Aubrey Cosens

Aubrey Cosens
Sergeant
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (or The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada)
1921 - 1945

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Aubrey’s family lived in Porquis Junction, in Northern Ontario. He left school in 1938 to do the backbreaking work of railway maintenance. When war came, he did what tens of thousands of other Canadian kids did—he volunteered.

On the night of February 26, 1945, his platoon, supported by two tanks, launched an attack on the hamlet of Mooshof. However, they were beaten back, suffering heavy casualties, including the loss of their commander.

Aubrey assumed command and, under intense machine-gun and small-arms fire, personally killed or captured all the occupants of the hamlet’s three buildings. Just after securing victory, he was killed by a sniper.

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Porquis Junction