Lance-Corporal Everett Ross Maracle, Dieppe Raid Veteran

Photo of Lance-Corporal Everett Ross Maracle taken from the Dippe Bell Telephone book. Newspaper clipping stating Maracle was missing in war.

Lance-Corporal Everett Ross Maracle was sixteen in 1939 when he enlisted in the Essex Scottish Regiment. Maracle spontaneously decided to enlist on his way to high school one morning. He is quoted in the Windsor Star saying that joining the regiment was just “something I felt like I wanted to do.”

During the early stages of World War II, Canadian men were permitted to enlist once they reached the age of 18 years old. Maracle lied about his age to be able to enlist with the Regiment. That day forward, Maracle lied about his age to his superiors to keep his place with the Essex Scottish. However, a senior officer recognized Maracle in a photograph published through the Windsor Daily Star in 1940 that revealed Maracle’s age. The Windsor Daily Star article indicated that a senior officer confronted Maracle about his dishonesty. The officer stated: “I have two choices. I can keep you or I can send you home to Canada. I’m going to keep you.”

Maracle trained at the St. Luke Road Barracks in Windsor and at Camp Borden, located North of Toronto. Maracle then joined the Essex Scottish Regiment’s in England at the Aldershot training camp. When Maracle entered the war, he was the youngest individual active in his battalion.

Lance-Corporal Everett Ross Maracle participated in the Dieppe Raid on the coast of France in August 1942. Of the 553 soldiers in the Regiment who went ashore in Dieppe only 51 men returned to England that day. Even at his young age, Maracle led a group of men through the landing at Red Beach in Dieppe and sustained injuries from shrapnel. Although Maracle survived the raid, he was captured and imprisoned in a German Prisoner of War (POW) camp for two years and eight months. While Maracle was detained in the STALAG VIII-B camp, he was initially listed as missing in action by Windsor newspapers. While imprisoned he attempted to escape imprisonment twice before he was liberated on 26 April 1945.

Maracle returned to Windsor after his liberation. He moved to Livonia, Michigan, married and had a quiet life. Maracle was not one to speak about what he saw in Dieppe or POW camp. He only became comfortable speaking about his experiences 75 years after the war. It was not until the passing of Essex Scottish veteran Les Tetler in 2017 that Maracle’s past resurfaced amongst his family. Tetler was honoured as the Essex Scottish Regiment's last survivor of Dieppe although unknown by the Regiment it was actually Lance-Corporal Maracle who officially held that honour.

Despite being one of the few survivors of the Dieppe Raid, Maracle's military experiences were nearly lost since he chose not to participate in any veteran’s reunions in Canada after the war.

Once discovered in Redford Township, Michigan, Maracle and his family took the opportunity to share his story and this has forced historians to reconsider the possibility of other veteran testimonies that might have been lost over time.

Lance-Corporal Everett Ross Maracle passed away on 18 August 2018.

Story by Taylor Blackmere, Canada Summer Jobs 2022 participant
with The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment Association

Sources

• Alive and Well in Redford Township by Gord Henderson, Windsor Star, August 18, 2017
• Regiment's Last Man Standing by Gord Henderson, Windsor Star, August 19, 2017
• Farewell To Last Dieppe Veteran from Essex-Kent by Doug Schmidt, Windsor Star, August 27, 2018

Photograph of Maracle taken by the Windsor Star in 2017.