Funeral Saturday for one of Kincardine's finest, Charles Mann

A funeral will be held Saturday at the Anglican Church of the Messiah, Kincardine, to honour one of Kincardine's finest, Charles Mann (above left, with fellow veteran, Alf Rackley).

The Second World War veteran and former mayor of the Town of Kincardine, died Saturday, Jan. 28, at the Kincardine hospital, in his 95th year.
 

Born June 30, 1922, and raised in Port Hope, Ontario, Mann joined the militia in 1937 and the regular army in 1940. In 1942, he volunteered for the renowned First Special Service Force (the Devil's Brigade or Black Devils).
 

Like most soldiers, he saw the world. He served in the Aleutians Islands Alaska, North Africa and Italy. As a member of the Special Service Force, he was involved in fierce fighting in Italy. In late 1944, when he was in southern France, the Special Service Force was disbanded. He remained as an instructor in England when the war ended.

He returned to Canada and married June Popkin of Montreal in 1946. They had two children, Melodee and Marten. In 1964, they moved to Kincardine where he worked as a nuclear operator at the Bruce Nuclear Power Development (now Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation). 
 

Mann also spent 27 years in Kincardine municipal politics, 13 as mayor, before the town was amalgamated into the Municipality of Kincardine in 1999.

He was often asked to speak to groups, particularly school children, about what it was like to serve in the military. He said it's vital that young people recognize the importance of serving their country as so many Canadian soldiers did in Afghanistan.

 

"I've been to the schools in this area, talking about military actions and war history. It's not communicated very well in the schools. A lot of us enjoy going out and talking to students. The Canadian Defence Institute in Toronto has contacts if schools are looking for a speaker.

"The results are positive when veterans tell students what it was like to be in the war. Children are so curious. They ask a lot of questions. I don't want to talk about how many people I killed or wounded. I really don't know how many, if any. I was a night fighter. I used a machine gun, a .45-calibre which has a big bullet. It was a powerful machine and could do a lot of damage in a big hurry. It took people out."

Mann was never seriously wounded, but suffered hearing loss and, as a paratrooper, he damaged his knee and hip.

"I suffered more damage to my clothes," he said. "One time, I got partially across a field and the enemy fired an air burst. I was wearing a parka and the whole back of it looked like it had been hit by BBs. The shrapnel had burned holes all over it."

Following the war, Mann served as director and president of the First Special Service Force Association, and became a director of the Canadian Airborne Forces Association, a director of the Canadian Airborne Forces Museum (Petawawa), a director of the National Council of Veterans Association in Canada, director emeritus of the First Special Service Force Association, and was appointed Canadian military liaison contact for the First Special Service Force.

He was a life member of the Kincardine Legion, a member of the Royal Canadian Military Institute, and belonged to the Lions Club, Masonic Lodge and Probus Club.
 

Members of the First Special Service Force were dubbed the “Black Devils" by the German soldiers because they operated mostly at night and behind enemy lines, with blackened faces. Though small numerically, the Force never lost a battle, never failed to take an objective, and never gave up an objective once taken.
 

The unit fought in the January, 1944, amphibious landing at Anzio Beach; was the first into the City of Rome; and spearheaded the invasion of southern France.
 

Mann remembered those battles. "We broke through the German defence and captured that hill. We were high up in the mountains, and it was tough going but the work had to be done."
 

The Force later fought all the way to Rome, and captured that city on June 4, 1944. "Then we liberated the south of France in August, 1944."
 

In September of 2013, Mann and Jack Callowhill of Stoney Creek, also a veteran of the First Special Service Force, flew to Italy to help make a documentary about the Second World War.

"We went back up into the mountains where we captured that hill," said Mann. "It was at la Difensa, near Cassino, Italy. It's hard to imagine what it was like back then; it was tough work but we did what we had to do.”

Mann was honoured with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013, as well as an Award of Excellence from the Canadian government in Ottawa for his service in the Second World War; and was named Kincardine's Citizen of the Year. In 2015, he and his colleagues from the Devil's Brigade were awarded the United States Congressional Gold Medal.
 

A tireless volunteer, he constantly worked for the betterment of the community, helping at the Kincardine Legion and with the Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band, placing a wreath at the Kincardine Remembrance Day ceremony, and speaking at the Canada Day festivities. For many years, he took his two dogs for walks every day.
 

When he accepted the Citizen of the Year award in 2013, Mann joked, "I seem to get into trouble quite easily. I'm going to be 91 in a couple of months and I hope the good Lord keeps me around for awhile yet. Thank you all, so much, for this great honour."

Mann was predeceased by his wife in 2006.
 

He is survived by his children, Melodee Purpura (Peter) of Toronto and Marten Mann (Dianne) of Stratford; grandchildren, Dianne Wiegand (Bernd), Carol Purpura, Terri Suboch (Andrew), Domonique Purpura, Marten Mann (Sarah) and Michael Mann (Stephanie); many great-grandchildren; and nephew, David Mann.

Predeceased by his parents, Albert and Florence (née Fox) Mann, three brothers and one sister.

Visitation will be held at the Davey-Linklater Funeral Home, Kincardine, Friday, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. A Northern Light Masonic Lodge service will be held at 7 p.m. and a Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 183, service at 7:15 p.m.

The funeral will be conducted from the Anglican Church of the Messiah, Kincardine, Saturday, at 11 a.m.. with Rev. Rob Hiscox officiating.

Spring interment, Kincardine Cemetery.

Memorial donations to the Canadian Cancer Society or the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.