KESTLE, William Edward

NAME                KESTLE          William Edward
RANK                 Able Seaman                43696
SHIP                  HMCS Battleford                                                                                                                              Born                   August 27, 1922 - Exeter - Townships of Stephen / Usborne - County of Huron                              Residence         Exeter - Ontario                                                                                                                                Died                  July 18, 1946          23 years   10 months
Cemetery          Exeter Cemetery - Exeter
                          26 5B 3
Parents             Mr. Rufus and Lela Kestle - Exeter                                                                                          Brother             Mr. John Kestle - Exeter

William was born on August 27, 1922. the family would have attended Exeter United Church. He took his schooling in Exeter and attended Exeter High School for three years. Growing up he had scarlet fever, the chickenpox and measles. Prior to his enlistment he worked for his father on the family homestead. He liked to build model airplanes and tinker with machinery.

Canada  

William went to London on July 31, 1942 and enlisted into the Royal Canadian Navy and received the rank of Ordinary Seaman. At that time he stood 5' 7" and weighed 165 pounds. He had a fair complexion with blue eyes and blonde hair. He was with HMCS Prevost in London July 31 to September 30. From October 1 he was on Active Duty. He then was posted to HMCS Prevost - London  for his basic training .                                              On February 14, 1943 his next posting sent him to HMCS Cornwallis - Nova Scotia which was a major training base. Two months later it was a posting to HMCS Stadacona. Then in the middle of April he was posted to HMCS Stadacona where he was for two months. The next posting was to HMCS Avalon where he was attached to HMCS Battleford K 165 for two weeks and then from July 1 until the end of the year he was posted to HMCS Stadacona and attached to HMCS Battleford  K165 By this time he had been promoted to the rank of Able Seaman.                                                                                                                                                              Then in 1944 from the beginning of the year until May 15 he was at HMCS Stadacona. Then for a week he was posted to HMCS Protector at Sydney - Nova Scotia and then back to HMCS Stadacona until month end. From June 1 until the end of 1944 he was assigned to HMCS Avalon and posted on HMCS Sarnia J309.                                                                                                                                                                                                  From early January 1945.until July 20 he was at HMCS Stadacona. Then from July 21-August 21 he was at HMCS Peregrine and then his next posting was to Prevost on August 25.

HMCS Prevost - London                                        basic training                                                                              HMCS Cornwallis - Deep Brook, Nova Scotia     seamanship training, anti-submarine training                      HMCS Stadacona - Halifax, Nova Scotia              barracks                                                                            HMCS Avalon - St John's Newfoundland             Royal Canadian Navy Escort Base                                    HMCS Protector - Sydney, Nova Scotia               Royal Canadian Navy Base                                                HMCS Peregrine - Halifax, Nova Scotia               training base

In the Field                 

He spent 26 months on sea duty. He had been trained in Signals and Radar and his duties were Radar Plotting and keeping watch and operating the ship radar set. All sea duty was in the North Atlantic.

HMCS Battleford  K165 was a Flower Class Corvette and served in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was built in Collingwood - Ontario. He was stationed at Halifax and was serving on the corvette HMCS Battleford. He served on her from June 17, 1943 until May 10, 1944. His ship performed convoy duties on the “Triangle Run” between Halifax, Boston, New York, Newfoundland and back to Halifax. Battleford was part of the Western Local Force. HMCS Sarnia  J309 was a Bangor class of minesweeper and served in the Battle of the Atlantic and the Battle of the St. Lawrence. Between June 17, 1943 - August 31, 1944 the ship was part of the Newfoundland Force. In late 1943 Sarnia was involved in two sabotage events by three crew members in the engine room. In 1944 she was assigned to Bermuda and then to the Halifax Local Defence Force.                                                                On July 18, 1945, an ammunition locker blew up at the Naval magazine jetty and the fires spread very rapidly to other nearby ammunition. A chain reaction of fire, explosions and concussions rocked Halifax that day and into the following day. Able Seaman Kestle was about a mile from the explosions which blew doors off, shattered windows and bulged some walls. All the ships in the harbour were moved seaward about 5-6 miles. Soon there were explosions around him and he was forced to his stomach for safety. For many hours he carried screaming
babies, children and mothers to waiting trucks and then took them twenty miles from the scene. Many
people were buried in the rubble of their homes. Everything was rocking just like a rocking chair as some
described it. It was very fortunate that the main magazine did not explode as there were 50,000 depth charges stored in one place there.                                                                                                                                     Able Seaman Kestle was discharged from the Navy in later in 1945, and shortly after that he discovered he
was having problems with his lungs.  From the time of enlistment until discharge there were no signs of tuberculosis but in July tests indicated it was possible he was afflicted. He had no chest pain, he had no pleurisy, there was no shortness of breath, there were no night sweats and he always had a good appetite. After arriving back home in Exeter he was then admitted to the Byron
Sanatorium in London. Exactly one year to the day of the Halifax explosion, Able Seaman Kestle passed away from the effects of pulmonary tuberculosis due to tuberculosis empyema at the age of 23.

William was awarded the 1939-45 Star, the Atlantic Star, the War Medal along with the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with clasp and the family received these September of 1951. During the same month his mother Lela received the Memorial Cross.

He is honoured and remembered on the Exeter United Church Memorial Plaque and the plaque of Exeter High School. He is honoured and remembered on both the Exeter Cenotaph and the Usborne - Hensall Cenotaph. Also he is remembered and honoured in the Books of Remembrance located in the Centre Block of Canada's Parliament and on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.