Add one more name from Mississauga

Sergeant Joseph Selley

Each year around Remembrance Day I find myself drawn to several videos and poems, such as “Just a Common Soldier” by A. Lawrence Vaincourt and “A Pittance of Time” by Terry Kelly. I have always found them to be very thought-provoking and poignant. Another powerful testament can be found in “Highway of Heroes” by The Trews. The line in the first stanza “Add one more name from Ontario” has stuck with me whenever I reflect on our own fallen soldiers from Mississauga.

I found myself, late in the day on Remembrance Day doing some digging in historic online newspapers for another article I was researching, when I stumbled upon an article in the November 21, 1940 issue of The Port Credit Weekly. The article recounted “Lakeview Brother Reported Missing” and how he had become the district’s first war casualty in the Second World War. Here was a fallen soldier we did not have on our list of fallen. Add one more name from Mississauga.

Selley article from The Port Credit Weekly, November 21, 1940

Joseph Axford Selley (1913-1940) was the youngest child of William Henry Selley and Lizzie Martin Williams. The family immigrated from Essex, England in 1905, first settling near Picton in Prince Edward County where William found work as a farm labourer. The Selley family included at least nine children: Eva, William, James, Harold, Henry Horace, Walter, Dorothy, John and Joseph. By 1921 the Selley family was living in the Brampton area, where Joseph’s father William passed away in 1939.

Joseph Selley newspaper clipping

Joseph began his aviation training at his own expense at, according to a newspaper clipping, “one of the Toronto air fields.” He went overseas in 1938 with the intention of becoming a pilot with the Royal Air Force. Although Joe lived and worked in Brampton, he listed his home as Lakeview, Ontario. Two of his brothers, Harold and Horace Selley, also lived in Lakeview. Another brother, Walter, was married in Port Credit in 1935, lived on Beechwood Avenue in Lakeview, and served with the Canadian Army Ordnance Corps during the war. Two other brothers, William and John also served in the Second World War. Their mother, Lizzie, continued to reside on English Street in Brampton after her husband’s passing and Joseph listed his mother as his next-of-kin.

Selley clipping from Region of Peel Archives

With the outbreak of war, Sergeant Joe Selley, an air gunner with the RAF, was stationed in the Mediterranean at Royal Air Force Station Kabrit in Egypt. He served with 70 Squadron and flew in Vickers Wellington bombers. On November 7, 1940 Sergeant Selley’s squadron was tasked with a daylight raid on Valona, Albania, during which two bombers were shot down, including Selley’s aircraft. Amongst the crew on board, Sergeant Selley, Sergeant W. Ellam and Sergeant G. Wilson were killed in the crash. Flight Lieutenant G. Rawlings and Warrant Officer W. Mitchell survived the crash and were captured. Flight Lieutenant A.  Brian was listed as missing and presumed killed.

Honour Roll from Christ Church in Brampton

Sergeant Joe Selley has no known grave, but is remembered on the Alamein War Memorial in Egypt and on the Honour Roll at Christ Church in Brampton. Although Sergeant Joe Selley’s name does not appear on any known Mississauga memorials or historic honour rolls, the Selley family had connections to both Brampton and to Lakeview here in historic Mississauga, as recounted in The Port Credit Weekly. Going forward, we will certainly add his name to the list of our fallen as a son of Peel County with both Mississauga and Brampton connections.

We remember his brave service.