MCEWEN, PTE IVAN
Ivan McEwen was born April 3, 1911, the oldest son of John and Ida (Wye) McEwen. Ivan was raised in Fairholme and went west to Saskatchewan for work with his next brother Angus.
Pte Ivan Manford McEwen was in 2nd Division Reg No L12958 of the South Saskatchewan Reg.
The South Saskatchewan Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces formed in 1936 by the amalgamation of The Weyburn Regiment and The Saskatchewan Border Regiment. During the Second World War, The South Saskatchewan Regiment participated in many major Canadian battles and operations, as part of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. The South Saskatchewan Regiment fought in the Dieppe Raid of 1942, Operation Atlantic, Operation Spring, Operation Totalize, Operation Tractable, and the recapture of Dieppe in 1944. They, along with the 8th Reconnaissance Regiment liberated the Westerbork transit camp on 12 April 1945.
During the Dieppe Raid they also undertook one of the more unusual missions of the war. They provided a bodyguard for an RAF radar expert, Jack Nissenthall, who had volunteered to try penetrate a German radar station on a cliff above “Green Beach”. Because Nissenthall knew the secrets of British and US radar technology, he was awarded a personal bodyguard of South Saskatchewan sharpshooters. Their orders were to protect him, but in the event of possible capture to kill him. He survived and his action enabled vital information on the state of development of the German radar to be discovered. The full story, along with graphic, first-hand descriptions of the South Saskatchewan Regiment's actions during the raid are told in James Leasor's book, "Green Beach" (Wikipedia)