James was born August 4, 1914, Howard Township.  Son of John and Delia Barclay of the Scane Sideroad, Howard Twsp, Kent Co. ON., the brother of Jack and Frank, still living at home and a sister Mrs. George Kemp of Ridgetown. The husband of Marjorie (nee Griffiths) of Ridgetown, Ontario, marrying in 1937; they had a daughter Marjorie Patricia who was four years old when he died. James was a graduate of the Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph and graduated receiving his M.Sc., B.S.A. at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbour, Michigan.

He  moved from the Ridgetown area to Belleville with his wife to work at the Dominion Parasite Laboratory, & that his small daughter lived her life without her father.

James was in the 34th Field Battery, 14th Regiment. An article in Canadian Military History (Volume 16 Issue 4 Article 7) shows a photo of a stone commemorating the deaths of 10 members of that division. I think Captain Morley was the captain of a self propelled gun unit. His is the second name on the stone.

He was in the non-permanent unit which was mobilized in 1940 and went overseas as a Lieutenant with an artillery unit in July of 1941. He was injured soon after arriving in England, requiring several weeks of hospitalization. It was speculated that he was most likely on a ship that was sunk off the coast. His first real action was on D-Day, June 1944, during the invasion of Normandy, France. He was reported as Missing In Action in the CDN 19/06/44, thirteen days after the landing.

The following is submitted by:  Angela Sikkema.  Canadian Military History, Volume 16, Issue 4, Article 7 – 2007 – “First Deployment of the 14th Field Regiment, RCA: D-Day-Bernieres-sur-Mer-6 June 1944 by Wesley B. Aikenbrack.  Attached is the link: 

https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1471&context=cmh

 

Photo courtesy of Angela Sikkema:

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Sources

RC, IOSD, CVWM(P), RIN (20/06/12), ESUC-RH, RHS-RH, RCL Br. 243-RH, A. Sikkema

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