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Private Issie Mayoff
Died on Wednesday 9 February 1944 . Age 22. Killed In Action.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
by
In October 2022, Jerry Scislowski provided the following additional information about Issie Mayoff’s service. We appreciate Jerry’s reaching out and sharing this information.
My name is Jerry Scislowski. I am the son of a Perth Regiment veteran, Stanley Scislowski. My father had his war memoirs published in 1997. The book is titled “Not All Of Us Were Brave”, which is a very big misnomer since anyone serving in the Infantry in action was, without question, brave. One of those brave men, as is noted on this website, made the supreme sacrifice, Private Issie Mayoff.
Some of Issie’s war records are now available on line and I noted that his cause of death was “died of wound”. This occurring on 9 February 1944.
Four days earlier, on 5 February, B Company of Perth Regiment had an artillery round land amongst men queueing up for lunch with lethal results. Nineteen men died that day. My dad covered this incident in his book and describes the likely culprit that inflicted this harm as a German mortar bomb.
Ten years after his book was published my father and I travelled to the Canadian West to visit some old neighbours who had retired to White Rock, BC and also to meet some internet friends of dad, who had served in the Artillery, providing support for 11th Canadian Infantry Brigade, the Perth Regiment’s brigade. It was during this visit that one of these artillery gunners told us that it was a “short round” from one of their 25-pounder artillery pieces that inflicted this damage. He said that they knew this since they were conducting a shoot (stonk) at the time of the incident well the German guns were silent. This would better explain the immense carnage (19 killed) that simply seems too much for a single mortar round to inflict. He also said they wanted to send a small party forward the next day to tell the Perths how badly they felt, but their officers, probably wisely, wouldn’t allow it saying it might have the opposite of the intended effect. In actuality it was likely a faulty round rather than a gunnery error since all the other shells fired by them landed pretty much on their intended target which was a German occupied area a couple of miles beyond the Perth’s position. In retrospect my father thought that the faulty round might not have had the proper amount of propellant or impure propellant or a faulty driving band.
This “Casualty Section Extraction Form” indicates that Issie was wounded in the left thigh and neck on 6 February. Since the regiment was not in action on 6 February his wounding were probably as a result of a patrol, either a Perth patrol into enemy territory or a German patrol into Perth held ground that resulted in a skirmish.
Issie died from his wounds on 9 February, 1944.
Jerry also has a copy of the official “Perth Regiment War Diary”. Although it is difficult to read, he has transcribed the entry for 6 February 1944:
6/2/44 SUNDAY A German fighting patrol of approx 11 men bumped 8 platoon at 0200 hrs. They were engaged by 8 Platoon and 3 Germans were killed in the engagement. No other contact was made with the enemy during night. Snipers were sent from A Coy at first light to positions 249056, 249057. Burial service for dead of previous day’s mortaring was held at 1130 hrs. Final count of casualties was 14 killed, 5 died of wounds and 18 wounded. Arty programme was laid on to shoot White house 256054 at 2000 hrs. Nothing to report from coys during the day. WEATHER Cold with rain and snow. FEEDING STRENGHT 757 STRENGTH 37 offrs 706 other ranks.
If this entry describes the action that led to the wounding and death of Private Mayoff, then it appears he was in 8 Platoon which means he served in A Company.
A listing of “All Military results for Mayoff” can be found at https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/39/?name=_mayoff&death=1944-2-9
Information for others can be found at Service Files of the Second World War – War Dead, 1939-1947 – Library and Archives Canada (bac-lac.gc.ca)