Lieutenant Robert Bennett (‘Bud’) BYERLY        

Photos - Dr D Martin Peddie School

Robert ‘Bud’ Byerly was born a US citizen on 20 March 1918 in Passaic, New Jersey, USA, the son of Francis Parkman Byerly (deceased by 1943) and Laura Bennett Byerly (née Dawes) of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA. His upbringing reflected a privileged background and Byerly attended good schools (Swarthmore High School, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania and the Peddie School, Hightstown, New Jersey) to the age of 17, at which time he was living in Swarthmore......


Thanks to the support of his affluent family, Byerly was able to travel extensively in Europe both during and after his studies and to develop his passion for those countries whose languages he had learned.  He had already undertaken a visit to France by 1936 and his working life does not seem to have started until 1940 when he became a journalist for six months in Paris with Associated Press...........


But despairing of the USA’s neutrality (and with the attack on Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into the war still some months away) he was determined to help the France that he loved. He therefore went to Montréal in the spring of 1941 and despite being a US national, successfully volunteered for the Canadian Army. His service began in April 1941 and he was posted to the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals where he became a proficient radio operator, with the rank of Signalman and service number C/32458.  He went to England with the Canadian Army and by 1943 was serving with No. 1 Wireless Section, 2 Company, 1st Royal Canadian Corps of Signals.......... [Remainder of case study is complete - contact author for further details].


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