Culliton, Lieutenant Frederick James

Service highlights

  • Born 8 January 1916 in Stratford
  • Worked in insurance in Mitchell and St. Marys
  • Joined the Reserve Army in December 1941 and served with the (Reserve) battalion of the The Perth Regiment
  • Enlisted for active service 5 October 1942 in London as an officer cadet
  • Sailed overseas 25 August 1943, served in Italy, then joined the Perth Regiment in the field as a rifle platoon commander
  • Killed in action 28 September 1944 in Italy
  • Buried at Cesena War Cemetery, grave III G 7

A Life and Service Remembered

Frederick James Culliton was born in Stratford on 8 January 1916 and grew up there, building a steady, rooted life before the war. He completed his Junior Matriculation at Stratford Central Collegiate in 1933, then went into insurance work, first in Mitchell and later in St. Marys. It was practical work that depended on trust and conversation, the kind of job where people knew your name and expected you to show up, follow through, and do things properly.

In December 1941 he joined the Reserve Army and became a corporal with the Perth Regiment’s reserve battalion. The following year he stepped forward for active service, enlisting on 5 October 1942 as an officer cadet. Training took him through Trois-Rivières and then to Camp Borden for his lieutenant qualifying course. By March 1943 he had graduated, and he was soon trusted as an instructor, first at Camp Ipperwash and then on attachment to a basic training centre back in Stratford. Those instructor months mattered. They meant he was helping shape other soldiers before he ever had to lead men under fire himself.

He sailed to England on 25 August 1943 and spent months with the 3rd Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit before being sent to Italy in February 1944. On 28 July 1944 he finally joined the Perth Regiment in the field as a rifle platoon commander in A Company. From there, his war moved fast. He was with the regiment as it broke into the German Gothic Line on 30 and 31 August 1944, then on 13 September as it captured key ground overlooking Coriano. Later that month the Perths advanced to the east bank of the Fiumicino River, where heavy rain and flooding stalled the planned assault and forced them to hold and consolidate under intense artillery and mortar fire.

Frederick was killed by enemy shelling on 28 September 1944. He was 28. He is buried at Cesena War Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Juanita and their young daughter, Gayle Patricia, as well as his mother Mary and his brother Arnold, who served with the Royal Canadian Engineers. He had been predeceased before the war by his father, Albert Bruce Culliton. In St. Marys, his name remains on the town hall plaque, a local marker for a life that carried responsibility early, and ended far from home.

Major battles and operations

  • Italy Campaign with the Perth Regiment, A Company, rifle platoon commander
  • Break-in of the Gothic Line, 30 and 31 August 1944
  • Capture of ground overlooking Coriano, 13 September 1944
  • Operations on the east bank of the Fiumicino River, late September 1944
  • Killed in action, 28 September 1944

Learn More

  • https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/644365
  • https://peacethroughvalour.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/canadians_soldiers_italy.pdf
  • https://canadiansatarms.ca/cemetery/cesena-war-cemetery/
  • The Fallen, by Richard Holt, Lieutenant F.J. Culliton, Pg 96