Bostwick, James Montgomery

Date of birth:: May 26th, 1917 (Hamilton/Ontario, Canada)
Date of death:: March 8th, 1945
Buried on:: Canadian War Cemetery Groesbeek
Plot: III. Row: F. Grave: 1.
Nationality:: Canadian

Biography

Major
Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, R.C.I.C.

On December 16, 1940, he enlisted in the Canadian Army in Toronto, Canada. He was assigned to the No 2 District Depot Canadian Active Service Force, Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Wing in Toronto in the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.
On January 9, 1941, he was assigned to Camp Borden, where he was trained until November 11 that year. On March 12, 1941 he was promoted to Lieutenant.
He went overseas to England and arrived there on November 23. In England he followed various combat training courses and learned, among other things, how to handle small arms. From December 1941 to August 1942 he was posted with the 2nd Division Infantry Reinforcement Unit. He then returned to the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. In March 1943 he was promoted to A/Captain and on June 19, 1943 to Captain. He attended various training courses until July 1944. On July 12, James made the crossing to France and arrived at the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, which was near Norrey and Bessin then. They had set foot in France on 5 July 1944.
On September 17 they crossed the border into the Netherlands and took part in the Battle of the Scheldt.
On January 17, 1945, James Montgomery Bostwick was promoted to Major.
On March 8, 1945, the Canadian artillery put down a very effective barrage that lasted sixteen minutes and preceded the infantry attack on Xanten. The A and D Companies attacked, followed by the B and C Companies forming the second wave ten minutes later. The Germans used an effective form of tactics in their defense of this area by letting the two leading companies pass through their positions and then opening fire on them from behind with MG42 machine guns and field guns. This considerably slowed down the attack and caused many casualties on the Canadian side.
One of them was James Montgomery Bostwick, who died at the age of 27.

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