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(I GORDON WESLEY ESPLEN Born in Arran Township, Bruce County on December 9, 1918. Enlisted on July 19, 1940 with the 98th (Bruce) Antiâ€"Tank Battery, 4th Antiâ€"Tank Regiment, 5th Canadian Armoured Division. Served overseas in Great Britain, North Africa, Italy, France, Belgium and Holland. Discharged October 25, 1945. Holy Bible presented to Gordon Esplen by Burgoyne Women's Institute, 1946 date. Son of Mr. & Mrs. Wm. Esp1en, Died October 26, 1999 in Blst year. Audrey: I joined the 98th Battery in 1937 and served with it until July, 1940 when I joined Active Service. We were called the 98th Anti Tank Battery, 4th‘AntiiTank Regiment, 5th Division and were stationed in Listowel and Pettawa. We went overseas in October, 1941 where we trained for Invasion in Aldershot, England and Brighton on the south Coast. We were ready to go to France on the Dieppe Raid, but were called back. We then left for Italy in October, 1943, but we had a stopover in Africa, in Algeria. We landed in Italy on New Year's Day, 1944. We then spent eighteen months fighting in Italy. Then when the war was won in Italy we left Leghorn, Italy for Marseilles, France. We went up through Ypres to Belgium, where we went back into action and into Holland. We ended up in Germany when the war was over. I returned home in September, 1945. My Number was â€" A47059 98th Antiâ€"Tank Battery, 4th Anti-Tank Regiment, 5th Division (Armoured) p.s. I would like to thank the Burgoyne Church and its members who thought of me when I was serving in the Armed Forces (and the Bible which I received when I was leaving). We also appreciated the ring which the School Section gave us when we were on Embarkation Leave prior to leaving for England.