Roland William Thoms

1915 - 1943  (28 years)

• Name	Roland William Thoms
  Born	22 Apr 1915	St. Jacobs, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1, 2, 3]
  Gender	Male
  Military	WW2
  Name	R. W. Thoms
  Residence	1921	St. Jacobs, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  	Lutheran
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-157114P
  Died	10 Jul 1943	Sicily, Italy   [1, 3]
  Buried	Agira Canadian War Cemetery, Agira, Enna, Sicily, , Italy   [1, 3]
  Person ID	I157114	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	Alvin C. Thoms,   b. 7 Feb 1886, St. Jacobs, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 24 Jun 1974, St. Jacobs, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 88 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth Stahle,   b. 28 Oct 1883, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 16 Dec 1964, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 81 years)
  Married	30 Mar 1910	Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4]
  Family ID	F168064	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Edith,   b. Abt 1918
  Married	1940
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F48666	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  PRIVATE ROLAND WILLIAM THOMS In the early morning hours of 10 July 1943 Canadian troops landed on the southwest shore of the Pachino peninsula in the southeastern corner of Sicily. The assault troops of 1 Canadian Infantry Division were assigned several key missions that day, beyond getting ashore and clearing the beach defences. First, they were to capture Italian coastal defence artillery batteries within range of the landing beach to protect the invasion fleet. Royal Navy warships bombarded and temporarily suppressed enemy heavy guns during the assault, but it was up to the infantry to capture or and destroy those gun batteries. The second task was to secure enemy airfields in the invasion area to deny their use to the enemy and free them for Allied aircraft. Finally, the assault troops needed to consolidate their positions ashore in order to meet expected Axis counterattacks. The thin screen of Italian coastal defence units the Canadians met on D-Day were meant to delay and disorganize the invasion force as it came ashore and warn counterattack forces of the landing location. The Canadians accomplished their D-Day mission at a cost of seven killed and twentyfive wounded. One of the first men killed was Private Roland William Thoms. Thoms was one of three members of the Royal Canadian Regiment killed during their attack on a pair of Italian shore batteries and Pachino airfield. The airfield was surrounded by a defensive pillbox and bunker network. Private Roland William Thoms was killed when the Royal Canadian Regiment mopped up pillboxes on the high ground beyond the airfield. Roland hailed from a family of seven. He left behind two brothers, one of whom also served overseas, two sisters and his mother and father, Alvin and Elizabeth Thoms. The family hailed from St. Jacobs, Ontario. Roland was also survived by his wife, Mrs. Edith Thoms, who he married only three days prior to enlisting. Roland was born in 1915, and by 1940, he had established himself as a shoemaker in St. Jacobs. He practiced this profession for just over a decade before enlisting on 2 July 1940 in Kitchener, Ontario. Private Thoms completed infantry training at Camp Borden, and proceeded overseas to join the RCR in the fall of 1941. He embarked for Sicily with the Royal Canadian Regiment in mid-June 1943 and lays there still. https://www.operationhusky2013.ca/the-mission/the-names-of-the-fallen/private-roland-william-thoms/ 2014

  
  

• Sources

  [S199] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Woolwich - St. James Lutheran Elmira CC#2800 Internet Link. (Military white wooden cross)1915-1943/ A-4279 Pte. R.W.. Thoms/ R. C. R. A. In memory of/ Pte. Roland W. Thoms/ R. C. R./ 1915 1943/ fell In Sicily July 10, 1943/ World War 1939-1945/ erected by/ Happy Thought Club [S2121] Census - ON, Waterloo, Woolwich - 1921, Woolwich Twp. 1921 Sub Dist. 14 Page 12. [S3231] Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56411070/roland-william-thoms. [S721] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, marriage certificate 21752 (1910), Thoms-Stahle. Alvin C. Thoms, 24, Tinsmith, of St. Jacobs, Son of John W. Thoms & Eva Libutzki Married Elizabeth Stahle, 26, of Wellesley, daughter of John Stahle & Fredericka Hohenstein, Witn: Edward L. Stahle & Martha Meyer Both of Wellesley, 30 March 1910 In Wellesley

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 22 Apr 1915 - St. Jacobs, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Lutheran - 1921 - St. Jacobs, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 10 Jul 1943 - Sicily, Italy Buried - - Agira Canadian War Cemetery, Agira, Enna, Sicily, , Italy  = Link to Google Earth