On a typical summer Sunday afternoon, Michele Facchini would usually be far from the scorching hot, low, flat fields northwest of Ravenna, Italy, where he unexpectedly uncovered a connection to Cape Breton’s Hector McDonald, a soldier who perished in 1944. Facchini, a 49-year-old Second World War researcher and educator, typically spends his weekends at home immersed in reading Canadian soldiers’ diaries and studying battle maps. However, on July 6, he seized the opportunity of cooler weather and ventured to the outskirts of Russi, near the Lamone River, where in December 1944, around 10,000 Canadian troops engaged in combat to dislodge Nazi forces from northern Italy. Facchini’s investigation indicated a platoon had engaged in fierce battles in the area, maneuvering through bullets, bombs, and landmines as they progressed towards the river on icy, water-soaked terrain.
During his exploration, Facchini’s metal detector detected remnants of bullets and shrapnel from high-explosive bombs, and a local farmer presented him with items that had been stored in a small warehouse on his property. Among these items was a duffel bag, typically used by soldiers to store personal belongings. Beneath the layers of dirt, Facchini discerned a name and regimental numbers on the bag, reigniting a forgotten narrative spanning over eight decades and reuniting McDonald with a family that held him dear.
Hector Colin McDonald, although lacking surviving photographs, is vividly depicted in wartime records. Described as slender at five-foot-nine and 137 pounds, with hazel eyes and light-brown hair, he was the third child in a family of six. Leaving school in New Aberdeen, Cape Breton, at 15 to work in coal mines, McDonald enlisted at 25 in late 1941 to partake in the Second World War, driven by a sense of duty. He served in the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and later the West Nova Scotia Regiment, participating in significant battles of the Italian campaign, including the Allied invasion of Sicily, Ortona, and Monte Cassino.
Tragically, McDonald met his end on December 13, 1944, as he stepped on a mine laid by retreating German forces on a bridge over the Lamone River. Despite the official date of death indicating December 13, Facchini suggests this date likely reflects the retrieval of his body two days after the mine incident. McDonald was initially interred in a local field before being reburied in the Ravenna War Cemetery in 1946.
The search for McDonald’s descendants was diligently pursued by a group of Second World War researchers, culminating in the identification of his great-grandniece, Kim Pyke, a Canadian Armed Forces veteran. Pyke’s daughter, Stacey Jordan, represented the family in a ceremony in Russi where McDonald’s duffel bag, inscribed with his battle history, was handed over. This revelation proved deeply emotional for the family, especially considering their military background and close ties to Glace Bay, Hector’s former neighborhood.
The unexpected discovery of McDonald’s duffel bag, 81 years after his passing, holds significant historical and sentimental value. Facchini emphasizes the importance of honoring the sacrifices made by soldiers like McDonald, underlining the bag’s symbolic representation of a Canadian who bravely fought against dictatorship and fascism.