Raymond Nelson Towns, like so many other young men who joined the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment in 1940, was a farm boy. These farm boys were often referred to as “plough jockeys.”
Raymond grew up on a farm near Bancroft, Ontario in a small crossroads community called Fort Stewart. He was the third youngest of nine siblings. A younger sister, Eva, is still alive and celebrated her 90th birthday on September 20, 2011.
Raymond trained first in Canada and then was shipped over to Great Britain where he spent almost three years training in both England and Scotland.
In July 1943 The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment (the Hasty P’s) were shipped to Sicily. Raymond was assigned to Able Company. The Regiment clawed its way up through the arduous terrain of Sicily and reached mainland Italy in September 1943. The Hasty P’s then fought their way up the boot of Italy towards Ortona. They rested in San Leonardo, south of Ortona before relieving the 48th Highlanders on the Arielli Front, in and around the villages of San Tommaso and San Nicola. At the end of January 1944 the Regiment was involved in the Battle of Tollo Road—where one Canadian battalion (300 to 1300 men) fought against an entire German division (10,000 to 15,000 men). It was a slaughter. On January 31 Major Bert Kennedy, the Commanding Officer, ordered a withdrawal and the Battle of Tollo Road was over
The following day, February 1, 1944, Pte. Raymond Towns, the platoon runner, was in a slit trench with Sgt. George “Holly” Hollingsworth when a heavy barrage of phosphorus shells came raining down on them. Pte. Towns, mercifully, was killed instantly. Sgt. Hollingsworth was not as fortunate. He was burned over so much of his body that he was unrecognizable as a man but it took him another 6 days of agony before he died. Their deaths are recorded in Farley Mowat’s book, The Regiment.
Today is the first time a member of Pte. Towns’ family (his nephew Jim Gilchrist) has visited his grave. We pay tribute not only to the courage of Pte. Towns, but also to the courage of the man who was in the trench with him, Sgt. Hollingsworth. They are not forgotten.

(prepared and read by Sylvia Gilchrist, September 2011)