Ralph William Sheldon was born on 15 October 1912, in Montreal to Harry and Charlotte Sheldon. Before the war, he was working in the armament building of the Canadian Vickers Ltd in Montreal as an aircraft joiner. When the war broke out, he had served none months in the reserve as a sapper prior to enlisting in the active army on 8 September 1939. He was posted directly to the 4th Field Company and arrived in the UK on New Year’s Eve that year.
In England, he qualified as a Group B carpenter. He was sent to in Italy in November 1943 and was transferred to the 3rd Field Company while the company was starting a series of river crossing operations including the Sangro and Moro Rivers. Afterwards followed a relatively slow period over the winter along the Bernhard Line, anchored on the town of Ortona in at the eastern end. Back in Canada, Ralph's father died in May 1944.
By summer of 1944, he would have seen action at Cassino and through the Liri Valley before advancing to Florence in July and August and then moving to the other side of Italy and prepared to assault the Gothic Line. Sapper Ralph Sheldon was killed in action on 23 August 1944 as the Canadian Corps drew up to the Metauro River with the sappers in the lead. The Chaplain of the 12th Light Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment found his body. He is buried in the Ancona Cemetery.
