Acting Corporal J. I. Andrews

[Phil]

https://globalnews.ca/news/5485877/onta ... his-family

A Sudbury-area man has been embroiled in a tireless quest to return lost military items to the family of a veteran who fought in the Second World War.

John Scott said he was on vacation in Mexico several years ago when he met Laurel Seeley and her family.

“I was explaining that my interest was in Second World War aviation,” he recalled.

He said Seeley told him that her father was in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and that her son had come across a pouch with memorabilia contained inside.

The black leather pouch housed an ID bracelet and sleeve insignia. The items were found near the Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga.

Seeley’s son Adam had gone to work on a landscaping job at a nearby condominium between five and eight years ago. It was then that he said he found the items, discounting thm as ordinary finds.

It was not until he took a closer look, that he realized there was more to the story.

He tried in vain to find the family attached to items, eventually passing those on to Scott through his mother.

“I know if it was my dad, I would want his memorabilia returned to me so I could treasure it and it would become a family heirloom,” Scott told Global News.

He said he reached out to the Ministry of National Defence and eventually received a message over email.

It read in part, “We were able to identify the individual as Acting Corporal J.I. Andrews of the Dufferin and Haldimand Rifles, who embarked at Halifax on Feb. 25, 1945.”

The message also said that records indicated Andrews was not killed in action.

Scott said he hopes that by sharing his findings publicly, someone will know who Acting Corporal Andrews was and how to reach his family.

World_War_2.jpg (492.94 KiB) Viewed 18148 times

Close_Up.jpg (42.92 KiB) Viewed 18146 times

[Phil]

Also from John Scott,

I received a brass ID bracelet inscribed J.I. ANDREWS with what looks like D.606688. along with 2 eagle facing left sleeve insignia (one has Canada) Trying to locate information and/or family so these may go "home". Where do I begin?

[Temujin]

This is “different”. The information they give is Army.......but the badges are Air Force. He could have served in the Canadian Army and then transferred to the Air Force.

The D606688 looks like a Regimental Number (Service Number)

D means he joined in Military District 4, which was the “western side” of Quebec to Ontario border.

D606688 number means that he original unit he joined was No 42 BTC ( No 42 Basic Training Center) which was No. 42 Canadian Army Educational (Basic) Training Centre – Joliette, PQ

I’ll see if I can find anything else

[rrmerlin44]

After researching his ID is B606638..not D

[Temujin]

Convoy info. Convoy left from New York City BUT.....you can see various ships joined from Halifax. I can see if I can find the ship ????

Ships joining from Halifax have that noted under “Cargo”

FF4D211D-777F-4707-BA5D-A6D9FD92A5BF.jpeg (648.73 KiB) Viewed 18187 times

4DE68277-C8AF-448B-B555-343F480E0E05.jpeg (888.77 KiB) Viewed 18187 times

[Temujin]

After researching his ID is B606638..not D

OK, the changes’

B mean Military District No 2, which is Western Ontario

B 606638 means his original unit he joined was No 22 BTC.......which was No. 22 Canadian Army Educational (Basic) Training Centre – North Bay, Ontario

[Phil]

Yeah, the wings are odd, a number of things don't add up just yet.

[Phil]

I did find a Lte-Col. J. I. Andrews in the armoured corps,

These units were closely followed by the first wave of tanks of the 14th Canadian Army Tank Battalion (Calgary Regiment) commanded by Lt-Col. J.I. Andrews.

And a number of references to an Andrews in the R.C.A.F., a photo of a training crew,

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/ ... umber=1058&

[Temujin]

YES, this isn’t making sense.

I have a feeling, that the RCAF/RAF patches etc, are probably things that he traded for, or maybe a brother........anyway, not going to do much more on this as their really isn’t a lot to go on. Their best bet (as they are doing) is get newspapers to post it and “maybe” he, or a relative will spot it

also they could contact the Royal Canadian Legion....they may help

[Phil]

YES, this isn’t making sense. How do they know his Name and Rank and regiment and which day he embarked.

I would like to see where they found this info.....it then may help.

I suspect they just searched for J.I. Andrews and returned the rank and embarkation date of the first record.