John Lychowich was born on January 20, 1918 and raised with his younger sister, Jean Engel, on a farm in Garson, Manitoba Their parents were Polish immigrants Steve Lychowich (born in Galicia) and Rosalie (nee Hower, born in Austria) Lychowich. On John’s birth certificate, the family last name is actually spelled “Lehovitz”. After grade 7, John left school at age 14 to work as a farmer and labourer in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. John spent five years working on “mixed farms” and sometime in 1940 made his way to Sarnia. Here he found employment at the Polymer Corporation, working almost three years as a carpenter. During his time living in Sarnia, he managed to find love, making plans to marry Barbara Nemeth of Kitchener, Ontario. In mid-May of 1943, still single, John enlisted in the military, recording his address as Polymer Corp. Camp, Sarnia, and his occupation as a carpenter. He checked that he would prefer service in the Navy. John planned to return to Sarnia after the war, as Polymer Corp promised that once his service was complete, he would be employed with them.
In early June of 1943, John was convicted of theft and sentenced to one month imprisonment in the “county jail” at Sarnia. At the end of the month, he was released to the Military Police and attached to the Military Detention Barracks. On August 13, 1943, John enlisted in the Canadian Army at London, Ontario. John underwent training in Stratford and Camp Ipperwash. In mid-November, earning $1.40 per day, he was granted a two week furlough and an allowance of .50 cents per deim in lieu of rations. On December 23, 1943, he was granted a five day Christmas leave, again with the .50 cents per deim allowance. At the start of the New Year, John earned himself a raise, to $1.50 per day. In mid-January 1944, he was transferred for further training to Debert, Nova Scotia. Three weeks later, in early February, he was admitted to Debert Military Hospital, where he spent four days.
In early March of 1944, John embarked overseas, reporting for duty in the United Kingdom on March 15, 1944. He was assigned the rank of Private, attached to the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. In early June of 1944, John found himself a part of the 7th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division, which was in the first wave of landings on Normandy Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. John survived those first couple of days of the invasion of France, the Battle of Normandy; however, on June 8, 1944, on his 94th day overseas, he was listed as “missing”. It was learned later that John Lychowich had been captured by German troops and was one of as many as 156 Canadian soldiers who were executed by their captors. On Hitler’s order, as retribution for the invasion on France, members of the 12th SS Panzer Division (Hitler Youth) brutally murdered prisoners in scattered groups in various pockets of the Normandy countryside in the days and weeks following D-Day. It was one of the worst war crimes in Canadian history.
On June 7, the Germans took prisoners from the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and the 27th Canadian Armoured Regiment to Abbaye d’Ardenne, an ancient stone church. Later that night, eleven of the Canadian prisoners were taken into the Abbaye’s garden and shot in the head. The next morning, seven more Canadian POWs were taken outside and shot. On June 8, sixty-four Canadians, including several dozen members of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, were taken prisoner near Putot-en-Bessin. The prisoners were marched to the Chateau d’Audrieu and, throughout the day, German soldiers murdered fourty-five Canadians. One of those murdered on June 8, 1944 was John Lychowich. The murders of these Canadian soldiers and the consequent search for justice is documented in the book Conduct Unbecoming: The Story of the Murder of Canadian Prisoners of War in Normandy by Howard Margolian.D, 2N The following is a portion of that book detailing the events of June 8th, beginning at about 2:00 in the afternoon:
At the crossroads east of Pavie, the column (of prisoners) was ordered to a halt. The first thing Bremer’s men did was to instruct the prisoners to remove their helmets. Then, while they kept their hands clasped behind their heads, each prisoner subjected to a thorough, sometimes rough, search. All papers and personal effects confiscated. Identification documents were taken by the NCO in charge, while photographs, money, and other personal items were tossed willy-nilly to the ground, although the Germans did make a point of pocketing cigarettes. At the
conclusion of the search, the prisoners, their hands still up, were marched another few hundred yards to the rear of a chateau…. Compared with the horrors of combat, the scene that greeted the prisoners on the grounds of the chateau must have seemed positively idyllic. Nestled among tall, leafy trees and other greenery, the chateau, named Chateau d’Audrieu, after the neighbouring village, recalled simpler, gentler times.
Three prisoners–Major Hodge, Lance Corporal Austin Fuller and Private Frederick Smith–were brought to a command post where they underwent interrogation. About 2:15, a frustrated and angry German officer ordered them killed. They were marched single file, arms still raised, onto a path that led to a cluster of shrubs and small trees and then ordered to halt. After ordering them to face away from the firing squad, German soldiers executed them. Half an hour later, after more unsuccessful interogations, three more Canadian prisoners were executed. This time, however, after being ordered to lie on their stomachs, they were shot point blank in the back of the head. The German executers then returned to the chateau kitchen for food and cider. Bremer, the German officer, still thought the interrogation and the execution of prisoners three at a time was inefficient. This pace would have them executing the Canadians until the evening.
Between 4:30 and 5:00 in the afternoon, Leon Leseigneur, a local dairy farmer, and Eugene Buchart, one of his farm hands, were walking along a dirt road past the hen house of the Chateau d’Audrieu. Gazing to the right, they noticed thirteen unarmed Canadian soldiers standing in the chateau’s orchard. All were members of 9 Platoon of the Winnipegs’ A Company. They were Mrs. Jennie Meakin’s boys, George and Frank, both of whom were corporals, as well as Privates William Adams, Emmanuel Bishoff, Lawrence Chartrand, Sidney Cresswell, Anthony Fagnan, Robert Harper, Herve Labrecque, John Lychowich, Robert Mutch, Henry Rodgers, and Steve Slywchuk. The prisoners were being guarded by a detachment of SS Troopers. Buchart noted with interest that there were several officers among the guard….
About forty yards past the hen house, Buchart and his employer headed into the pasture where the Leseigneur farm was situated. Just as they turned off the dirt road, the two men heard heavy bursts of gunfire. Buchart and Leseigneur instantly realized what this meant, but, after four years of brytal German occupation, they knew better than to investigate. Instead, the two men hurried back to the farm and tried to keep a low profile. A few minutes later, an SS officer and two troopers came by in order to appropriate Leseigneur’s ladder. Forcing Buchart to carry the ladder for them, the Germans escorted him back towards their headquarters. As he passed the hen house and glanced left at the orchard, his worst fears were confirmed. The prisoners he had seen earlier were gone….
Based on what Buchart and Leseigneur saw and heard, as well as forensic evidence, the final moments of the thirteen Winnipegs was reconstructed.
Confined to the orchard by Bremer, the men of 9 Platoon probably milled about, exchanging small talk, bucking up
each other’s spirits. At around 4:30 PM, the guard detail was joined by several officers, with Bremer perhaps among them. A palpable tension would have filled the orchard. On orders from the most senior German officer (Bremer or a subordinate), the prisoners were lined up in a row. Facing them was a rough-and-ready firing squad, consisting of SS troopers with rifles, NCOs with machine pistols, and officers with sidearms. At the command to fire, the executioners opened up with a murderous fusillade. All of the Canadians went down with the first volley, although some clearly were not killed outright. Hearing the moans of Privates Bishoff, Labrecque, and Mutch, whose wounds were not fatal, an officer walked over to where they lay and finished them off with shots to the head. As he moved down the line of stricken men, kicking each of them to see if he showed signs of life, the officer discovered that Lance Corporal Meakin and Private Slywchuk had not been hit at all. Slywchuk had apparently timed his dive perfectly, whereas Frank Meakin had been saved when George, in a last act of brotherly love, had stepped in front of him, taking a burst of machine-pistol fire across the chest. There would be no more reprieves, however. As Meakin lay waiting next to his lifeless brother, he was given the coup de grace. Then the officer emptied his pistol into Slywchuk’s head. As the echo of the last shots faded, an eerie silence descended over the orchard.3z
Three days after the D-Day invasion, the British army occupied the mansion at Chateau d’Audrieu and found a row of 13 Canadian soldiers lying dead along a fence.
On June 26, 1944, Mrs. Rosie Lychowich received the following telegram:
“Minister of National Defence deeply regrets to inform you that A107694 Private John Louis Lychowich who was
previously reported missing in action has now been officially reported killed in action eighth June 1944 stop if any further information becomes available it will be forwarded as soon as received.”
John Lychowich would later be officially listed as, Overseas casualty, killed in action, in the field (France). His mother also received a War Service Gratuity from the Department of National Defence. The gratuity broke down as this: 301 days of Total Qualifying service = $75.00 + 93 days of Qualifying Overseas service = $23.25 + a 94 days Supplement for overseas service = $9.89 for a Total Gratuity of $108.14. His mother also received the three campaign medals that John was awarded while in service: 1939-45 Star; the France-Germany Star War Medal; and the 1939-45 CVSM and Clasp.
On September 12, 1944, John’s fiancé, Barbara Nemeth in Kitchener, received the following letter from the Director of Records, National Defence:
Dear Miss Nemeth:
In reply to your letter dated 19th August, 1944, I deeply regret to inform you that your fiancé, A107694 Private John Louis Lychowich, has been officially reported to have been killed in action in France on the 8th of June, 1944.
Yours truly, Colonel C.L. Laurin
A memorial stele of white marble, with three mounted plaques, was erected in Audrieu, France, in memory of the members of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and supporting arms who were murdered while prisoners of war at the Chateau d’Audrieu June 8, 9 and 11, 1944. John Lychowich’s name is among the 64 names inscribed on the plaque. Twenty-six year old John Lychowich is buried in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery in Reviers, France, Grave XV.B.16. The men who fell on the beaches of Normandy and in the bitter bridgehead battles that followed are buried in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. John Lychowich is one of them. On John Lychowich’s headstone are inscribed the words, Requiescat in pace.
SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, L, 2C, 2D, 2N, 3Z