Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment - R.C.I.C.

John Augustine Grabiec was born March 8th, 1908 to Jadwiga and Anthony Grabiec in Hamilton, Ontario. He was the eldest of 12 children born to this hard-working Polish Immigrant Family.

John seemed to be resourceful. As his primary language was Polish, he learned to read English at school, then would bring his book home and teach his mother to read English. His mother would give John a nickel with which he bought 2 newspapers. He sold them for a profit, used that money to buy, and then sell more papers. At the end of the day, he would give his money to his mother for her to buy milk for the younger children. John and his brother Joe, would go down to the railroad tracks at the bottom of Barton St. in Hamilton where they would pick up pieces of coal from the tracks that the engineers dropped as they stoked up the trains. This coal was used to heat the family home. John and Joe had to be careful, as the railroad police were on the alert to catch these children.

He was very capable mechanically, was able to build and refinish furniture, and do electrical work. (There are still pieces of furniture in our family that were made by Johnnie!) He seemed always to be trying to improve himself.

Education was extremely important to John’s Mother, as she knew that it was the way out of poverty for her children. There is a certificate from the Ontario Department of Education that states that John completed the requirements to apply to a Collegiate Institute, High School or Continuation School of Ontario, dated July 192l at which time John would have been l3 years of age. He was enrolled in high school, and his mother made sure he got there, but he left through the back door. Later in his life he remarked that his mother should have beaten him and made him go to school.

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During the 1930’s John worked at whatever he could. One of his jobs was to drive a car for Rocco Perri who was an infamous bootlegger in Hamilton. (Rocco Perri is thought to be buried somewhere in the Hamilton Bay.) While he was working for Mr. Perri, one of his sisters got married, so John was able to use this gangster car to drive his sister to the Church for her wedding!

John married Ethel Moore. As times were tough, John scavenged the dump for furniture, would repair it and paint it with paint that he found at the dump. This was their means of furnishing their apartment.

John enlisted at the age of 36. He spent time in Quebec, England and then was sent to Italy.

From the letters that Johnnie sent home from the war, it is evident that he really missed his family. In every letter to his Mother, he asks how his “Pa” was, and about his sisters and their children. He mentioned a few of the jobs that he had, such as taking a wireless course, guard duty and air-raid warden. In his letter he said that for two weeks work he was paid $6.71. One letter contained an answer to a question his Mother must have asked about potatoes- “No Ma, they don’t peel potatoes in the army anymore, they either wash them and boil them with the skins on or they have a machine which takes the peel off and they only have to take the eyes out.” In one letter he wrote about the treatment of the Canadians in England— “when the Canadians first came over, nothing was too good for them, more so if the soldier was single. The fellows tell me that all these girls want to marry Canadians and go back to Canada after the war.” John also wondered about his two brothers, Charlie and Joe who were also serving in the war. It was evident that communication between the brothers was difficult, as he continually wondered if his family had heard from them.

The last letter John wrote to his family was dated Nov. 21, 1944, and sent from Italy. He regretted the fact that he would not be sending Christmas presents for his nieces and nephews, and would not be home for Christmas. “I would like to be there on Christmas morning when the kids open up their presents. I always enjoyed that.” The final communication from Johnnie to his family was a Christmas card provided by the Canadian army. His message was, “Hope we are all back next Christmas with you.” (Referring to his two brothers as well).

John’s mother was awakened the evening of December 29th 1944 by a very terrible rattling of the bedroom window pane. She exclaimed “My God, one of my sons has lost his life.” On January 6th 1945, his wife received a telegram from the “Director of Records” notifying the family of John’s death. He was 36 years old. In the telegram it asks that the time and location of his death not be revealed for security purposes. John’s family received some beautiful letters of condolences including one from the Salvation Army.

It is the family’s understanding that he and his group had just arrived in the area, and that he and his companions were sleeping when they were bombed and lost their lives.

In John’s lifetime, six little sisters had gone to Heaven. The effect of their deaths on the family and on Johnnie caused this family to be very close. The loss of Johnnie was devastating and as his two brothers, Joe and Charlie, were also overseas, the anxiety level in the family was very high.

John was in the Lanark & Renfrew Scottish Regiment R. C. I. C. His Service number was B/158751. He is buried in the Villanova Canadian War Cemetery. The Grave Reference is III C. l. In the information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission he is listed John J. Grabiec.

In the letters from his brothers Joe and Charlie, they both had hoped to meet up with him overseas, but that was not to be. The Grabiec family mourned Johnnie’s loss and treasured all of their beautiful memories of him.