Lance Corporal Leonard Taylor

Leonard “Lenny” Taylor was the youngest of five children in a family that emigrated from Norwich, Norfolk County, England in 1911. His parents were Edward George Taylor and Lillian Mary Grunton. The two oldest children were born in Norwich, England, and the next two were born in Goderich, Ontario in 1912 and 1913.

The family moved to Paris by the time Leonard was born on November 26, 1921. At the time, the family was living in a rented house on Queen Street. Lenny’s father died of typhoid fever when Lenny was three years old. By the 1931 Census, the family was living at 33 Dumfries Street in a rented house with Frederick Armitage, a barber, who had married Leonard’s mother.

Lenny was working as a knitter at Penmans Limited when he enlisted on June 18, 1940 with the 69th Artillery Battery in Brantford. The 69th Battery was mobilized in May 1940 in Brantford, with personnel largely coming from the local community. Along with the 54th Battery (which was the only local unit to arrive in England as a separate entity before the end of 1939), it was a significant local unit. Initially, the 69th was part of the 12th Field Regiment, which also included batteries from Hamilton and Guelph. The Regiment departed Canada for England in July 1941. The Regiment underwent a reorganization, and the 69th Battery was later reorganized and moved to form part of the 4th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, which is where Lenny served. He earned the rank of Leading Bombardier.

As part of the 12th Field Regiment, the unit, before its reorganization, trained in England for many months and eventually landed in Normandy on D-Day, providing artillery support. The 12th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery landed on Juno Beach and was the first artillery unit from its division to provide fire support from land. The regiment supported the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade's advance, firing from the water's edge and then moving inland to support infantry attacks. They suffered one fatality and seven wounded on D-Day.  The Canadian contribution on D-Day was vital to the success of the invasion and marked a significant moment in the liberation of Western Europe. 

Lenny was discharged on October 6, 1945. He had married Mary Elizabeth Raycraft on June 6, 1945. They had two sons, Ronald and Douglas. Lenny worked at Wabco and the family lived at 43 Capron Street. Leonard died on June 2, 2011 and is buried in the Paris Cemetery.