Regiment: No 3 Platoon C.A. (B) T.C. No 132, Royal Canadian Signal Corps
Regimental No: M.100718
Rank: Private (temporarily promoted to Corporal and to Sergeant)
Force: Canadian Army, Canadian Intelligence Corps (Pacific Command Security Intelligence Section)
Medals: Canadian Volunteer Service medal and clasp, War Medal 1939-45
Charles Wilmot Samuel Turner was born on March 13, 1917, in Wimbledon, England, during the First World War. His parents, Charles Thomas McLinden Turner and Jeanne (Dubois) Turner met when Charles was billeted at the Dubois family home of Theodore Arthur Dubois in Boulogne-sur-mer, Pas-de-Calais, France. Jeanne left France for England when Charles became stationed there and they married in 1916 in England.
Following Charles Sr.’s discharge from the war, they returned to Calgary, AB, Canada when Charles Jr. was about two years old. Having spent the first two years of his life in a war zone, family noted that whenever a plane flew overhead, Charlie would drop to the ground and cover his head. Charlie’s sister, Jeanne Agnes Ethel Turner (married J.A. Earl Williams), was born on July 7, 1919 in Calgary.
The family moved from Calgary to the old Bezanson town site where Charles Sr. had filed on the western half of 33-71-26-W5 in 1919, but ultimately the family settled in Grande Prairie, AB, around 1921 where Francis “Frank” Leon Arthur Turner (married Elizabeth “Betty” Brown, Verna Smith) was born on September 21, 1922.
Charles Jr. began his army service April 10, 1942, in Grande Prairie, AB with the Army Reserve Personnel as a 30-day recruit. He was discharged April 22, 1942, enlisting in active service with the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals on April 24, 1942. He served in Canada and the United Kingdom, leaving for overseas on February 1, 1945. Charlie was discharged on demobilization on March 25, 1946, at the age of 29.
Charlie was a great athlete and was fortunate to play both softball and hockey while stationed overseas in the UK. The hockey teams included some players who went on to play in the NHL. Upon returning to Grande Prairie, Charlie continued to play a variety of sports including hockey, ball, bowling, tennis, racquetball, golf, and curling. He was well-known as “Mr. Hockey” in the area and won many titles for both high scoring and gentlemanly play and he was honoured on many occasions, such as Charlie Turner Night. Charlie Jr. and his father ran a successful construction company, Turner and Son Building Contractors, which eventually morphed into TurCon Construction Group under the management of son Cliff Turner.
Charlie married a local nurse, Gwendoline Wilcox, on March 16, 1949, in Grande Prairie. Gwen was from Dawson Creek, BC, and they met at the bowling alley, Gwen being quite an athlete herself, earning many golf and curling titles. Together, Charlie and Gwen had four children who all remained in the area, Clifford James Turner (married Donna Swanston), John Charles Turner (married Natalie Hanley, Kathleen O’Connell), Patricia Gail (Turner) Lemky (married Ellery Lemky), and Suzanne Gwendolyn (Turner) Dunn (married Arthur Dunn).
Charlie died on November 2, 1996, and is buried in the Grande Prairie Cemetery. His wife, Gwen, is still alive as of this writing and living in Grande Prairie at the age of 98, as are all four children.
Source: Canadian Military Personnel Records of the Second World War, Surname file, News clippings, Official birth, marriage, and death certificates, Obituaries, Daughter Suzanne (Turner) Dunn, National Archives of Canada.