Canadian-American WW II Connection

[egreis]

A Canadian colleague of mine asked me if I could shed any light on these items he found concerning his fathers service in World War II. His father was a gunner with the Canadian Artillery.

 

My colleague's grandmother received the letter shown below and article enclosed, an AP article that quotes his father, from a woman she did not know in Philadelphia.

 

He would like any an all information he can find on the woman who wrote the letter or the fate of her son, who as you can see in the letter, was in the service at the time as well.

 

So far I have hit dead ends but I thought someone on here might have some ideas. I am a Pittsburgher so Philadelphia is not as familiar to me. This is a neat piece of international connection and it would be great to find out more about the story.

 

The article appeared in a February 11, 1945 addition of a Philadelphia newspaper (which one is unknown at this time).

 

The letter was written by a Ruby Burkhardt (or that's what it appears to read) who lived at 4838 Summerdale Ave. Philadelphia, PA

 

Thanks in advance.

[egreis]

The Letter

[egreis]

the news clipping and evelope

[Jack's Son]

Good luck in your search........The guys on this forum are amazing!! :thumbsup:

[Jack's Son]

Guys......Can anyone help out here??

[Cobrahistorian]

There are four WWII enlistment records on the NARA database for Burkhardts in Philadelphia. By cross-referencing their names with the 1930 census, it should be possible to determine which is the Burkhardt you're looking for. The initial connection I thought of was the 1st Special Service Force, but if your colleague knows his grandfather was in the Royal Artillery, then that connection seems remote. A quick check of the 1stSSF rolls and there was no Burkhardt listed.

 

You've got an interesting mystery here.

 

Jon