It was by pure chance that dog tags discovered in Kelowna belonging to that of a late WWII veteran were reunited with his family.

With Remembrance Day just around the corner, the timing couldn’t have been better.

In August, a Kelowna man located a set of Royal Canadian Air Force dog tags near the intersection of Highway 33 and Dougall Road North.

After bringing the tags to the Kelowna RCMP, police began an effort to locate the officer. The name on the tags, J.K. Dalgliesh, didn’t result in any leads, so police reached out to the Kelowna War Museum for assistance.

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There, a staff member was able to determine the initials stood for John Kenneth.

“Further digging and research led our officer to J.K. Dalgaliesh’s daughter, who now resides in Calgary. The family doesn’t know how or when his dog tags were lost, but his daughter was delighted to have them returned to her,” explained the Kelowna RCMP in an email.

Police were extremely happy they could reunite the item with the family, especially so close to Remembrance Day.

During their investigation, RCMP discovered that in World War II, J.K. Dalgliesh served with the Royal Canadian Airforce as a navigator on heavy bombers. His career with the military continued after the war as a Squadron Leader and Training Command Legal Officer in Weyburn, Sask., through to 1961.

That same year, he was appointed Judge Advocate General with the National Defense Headquarters. Five years later, he was transferred to Esquimalt as Wing Commander and Judge Advocate General for the Western Region.

He and his family lived on an off in the Kelowna area, and he was buried there in 1981.

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Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: phil.mclachlan@kelownacapnews.com

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