WEIBURG, Raymond Frederick

NAME             WEIBURG          Raymond Frederick
RANK             Private                                    115952
                       I Canadian Corps - 5th Canadian Armoured Division - 11th Infantry Brigade                                      REGIMENT    Perth Regiment                                                                                                                                                           “bold and way”
                       The Royal Canadian Infantry Corp                                                                                            Residence      Ailsa Craig - Ontario                                                                                                                            Born               November 24, 1920 - Dashwood - Hay/Stephen Townships - County of Huron - Ontario              Died               December 20, 1944          24 years   1 month
Cemetery       Villanova Canadian War Cemetery - Villanova – Bagnacavallo - Ravenna - Italy
                       IV     A     7
Wife               Mrs. Elizabeth Weiburg - Ailsa Craig.
Parents          Mr. Karl and Della Weiburg - Centralia.                                                                                      Brother          Lorne Weiburg - Centralia                                                                                                            Sister             Mrs. Carrie Kuzmick - Straffordville - Ontario

Raymond was born in Dashwood on November 24, 1920 and was a farmer before he enlisted into the
Canadian Army. He was 14 years of age when he left school. He was employed on the farm of Mrs. J. H. Patrick of Ilderton. He was a Lutheran and would have attended Zion Evangelical Church.

Canada                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Raymond enlisted  under the National Resources Mobilization Act on December 19, 1941 in Kitchener and served between  April 9, 1942 - June 21, 1944. He enlisted into the Canadian Army in Nanaimo, British Columbia on June 22, 1944 and upon his enlistment he stood 5' 4" tall and weighed 142 pounds. He had a fair complexion with brown eyes and hair. On June 22 he was Taken on Service with the Canadian Army  and then received furlough for the first half of July. At the end of July he went to No. 2 Transit Camp at Debert, Nova Scotia and Training Brigade Group.

Overseas

A month later on August 28 he was Struck off Service of the Canadian Army in Canada and embarked from Halifax. The next day he was Taken on Service with the Canadian Army Overseas. He disembarked in the United Kingdom on September 5 and went to No. 2 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit.

Mediterranean Theatre

A short three weeks later he was struck off Service of the Canadian Army in the UK and embarked from the UK. The following day he was Taken on Service with the Canadian Army in the Mediterranean Theatre. He disembarked in Italy on October 8, 1944.

In the Field

Five weeks later on November 13 he is Taken on Strength with the Perth Regiment.
At dusk on December 19th, the Perths began their advance. They first had to cross the Munio River and they
described it as a 30 foot wide ditch with 8 foot high banks. The Munio itself was small, but it was of great
importance to the Germans because it formed the outer defences of the Senio River Line. The water of the
river was only four feet wide, but beyond the Munio there was a mile of open and flat, exposed ground.
• The night of the 19th was very dark and black with no visible moon or stars. The flash of the Canadian
artillery, machine guns and mortar fire did not at all light the way for the Perths. There was no sound at all
from either side except for the sound of the men’s footsteps from No. 12 Platoon. However, the Germans
were waiting.
Just prior to1am on December 20, 1944  “A” Company began their advance to the right and through the fields – progress was slow but steady. Artillery, mortar fire and machine gun fire was brought down on the German positions. At 1:40 am  “C” Company was ordered to follow the Fossio Munio and then seize the crossing along with a nearby house. At 3:00 am  “A” Company achieved their objective after running into opposition. Contact was lost with the 2 leading platoons of "C" Company who had reached their objective but could not hold due to
very heavy machine gun and mortar fire. They then beat off a German counter attack.
Shortly after they began their advance there was strong German opposition and a bitter fight began that
would last into the next day. They were able to negotiate the Fossio Munio, but “B” Company met extreme
resistance at a bend in the river. There was no cover and the ditches provided very little cover and as they
approached a culvert they were immediately cut down from the Germans who were hiding there. Twelve
members of the Perth Regiment died instantly. The opposition they had met was the Kesselring Machine
Gun Battalion.
At 4:30am the Engineers began to build a bridge that would allow men and equipment across the river.              At 06:15 am the Engineers had completed a bridge that would allow tanks and anti-tank guns and this
equipment began to move forward, but upon reaching the crossing they found they could not cross as the
bridge had been built on an angle making it inoperable. A second bridge then had to be built. “C” Company was in a position where they could no longer hold their objective and pulled back. “A” company then performed a wide sweep, overran the few enemy posts they came upon and advanced another 1,000 yards and dug in around an isolated farmhouse 200 yards from the junction with the Via Buarno. They were now completely surrounded and under increasing enemy attack but they somehow held on. Their ammunition was very low at this point. The Germans attacked and in a while only 7 were left alive. At 9:30 am  the second bridge built by the Engineers was ready for traffic and then at 11:30 “D” Company along with tanks moved ahead so they could relieve “A” company but the tanks could not move because of the accurate German fire. Eventually 2 tanks joined with “A” and were able to relieve the situation, but still there was very heavy German fire that was preventing the remainder of the tanks to move forward with “D” Company. Then at 2:00 pm the tanks were able to begin moving across and two tanks made it successfully across but the tank with the 17 pound gun turned over. “D” was under fire from enemy machine guns and could not advance. Then at 6:30 pm the rest of the tanks moved forward and joined up with “A” and fired up.
The Perth Regiment had reached their objective – the Casa della Congregatoine – and in doing so it had cost
the lives of 32 of their comrades and 49 wounded. One of those men killed was Private Weiburg.  

On March 7,1945 Mrs. Elizabeth Weiburg received the Memorial Cross. At some later date Private Weiburg was awarded the 1939-45 Star, the Italy Star, the War Medal and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal which were sent to the family.

Raymond is honoured and remembered on the Exeter Cenotaph and he would be honoured and remembered on the Memorial Plaque of Zion Evangelical Church. He is honoured and remembered on the Perth Regiment Memorial in Stratford - Ontario. He is also honoured and remembered on the Virtual Canadian War Memorial.

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