One hundred years ago, 23-year-old Pvt. Stewart Arthur MacKinlay of the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps' Westminster Regiment charged alongside fellow soldiers toward the Deelen airfield near Arnhem, in the Netherlands.
It was April 15, 1945, with tanks rolling out of the woods setting sights on securing the German-controlled hills around the town of Terlet. The attack started at 6 a.m., finishing by dark as smoke smouldered the landscape of a fiery but victorious day for Canada.
Though the Germans were caught off guard, myriad factors including sandhills, thick forest, roadblocks, rain, cloud cover and poor communication made it challenging for the Canadians to gain ground, according to firsthand accounts shared with the Dutch non-profit Faces to Graves. Casualties for the Westminster Regiment were deemed "light," but among those who succumbed to their wounds was Pvt. MacKinlay 鈥� of Revelstoke.
Honouring the bravery of Pvt. MacKinlay and tens of thousands more exhibited across Europe and North Africa, the Juno Beach Centre in Normandy, France, is marking 80 years since VE Day May 8, 1945, by sending commemorative postcards to some 2,000 Canadian addresses once belonging to those who perished.
Pvt. MacKinlay is among the 2,000 faces appearing on Canadians' doorsteps across the country as part of the He Lived Where You Live campaign, and the only service member in the Columbia-Shuswap region being retraced to their home. Postcards are also being sent elsewhere in the Interior to households in Trail, Nelson and Kamloops.
Born 1921 in Saskatchewan, Pvt. MacKinlay came to Revelstoke in 1937 with his parents Robert and Leonora, his brother Robert and his sister Agnes. In 1943, he enlisted in Canada's Second World War effort and would see extensive service the next two years in Italy and on the Western Front.
Pvt. MacKinlay was a highly decorated soldier, with citations including the 1939-45 Star, Italy Star, France & Germany Star, Defence Medal, War Medal and Canadian Volunteer Service Medal.
Today, he rests at the Netherlands' Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, 10 kilometres southeast of Nijmegen. Inscribed on the cemetery memorial are the Latin words "Pro amicis mortui amicis vivimus" 鈥� "We live in the hearts of friends for whom we died."
Pvt. MacKinlay's name can be found on page 537 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance, located at the Memorial Chamber in Ottawa.
Mount MacKinlay, located in the Selkirk range behind Mount Cartier, is named in his memory, according to Revelstoke Museum and Archives.
Anyone with photos or personal memorabilia of Pvt. MacKinlay can submit copies to the Canadian Virtual War Memorial at .
To learn more about the Juno Beach Centre's He Lived Where You Live campaign, visit .
