Service highlights
- Service number: A11225
- Born: March 21 1921, Grand Bend (recorded as 31 March in another account)
- Enlisted: 18 September 1939 at Stratford
- Unit: Perth Regiment
- Overseas: Sent overseas 5 October 1941, trained in England and Scotland, embarked for the Mediterranean theatre in October 1943
- Died: 27 April 1945
- Buried: Holten Canadian War Cemetery, Grave III.F.4
- Remembered locally: Commemorated in St. Marys, including the World War II plaque on the south wall of St. Marys Town Hall
A Life and Service Remembered
Lester James Dewey grew up with roots in Grand Bend and St. Marys, and his story carries that familiar small town rhythm. He moved to St. Marys as a young boy, graduated from St. Marys Collegiate in 1939, and for a short time worked at the A.E. Ravelle General Store back in Grand Bend. Even before the Second World War began, he had already been around military life, noted as an underage militiaman with 3 (St. Marys) Company of the 2nd Battalion Canadian Machine Gun Corps.
He enlisted in the Perth Regiment at Stratford on 18 September 1939, and from that point forward his service was steady and continuous. He spent the winter of 1939 to 1940 with the regimental depot in Stratford, likely for basic training, then prepared for the long stretch that would take him far from home.
On 5 October 1941, the Perths went overseas. Lester trained in England and Scotland for the next two years, and in October 1943 the regiment embarked for the Mediterranean theatre. He was described as an “original,” a soldier who stayed with the regiment through almost every major action that followed.
In Italy, his path ran through some of the hardest fighting of 1944. He fought in the Liri Valley from 25 May to 1 June, at Ceprano on 27 May, and at the Melfa Crossing on 25 May. Then, in late July 1944, while the battalion was at rest camp, he was struck down by illness. He was admitted to 24 Field Ambulance with hepatitis, evacuated through 5 Casualty Clearing Centre, and sent on to 15 Canadian General Hospital at Caserta. Recovery was quick. By 11 August he was back in the reinforcement stream, and by 11 September 1944 he had rejoined the Perths just after the fighting for the Gothic Line.
That return says something about determination, and about a soldier who wanted to be where his friends were, even when the war had already demanded a lot from him. He fought with the regiment through the winter battles at the Lamone River in December 1944 and at Conventello from 2 to 6 January 1945. In February 1945 the Perth Regiment moved to North West Europe and into action in Holland.
On 27 April 1945, just days before the end of the war in Europe, the Perth Regiment was fighting near Delfzijl. The account notes slow progress against German rearguards and the heavy cost of those final pushes, including naval gunfire from the dikes taking a persistent toll. Lester was killed that day.
He was buried at Holten Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands. He was survived by his parents, Simeon Dewey and Maurine Dewey, and also by his brother Sherwood Dewey and his sister Doris Dewey. His younger brother Kenneth Dewey was killed in 1944 while serving with the Royal Air Force. Lester and his brother Kenneth are commemorated in St. Marys, including on the World War II plaque at the Town Hall.
Major battles and operations
- Italy, Liri Valley, 25 May to 1 June 1944
- Italy, Melfa Crossing, 25 May 1944
- Italy, Ceprano, 27 May 1944
- Returned to unit just after the Gothic Line fighting, 11 September 1944
- Italy, Lamone River, December 1944
- Italy, Conventello, 2 to 6 January 1945
- Netherlands, fighting near Delfzijl, killed 27 April 1945
Learn More
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/661050
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/178275061/lester-james-dewey
https://levensverhalen.canadesebegraafplaatsholten.nl/wp-content/uploads/Dewey-Lester-James-03-F-04-En.pdf
https://rcl236stmarys.ca/cenotaph/dewey-flight-sergeant-kenneth-welland/
The Fallen, Richard Holt, A11225 Private LJ Dewey, pg 99