Roszell was a young Canadian infantryman who enlisted at 19 and was killed in the closing actions of WWII in the Netherlands when he was 21 years old. He's remembered on the Second World War Book of Remembrance (Page 560) and continues to be honored—his memory preserved in historical works, cemetery records, and wartime archives.
He and his buddy John Tuckey both left their initials on Saturday, April 14, in two different trees in the forest near the De Duinen estate in Eelderwolde. The place where both trees can still be found today is roughly halfway between the Paterswoldsemeer and the airport in Eelde.
Dutch journalist Ernst Arbouw authored H.W.R. was hier: Canada, Nederland, de bevrijding, en de zoektocht naar soldaat Harold Wilbert Roszell, which tells the moving story of a search that started with a set of initials carved into a tree near Groningen and led all the way to Toronto, ultimately revealing the life and sacrifice of Harold Wilbert Roszell.
