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. This is not a complete list of Windsor-Essex dead, and it is not a copy of Veterans Affairs Canada's database.

How this list was made Every name below already appears on the War Chest chronology, the navy page or the Air Force page, with a source note. Local links are given as the CVWM states them. Family-only links (for example a parent "of Windsor") are marked. Names are added only after they have been checked. Living people, and veterans who survived their service and later died in civilian life, are not listed on the roll below. A separate Honourable Mentions section, under the roll, names people who kept remembrance alive in Windsor-Essex. Families can send a name for checking. A longer air force list, researched from public records and cross-checked against town memorials, with a link to each source, is on the Air Force roll. A longer Army list, researched from public records with a link to each source, is on the Army roll; it has not yet been cross-checked against town memorials. None of these lists is official or complete.

Search this page:

Second World War

Rows marked ⚓ At sea are naval or merchant navy deaths. Their ships and the HMCS Hunter plaque are on the navy page. Rows marked Air Force link to the Air Force page. A fuller list of air force deaths is on the Air Force roll. A fuller list of Army deaths is on the Army roll.

Name	Service	Local link, as the CVWM states it	Died	CVWM
Lance Corporal Dorothy Helena James	Canadian Women's Army Corps	Parents lived in Windsor; buried in Windsor's Grove Cemetery	23 Sept. 1944, Ontario	CVWM record
Chief Radio Officer Frank (Francis George) Taylor ⚓ At sea	Canadian Merchant Navy, M.V. Victolite	Born in Windsor; parents "from Windsor"	11 Feb. 1942	CVWM record
Oiler John O'Brien ⚓ At sea	USAT Henry R. Mallory	Born in Windsor; "From Windsor"	7 Feb. 1943	CVWM record
Fireman Walter Varley Standing ⚓ At sea	S.S. Arandora Star	Family link only; does not establish that he lived here. Born in Chinguacousy, Ont.; parents "of Windsor"	2 July 1940	CVWM record
Able Seaman Charles Brannagan Dowell ⚓ At sea	RCNVR, HMCS St. Croix	Parents and wife of Windsor	20 Sept. 1943	CVWM record
Stoker Stanley Lewandowski ⚓ At sea	RCNVR, HMCS Athabaskan	Enlisted in Windsor. A 1944 directory lists a Stanley J. Lewandowski at a Windsor address; the chronology marks that family match as probable, not certain.	29 Apr. 1944	CVWM record
Ordinary Seaman Walter Brozovich ⚓ At sea	RCNVR, HMCS Clayoquot	Parents "of Windsor"; born in Gorski Kotar. Directories list the parents in Windsor; they do not show where he lived.	24 Dec. 1944	CVWM record
Able Seaman Frederick Francis Monroe Taylor ⚓ At sea	RCNVR, HMCS Ottawa	Family link only. Parents "of Essex, Ontario"	13 Sept. 1942	CVWM record
Flying Officer John Kenneth MacDonnell	RCAF, attached to No. 190 Squadron RAF	Parents "of Windsor, Ontario" in official memorial records. The 1944 Windsor city directory lists John K. MacDonnell Jr. at 689 Josephine Avenue, marked on active service. A Star clipping says he was born and educated in Western Canada and enlisted at Saskatoon.	21 Sept. 1944, the Netherlands	CVWM record
Private Ray Ivan McCarthy	Essex Scottish Regiment, R.C.I.C.	Husband of Genevieve McCarthy, of Amherstburg, Ontario; son of Charles and Pearl McCarthy, in official memorial records. A wartime clipping says he was born and educated in Colchester South and worked in Harrow.	8 March 1945, buried in the Netherlands	CVWM record
Able Seaman James Weymuth Paddon ⚓ At sea	Royal Canadian Navy, HMCS Fraser	Parents and wife of Windsor. The Town of LaSalle calls him the first Windsor casualty of the war.	25 June 1940, Halifax Memorial	CVWM record
Warrant Officer Class II Wesley Bethel Croft Air Force	RCAF, 420 Squadron	Parents of Maidstone	14 Oct. 1942, buried at Ripon, England	CVWM record
Warrant Officer Francis Joseph Higgins Air Force	RCAF, 427 Squadron	Parents of Amherstburg	26 June 1943, buried in the Netherlands	CVWM record
Pilot Officer Victor Hector Bernyk Air Force	RCAF, attached to No. 626 Squadron RAF	Born in Sellwood, Ont.; enlisted in Windsor; parents of Windsor. Brother of Michael Bernyk.	25 Apr. 1944, buried at Durnbach, Germany	CVWM record
Pilot Officer Royal Edwin Hazael Air Force	RCAF, 431 Squadron	Born in Kingsville; enlisted in Windsor; parents of Windsor	28 Apr. 1944, Belgium	CVWM record
Pilot Officer Gordon Kenneth Vimy Ridge Vincent, DFC Air Force	RCAF, 425 Squadron	Born and enlisted in Windsor; parents of Windsor	28 July 1944, Runnymede Memorial	CVWM record
Private Bernard Alexander Adam	The Royal Canadian Regiment	Parents of Windsor. The Town of LaSalle lists him with his brothers among its local veterans.	7 Sept. 1944, buried at Montecchio, Italy	CVWM record
Flight Lieutenant Leonard Arthur Unwin Air Force	RCAF, attached to No. 263 Squadron RAF	Enlisted in Windsor; parents and wife of Windsor; born in Sheffield, England	24 Dec. 1944, the Netherlands	CVWM record
Flight Lieutenant James Anthony Sherry Air Force	RCAF, attached to No. 166 Squadron RAF	Parents of Windsor	31 Dec. 1944, buried at Nederweert, the Netherlands	CVWM record
Flying Officer Michael Bernyk Air Force	RCAF, attached to No. 166 Squadron RAF	Born in Windsor; parents of Windsor. Navigator in Sherry's crew.	31 Dec. 1944, buried at Nederweert, the Netherlands	CVWM record
Private Leo Joseph Paré	Highland Light Infantry of Canada	The CVWM record gives no local link. The Town of LaSalle says his family farmed in the Petite Côte area, now LaSalle.	4 Apr. 1945, buried at Groesbeek, the Netherlands	CVWM record
Squadron Leader Thomas Joseph De Courcy, DFC Air Force	RCAF, commanding 443 Squadron	Parents of Windsor	7 June 1945, accident on active service; buried at Becklingen, Germany	CVWM record

Korean War

The chronology already notes that local counts of Windsor-Essex Korean War dead have not been reconciled. This table lists the eight people with a CVWM local link that the chronology already names. It is not a claim that eight (or seven) is the final total.

Name	Unit	Local link, as the CVWM states it	Died	CVWM
Pte Earl Alva McIntyre	1 PPCLI	Born in Windsor, 1931	15 Jan. 1952, South Korea	CVWM record
Pte Robert James Jones	RCR	Father of Windsor	11 Oct. 1951, South Korea	CVWM record
Pte Kenneth Bryant Jones	RCASC	Raised in Windsor by his aunt and uncle; also a Second World War veteran	8 Jan. 1952, South Korea	CVWM record
Pte Joseph Wilfred Major	R22eR	Parents of Windsor	19 Aug. 1952, South Korea	CVWM record
Gnr Clifford Donald Weir	RCA	Parents of Windsor	3 May 1953, South Korea	CVWM record
Pte Robert Frederick Thomas Girard	3 RCR	Born in Amherstburg, 1932	3 May 1953, Hill 187, South Korea	CVWM record
Pte Leo Joseph Tellier	PPCLI	Born in Tilbury; family of Belle River	16 May 1953, Belle River, Ontario	CVWM record
Pte Clifford Joseph Laframboise	Black Watch (RHR)	Born in Windsor, 1931	14 June 1954, South Korea (after the armistice)	CVWM record

Service deaths after 1945: air force

Name	Service	Local link, as the CVWM states it	Died	CVWM
Flying Officer Clarence Russell Wright Air Force	425 All Weather Fighter Squadron	Born and enlisted in Windsor; family of Windsor; buried in Windsor (Green Lawn) Memorial Park	15 Mar. 1957, Assumption, Que.	CVWM record
Air Commodore John Gay Stephenson Air Force	Air Force Headquarters	Born in Walkerville, 1914	29 Apr. 1960, Milwaukee, Wis.	CVWM record

Peacekeeping and Afghanistan

Name	Unit	Local link, as already sourced on the chronology	Died	CVWM
Cpl John Marc Henry Béchard	2nd Battalion PPCLI	Born in Leamington, 1969; enlisted in Windsor in 1988; UNPROFOR; buried at St. Joachim. The chronology says this is the only Windsor-Essex peacekeeping death found so far in that search, which it also calls incomplete.	6 Aug. 1993	CVWM record
Cpl Andrew Paul Grenon	2nd Battalion PPCLI	Born in Windsor, 19 Jan. 1985; buried in Windsor. A redbud tree at 4007 Sandwich Street was dedicated 21 June 2009.	3 Sept. 2008, Zharey district, Afghanistan	CVWM record

33 names on this starting roll. If a family has another name, email a copy of what you know to windsornewsdesk@gmail.com. We will check it against official records before any name is added. Do not send service numbers or other private identifiers unless we ask.

Read the longer accounts on the chronology.

Honourable Mentions

This list honours people who kept remembrance alive in Windsor-Essex. It is not a list of confirmed military service.

Windsor Veterans Memorial Services Committee

Paul Lauzon

Chair of the Windsor Veterans Memorial Services Committee. A March 2018 Biz X article called him a committee member. By 5 November 2019, CBC News was calling him president. The committee's contact page lists him as the 2025 to 2027 executive chair. On 9 December 2024 he appeared before Windsor City Council as chairperson and presented a commemorative plaque.

Sources: Biz X, 1 March 2018; CBC News, 5 November 2019; the committee contact page, retrieved 11 November 2026; City of Windsor, Council minutes, 9 December 2024. See also Local veterans organizations.