The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces have identified Lieutenant John Gordon Kavanagh, a Canadian soldier of the Second World War who was buried as an unknown soldier in 1947 in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s section of the Steenderen General Cemetery in the Netherlands.
Lieutenant John Gordon Kavanagh was born on October 20, 1921, in Toronto. He was the son of John and Cora (née Armstrong) Kavanagh of Toronto.
John Gordon Kavanagh was single when he enlisted, but married Emily Jean Haddleton, a member of the Canadian Red Cross Corps, on June 12, 1943.
He joined the Non-Permanent Active Militia in September 1939, and joined The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada (QOR of C) as a Private on June 13, 1940, in Toronto. By August 1944, he had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
Lieutenant Kavanagh joined The QOR of C in northwest Europe in March 1945 and was killed in action on April 5, 1945, during an advance towards Pipelure, Netherlands.
The QOR of C have notified surviving next of kin of Lieutenant Kavanagh’s identification and have provided the family with ongoing support. A headstone rededication ceremony will take place at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s section of the Steenderen General Cemetery in Steenderen, Netherlands, in the spring of 2020.
“The legacy of those brave Canadians who battled tremendous odds to liberate the Netherlands lives on as we honour Lieutenant Kavanagh for his service to Canada,” said Lieutenant-General Wayne Eyre, Commander Canadian Army. “We will forever remember his ultimate sacrifice.”
According to archival records, in April 1947 remains were recovered from a farmer’s field outside of Steenderen, Netherlands and buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission section of the Steenderen General Cemetery. As the identity of the remains was unknown, the grave was commemorated and cared for as an unknown soldier of the Second World War by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
In May 2017, external researchers submitted a report to the Directorate of History and Heritage proposing the identity of the soldier interred in an unknown grave at Steenderen General Cemetery but the recommendation was not supported due to insufficient evidence.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission received in May 2019 a report regarding the same grave from external researchers who had located documents in the local archives in Steenderen, Netherlands. This information along with other facts in the case helped to confirm that the occupant of the grave was a Canadian.
In November 2019, years of extensive research by various researchers culminated in the identification of Lieutenant Kavanagh.
For more information on Lieutenant Kavanagh, you can consult his personnel file at Library and Archives Canada.
Lieutenant Kavanagh’s biography.
