Pipe, Donald James

Twenty-two-year-old Pte. Donald James Pipe, according to official war records, died in the Battle of Caen, France, August 10, 1944. His mother, Mrs. I. Pipe, who resides here, learned of her loss from the Department of National Defense. But she learned more from one of his closest and best friends and from the O.C. "B" Company of the Algonquin Regiment. She found sustaining comfort in a letter written by Cpl. Blackie Prodanick, who, following Pte. Pipe's wishes, wrote to his mother, describing their friendship which began at Debert, N.S., two weeks after he enlisted in September, 1942, and ended on a blood-soaked hillside south of the French town of Bretteville Le Rabet, just when the Canadians broke through the German line in the Caen sector. Blackie wrote: "Don's cracking jokes and wearing a big smile on his face even while he helped bandage up some of the wounded. That was Don; no matter how tough things were he was always smiling and joking. Then we had to withdraw to our trenches". But Pte. Pipe was not able to get off the hill and the next day his steel helmet topped the little wooden cross that marked his grave where, as his officer wrote, lies a "brave, fine and well-liked lad". Pte. Pipe went to King Edward School and the Collegiate Institute and afterwards became a transport driver for Finch and Sons. He attended Immanuel Baptist Church and was fond of sports and music.

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