GERALD ELLIS, UE

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Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands contains the graves of over 2500 soldiers from across Canada killed in action during World War II including  Gerald Austin Ellis , UE. He was a native of Digby, Nova Scotia and descended from United Empire Loyalist Adam Bower who arrived at Shelburne in 1783.

Gerald Ellis appears listed on an Honour Roll that hangs in Grace United Church in Digby which he attended.  

Honour Roll

The Canadians buried in the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery died during the advance from the River Seine to Germany. Three centuries after Adam
Bower, UE, the ancestor of Gerald Ellis, was born in Germany and moved to America, his descendant returned with the Canadian Army and died from fighting in 1942.

Johann Adam Bauer, later Adam Bower, was born 13 November 1724 in Hottenbach, Rheinland,  Germany.  He settled in South Carolina in 1764 and when the American Revolution began joined the British forces with his two sons. In September 1782, as the British evacuated Charlestown, the family left for Halifax, Nova Scotia. They wintered there and went to Shelburne in July. He  started a small farm and opened a tavern. 

This week, while on a trip to the Netherlands, I visited the grave of Gerald Ellis in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery.  It is a stunning setting to see the rows of Canadian soldiers' graves marked with headstones.  The cemetery is well maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Grave of Gerald Ellis,  UE 


Adam Bower was proven as a United Empire Loyalist by Margaret Nickerson  - Dorey of the Nova Scotia branch of the UELAC in 2017.


Further Reference:

Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery  video by Brian McConnell,  UE 

John Adam Bower ,UE, as appears in the UELAC Loyalist Directory 

Commonwealth War Graves Commission, accessed on April 21, 2026








Historian; Genealogist; Author; Member of United Empire Loyalists ' Association of Canada, Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia, Ontario Genealogical Society, Ulster Historical & Genealogical Guild (Life)

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