McGregor, William

William – “Wille” – McGregor was born in Northern Ireland on March 23, 1923. His family emigrated to Canada when Willie was just two, settling in Vermilion, Alberta. That meant that they were there for the difficult years of the Great Depression; in 1935 the family relocated to Sandy Rapids, and Willie went to school there. Willie recalls working in and around the community – and making enough to make ends meet.  When the war came, he and his two brothers enlisted, and in Willie’s case he was on his way overseas in the summer of 1942. He spent close to two years in England before heading across the Channel shortly after D-Day – June 9, 1944.  Willie was attached to the Essex Scottish Regiment’ Regimental Aid Post (RAP), where he served as a combat medic retrieving wounded from the field. He shares many moments of that compelling time in this discussion. As the war in Normandy wound down, the Essex Scottish moved along the coastal route, assigned to take the port of Ostend, Belgium. From there they moved on to Antwerp, taking part in the Battle of the Scheldt. Willie met up with his brother John at this time, who was in the Calgary Highlanders; Willie learned that John had married an English girl while back in England recovering from a wound. John would tragically be killed just a few days later crossing the Siegfried Line, news Jim learned in  a letter from home; the family also later learned that John had fathered a baby with his war bride.  The Essex Scottish continued on their path through Germany and the Netherlands, and they ended up in the Frisian Islands as the war reached its conclusion, and they were tasked with taking the surrender of numerous U-Boats.  That duty eventually came to an end, and Willie made his way back to England and eventually Canada. Like so many other soldiers Willie readjusted to life in peacetime Canada, marrying and raising a family and finding his place in the rhythms of civilian life.  Willie McGregor was interviewed over zoom by Global veterans’ Stories Zach Dunn and Crestwood’s Scott Masters in June 2026, and he was earlier interviewed by Rishi Sharma, with whose permission this webpage was developed.