Canadian Soldier Killed in Netherlands in Second World War Identified

Trooper Henry George Johnston is shown in a DND handout photo. A grave of a Canadian soldier who died in the Second World War in Europe was identified as that of Trooper Henry George Johnston. (The Canadian Press/HO-Department of National Defence)

OTTAWA—The Defence Department says it has identified the remains of a Canadian soldier buried in a cemetery in the Netherlands near the end of the Second World War.

Trooper Henry George Johnston’s identity was confirmed under a program dedicated to identifying newly found skeletal remains and Canadian service members buried in nameless graves.

Johnston was buried as an unknown soldier in 1945 in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Mook war cemetery in the Netherlands.

After training in Ontario, the Alberta-born Johnston arrived in the United Kingdom in July 1944. He was killed in Operation Blackcock in the Netherlands the following January.

National Defence Canada says Johnston’s family was notified of his identification and provided with support.

The department says a headstone rededication ceremony will take place at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Mook war cemetery in Limburg, Netherlands.