Henderson, Lieutenant James Robert

Service highlights

  • Service number: A59188
  • Rank: Lieutenant
  • Enlisted: 9 January 1942 in London as an officer cadet in the Canadian Active Service Force
  • Commissioned: Second Lieutenant, 11 April 1942 (after training at 1 Officers Training Centre, Brockville)
  • Promoted: Lieutenant, 16 May 1942 (after advanced infantry training at Camp Borden)
  • Early posting: Prince of Wales’s Rangers (Peterborough Regiment), then transferred with the unit to British Columbia
  • Overseas: Sailed to England on 15 January 1943, joined 3rd Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit
  • Joined: The Perth Regiment on 20 June 1943
  • Theatre of war: Italy (sailed October 1943)
  • Role: Rifle platoon commander, later Battalion HQ Intelligence Officer
  • Killed in action: 31 August 1944 during an assault near Montecchio, Italy (Point 204)
  • Burial: Montecchio War Cemetery, Italy
  • Commemorated: World War II plaque on the south wall of St. Marys Town Hall

A Life and Service Remembered

James Robert Henderson was born in St. Marys on 17 February 1922. He grew up local, went through St. Marys schools and St. Marys Collegiate Institute, and finished Grade 11 before the war. He worked as a machinist at Maxwell’s, and when he had time to spare, he gave it back to the community as a Junior Scout Master. That detail matters, because it tells you something about him before the uniform: steady, practical, and comfortable being responsible for others.

He enlisted in January 1942 and moved quickly through officer training. By spring he was commissioned, and by mid May he had earned his promotion to lieutenant. He trained hard, took on specialist instruction, and then stepped into the constant motion of wartime postings, reinforcements, and drafts that pulled so many young Canadians away from home.

In Italy, he stayed with the battalion through months of fighting. He began as a rifle platoon commander, learning the ground the hard way, then was cross posted to Battalion HQ as the Intelligence Officer. It was not a desk job. The work meant reading the enemy, advising the commanding officer, and sometimes going forward himself. On 30 August 1944, he moved out with a small patrol to check the route for the next day’s assault. On 31 August, during the attack on Point 204 near Montecchio, heavy shelling and mortaring inflicted severe casualties. Lieutenant Henderson was killed.

Back home, the loss would have landed with a particular weight: a St. Marys son, only 22, gone after years of training, travel, and service. He was survived by his parents, Robert and Vera Henderson of Queen Street West, St. Marys, and his sister, Hilda, of London.

Major battles and operations

  • Training and preparation in Canada (1942):
    • 1 Officers Training Centre, Brockville
    • Advanced infantry training at Camp Borden
    • School of Infantry, then unit posting
  • Overseas reinforcement in England (1943):
    • 3rd Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit
    • Joined the Perth Regiment on 20 June 1943
  • Italian Campaign (October 1943 to August 1944):
    • Served with the battalion through sustained front line operations
    • Transitioned from rifle platoon command to Battalion HQ Intelligence Officer
  • Montecchio, Italy (30 to 31 August 1944):
    • Route reconnaissance for a planned assault (30 August)
    • Assault on Point 204 near Montecchio (31 August), where he was killed

Learn More

Library and Archives Canada, casualty record and files
https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?idnumber=41938&app=kia&resource=folderlist&ecopy=44486_83024005548_0512-00330

Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial profile
https://veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2381593

Perth Regiment Association, Montecchio War Cemetery list (includes Lt. J.R. Henderson)
https://www.perthregiment.ca/copy-of-brookwood-cemetery-uk-7

The Fallen, by Richard Holt, Lieutenant J.R. Henderson pg 105