Corporal William (Billy) Joseph Ryan
Date and Place of Birth: August 2, 1929, Montreal, Quebec
Date and Place of Death: October 23, 1952, South Korea
Regiment: B Company, 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR)
Information provided by Billy Ryan’s family, the Prices.
Billy was the son of Edward and Cecilia Ryan, and brother of Patricia Price. He was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. Billy was known to have a good head on his shoulders; a person you always looked up to. He was quiet in a way with a ready smile that flashed easily across his face. He received his early education at Daniel O’Connel School and later graduated from Loyola College, where he was known for his athletic ability in boxing and football.
Originally, Billy enlisted as a paratrooper. He then transferred to the infantry shortly before his death. Billy was killed in action in Korea on October 23, 1952 at the age of 23. During one of the fiercest engagements of the Korean war, B Company, 1st Battalion of the RCR’s was called upon to defend Hill 355. Known as Little Gibraltar, Hill 355 was a promontory that commanded the high ground just north of the Imjin River. As the RCR’s ran short of supplies, Billy, who was acting as Platoon Sergeant, desperately tried to organize a defense. The resulting engagement was costly for both the Chinese and Canadians, and Billy was one of 18 soldiers killed that day. He was buried in the United Nations Military Cemetery, Tanggok, South Korea (near Busan) on October 27, 1952. He is also lovingly memorialized on the Korean Wall of Remembrance in Brampton Ontario’s Meadowvale Cemetery and in the Book of Remembrance of the Korean War at the Memorial Chamber of the Parliament of Canada.
He will always be fondly remembered by his family