Gunner Alonzo James "Jas" Brackett
Terrace, British Columbia
L-18085—113th Fd Bty (H), RCA
Embarked 28 Jan 1940
Born 28 Apr 1895, Herring Cove, Nova Scotia
Died 12 Jan 1981, British Columbia
*Alonzo James Brackett has yet to be confirmed by a family member.
Lance Sergeant Ernest "Ernie" Curtis
Brandon, Manitoba
H-29026—71st Fd Bty, RCA
Embarked 28 Jan 1940
Born 12 Oct 1909, Alexander, Whitehead, Manitoba
Died 7 Sep 1995, Brandon, Manitoba
Gunner Robert "Bob" Cecil Griffin
Regina, Saskatchewan
Died 4 Dec 1976, Regina, Saskatchewan
*There is some indication that the third soldier may have been Gunner Roger Harries Griffith. At this point we believe it to be Robert Griffin though conflicting articles identify both Griffith and Griffin.
*Colourized version without annotations available here. Colourization by WARTIMES.ca. Original black and white version available here.
Press Coverage
Baby dumped by mum at birth in hunt to find soldiers who saved her 77 years ago
*This article's identifications of the soldiers we believe to be incorrect other than that of A. J. Brackett which we have yet to confirm.A woman who was abandoned at birth on a common during the Second World War wants to trace relatives of the soldiers who saved her.
Mary Crabb was close to death when the three men on manoeuvres heard her crying and found her under a bush near Woking, Surrey.
The Canadian troops – Gunner A.J Brackett, Gunner R.C.A Griffith [sic] and Sergeant E Courtney [sic] – rescued the newborn and rushed her to hospital in an Army lorry.
“These men saved me and allowed me to have a life. I can’t thank them enough.”
At first the Royal Canadian Artillery soldiers had thought the sound they heard on Horsell Common on September 23, 1941 was a chicken squawking.
But they soon realised they had a life or death situation on their hands.
Gunner Griffith cut Mary’s umbilical cord with a knife and wrapped her in a clean shirt before the hospital dash.
Mary, from Bell Bar, Herts, said: “I don’t know how they found me.”
The gran added: “The common is huge. I was already there for two hours and turning blue. Doctors didn’t think I would survive because I was so blue and cold. It was a miracle they found me when they did.”
Mary, who went on to be adopted, found out in recent years about being abandoned as a baby and rescued.
She learned 12 years ago that she had been found by the men on the common but it wasn’t until a fortnight ago – when she came across a photo in the Mirror from 1941 – she knew what they looked like.
Daily Mirror: Baby dumped by mum at birth in hunt to find soldiers who saved her 77 years ago
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/g ... s-13851946
Daily Mirror: Harry Curtis, 71, of Ontario, Canada, said his family will welcome Mary with open arms
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/s ... r-13877082
ITV: Grandmother Mary Crabb hoping to find World War II heroes who saved her life
https://www.itv.com/news/2019-01-14/gra ... e-her-life
CBC: 'I've cried many times': WW II 'miracle' baby saved by Canadian soldiers makes long-lost connections
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/baby-aban ... -1.4991565
The Brandon Sun: 'He was the first one to hold me'
https://www.brandonsun.com/local/he-was ... 63152.html
Landlady’s daughter contacts ‘abandoned baby’, 2008
https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local- ... by-4829574
Abandoned Mary's quest for answers, 2008
https://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/abandone ... rs-1-12568
Video Press Coverage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmtmfbEJ6T8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4_dvRNNJFU