John Kenneth Macalister

Who was John Kenneth Macalister?

John Kenneth Macalister was a Canadian hero of World War II.

Ken Macalister graduated the Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute and from the University of Toronto, then as a Rhodes Scholar studied at Oxford University. He was expanding his education further at the Institute of Corporate Law in Paris, France when World War II began in 1939. When he took the bar exam, Macalister placed first among over 150 candidates in the British Empire. Macalister tried to join the infantry but his eyesight was such that he needed thick glasses and as such could not be placed on active duty. However, fluent in the French language, Macalister volunteered for the Special Operations Executive F Section where as an agent in France, his thick glasses would actually add to his disguise.

Together with fellow Canadian, Frank Pickersgill, Ken Macalister was parachuted into occupied France on June 20, 1943 to work as wireless operator for the "Archdeacon" network in the Ardennes area. They were met by agent Yvonne Rudellat, but were stopped by the Gestapo who had been tipped by an informer. Some believe that the Germans recognized him as an agent by virtue of his rather poor French accent.