South Saskatchewan Regiment and Liberation of Netherlands

Walter Stevens was born in November of 1907 in Kent. His father served with the Naval Reserve and was killed in the explosion of the Vanguard in July of 1917. Walter was sent to St. Vincent's Industrial School in Kent and in 1923 sent to Canada through the British Home Child Program as it is now known.

Walter along with 51 other children sent to Canada by the Catholic Emigration Society. Walter spent three years in indentured servitude to a French Canadian family in Quebec before making his way west and settling in Saskatchewan. As he was fluent in French from his time spent with the French Canadian family, he settled in the area near Gravelbourg Saskatchewan in a town named Coderre.

He married in 1937, and, in 1940, joined the South Saskatchewan Regiment in Weyburn and fought in Dieppe and in liberation of Belgium and Netherlands. He was seriously wounded in battle in October of 1944 and returned home to Canada in January of 1945. Due to the severity of his injuries, he was told he would likely never walk again but he did. However, he was denied the opportunity to apply for a farm of his own by the Canadian government as they believed he would be physically disabled and would not be able to manage a farm.

He died at the age of 70 in 1977 and is buried in the Field of Honour Riverside Memorial Gardens in Regina, Saskatchewan.