William and Anne (Litowski) Dobni raised seven sons in Kindersley: Nick, John, Mike, Peter, Jim, George and Chester. Three of them appear on the list of local Second World War veterans in the Kindersley Memories history book: Nick, John and Peter. Nick, the eldest, was born in 1913 and ran his own oil trucking business, Kindersley Transport. He joined the services in January 1942 and served in Canada. A cousin, John Carl Smith, was born in Kindersley in 1914 and grew up in the St. Eloi district. He joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1942 and returned to farm after the war.
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John Charles Dobni
Gunner John Charles Dobni (L-57721) was born in Kindersley on 4 July 1922 to William and Annie Dobni. He was farming and driving trucks and tractors when he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Artillery at Rosetown on 24 June 1941, a week before his 19th birthday. From his first pay he sent part of his wages home to his mother, $10-20 a month, and he did not miss a payment for the rest of the war.
He reported to Camp Petawawa, Ontario, on 19 August 1941 to train with the 67th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, 7th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment. He sailed from Halifax on 12 November 1941 and landed at Gourock, Scotland, on 22 November. For the next two and a half years he served with the regiment on anti-aircraft duty in England, around Colchester and later Brighton. He qualified as a Regimental Signaller in January 1943 and as a Driver Operator that July, the trade he held for the rest of the war.
In late March 1944 he sailed for the Mediterranean, landing in Italy on 9 April. He served first as a Driver Operator at the headquarters of the 1st Canadian Army Group, Royal Canadian Artillery, during the spring offensive in the Liri Valley. In mid-June he joined the 4th Canadian Anti-Tank Regiment, 5th Canadian Armoured Division, at Alvignano, near Caserta in south-western Italy, where the division was refitting. In August the regiment moved north to the Adriatic front for the assault on the Gothic Line. In September it fought at Coriano Ridge and on toward Rimini. The regiment spent the winter in the river battles of the Romagna, around Cervia and Ravenna.
In February 1945 the whole of the 1st Canadian Corps was moved in secret from Italy to North-West Europe. John landed in France on 26 February and was in Belgium by March. In April he took part in the liberation of the Netherlands, advancing into Friesland and ending the war in Groningen, where he stayed with the occupation force until the autumn.
His record shows a steady, dependable soldier. He earned the Good Conduct Badge in 1943, and in more than four years his file shows no lost or forfeited service. He also stayed remarkably healthy. His only recorded illness was a throat infection in 1943, and his discharge medical rated him fit in every category, 12 pounds heavier than on the day he enlisted.
He was honourably discharged at Regina on 20 November 1945 after 53 months in uniform, 48 of them overseas in the U.K., Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. He was awarded the 1939–45 Star, Italy Star, France and Germany Star, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Clasp and War Medal 1939–45.
When he left the army his plans were modest: farming, and part-time work in a beer parlour. Instead he became a businessman. He used his veterans' credit to equip his own business in 1946 and later owned and ran movie theatres in Saskatchewan. In 1954 he enlisted again, serving part-time with the Saskatoon Light Infantry until 1958 and rising to corporal.
This Remembrance Day, Kindersley remembers Gunner John Charles Dobni, one of its own, who left the farm at 18 to stand against the Axis forces in Europe, fought across six countries to defend our freedoms, and came home to become one of the town's successful entrepreneurs.
Lest we forget.