Bokitch, Michael Joseph

Operation Plunder

Date of birth:: July 13th, 1920 (Regina/Saskatchewan, Canada)
Date of death:: March 30th, 1945 (Emmerich/North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)
Buried on:: Canadian War Cemetery Groesbeek
Plot: XX. Row: A. Grave: 5.
Service number:: L/64502
Nationality:: Canadian

Biography

Rifleman
Regina Rifle Regiment, R.C.I.C.

On the morning of 29 March, the Regina Rifles attacked into southern Emmerich with tank and Crocodile support, finding the Germans again in fortified buildings and with tank support. Progress was slow as the ruins had to be carefully searched, and road blocks and rubble made it difficult for tanks to manoeuvre. The Royal Winnipeg Rifles made steady progress in the northern portion of the city and turned back a German counterattack early on 30 March, the same day that the Canadian Scottish took over the lead of the divisional advance and secured a large cement works west of the city. In three days, the battalions of the 7th Brigade suffered 172 casualties, 44 of them fatal.
Mike Bokitch was one of the Regina Rifle casualties 29 March 1945 while with “B” Company, sustaining abdominal wounds from a mine explosion. He died of his wounds the next day, age 24.

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