Burlington bids farewell to one of last remaining WW2 veterans

The city has lost one of its most decorated veterans.

Passing away peacefully at home - with wife Jean at his side - on Wednesday (Feb. 22) at the age of 104, Douglas Rickard was among the last Canadian survivors of the Dieppe Raid.

While recognized as one of the darkest chapters of the Second World War, it was also marked by great courage and helped lead to important lessons to prepare for the D-Day invasion of 1994.

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward took to social media this week to pay tribute to Rickard.

I was honoured to have been able to join his 104th birthday, his wife Jean's 100th birthday and their 78th wedding anniversary combined celebrations last year (2022). He will be truly missed," posted Meed Ward, who noted City Hall flags have been lowered in his honour.

A member of the Royal Canadian Corp of Signals, Corporal Rickard arrived in Dieppe in the early morning of Aug. 19, 1942 aboard a tank landing craft.

He was knocked unconscious by a shell blast, but was revived by an officer and continued to receive and transmit messages until further damage to the vessel disable an engine and forced the crew to retreat.

With only one propeller working, they slowly tried to return to Britain. They were set upon by enemy fighters off the coast of England and Rickard jumped overboard to avoid injury.

He was able to remove his heavy boots and swam over a kilometre back to an English beach and safety.

Corporal Rickard continued to serve the remainder of the war in a variety of roles, returning to Canada in early 1946 with his British war bride, Jean.

Already an accomplished artist, he continued his painting and held art director positions with several major publications, including Maclean's magazine.

Before retirement, he established several Canadian companies which exported Canadian photographic equipment and art supplies around the world.

In recognition of his service, Rickard was awarded the 1939 to 1945 Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-45 with Dieppe Bar and, in 2021, the French Legion of Honour Medal.

Here's a video of him accepting the French Legion of Honour Medak.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

-Info provided by the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 60.