Notes

Notes to Introduction

1. 1 Box B103-002 (Calgary Rifles) KOCR (RCAC) Museum Historical Overview, KOCRA.

2. 2 Famously uttered by a Canadian diplomat at the League of Nations in 1927 to explain the lack of interest of his government and countrymen in the world’s troubles.

3. 3 Box B103-002 (Calgary Rifles) KOCR (RCAC) Museum Historical Overview, KOCRA.

4. 4 At Dieppe and during the Italian Campaign, 14th Armoured Regiment personnel were awarded three DSOs, seven MCs, five MMs and a lone DCM. Box B103-002 (Calgary Rifles) KOCR (RCAC) Museum Historical Overview, KOCRA.

5. 5 This was hard to avoid, for if the Canadian story was going to be told, Canadians had to tell it, British (in the case of both world wars) and American (in the case of WW II) historians showing little interest.

Notes to chapter 1

1. 1 Vance, Maple Leaf Empire, 21–30. On the culture of British imperialism and military duty inculcated in the World War soldiers as youngsters, see Moss, Manliness and Militarism.

2. 2 Box B103-001 Calgary Rifles, folder 001 and box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 4, KOCRA.

3. 3 Box B103-001 Calgary Rifles, folder 001, KOCRA. The 10th Battalion soon became an Alberta unit for reinforcement purposes.

4. 4 Mason had earlier left the 103rd to become second-in-command of the 31st (South Alberta) Battalion.

5. 5 Ottawa assigned the 50th enlistment numbers 434001 to 434999. Holding one of these marked you as an “original” and was a great source of pride after the war. Calgary Daily Herald, 29 December 1914, 1 and 21 January 1915, 10.

6. 6 By mid-June 1915 the 50th and two other infantry battalions were training at Sarcee Camp, with a total of sixty rifles between them. By 1916 eleven infantry battalions were training there, and the camp expanded to accommodate 15,000 men. Cunniffe, Scarlet, Riflegreen and Khaki, 18, box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, KOCRA.

7. 7 Cunniffe, Scarlet, Riflegreen and Khaki, 22, box B103-002, Calgary Rifles, KOCRA and A. Russell and W. Gadsden, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion interviews, RG 41 BIII1, LAC.

8. 8 Box B50-010 50th Battalion, folder 003 Nominal Rolls and Other Personnel Lists, KOCRA. Most would reinforce the 10th Battalion which permitted the 50th, which only reached the front in August 1916, to claim Festubert as a battle honour. Similarly, it could claim Second Ypres because of the large number of 103rd Regiment men who’d proceeded overseas with the 10th in 1914. Box B103-002 50th Battalion, Historical Sketches 4, KOCRA.

9. 9 The nickname had been informally adopted by the men themselves, though some accounts refer to “Mason’s Maulers.” Probably both were used.

10. 10 Calgary Daily Herald, 21 October 1915, 1. Calgary Daily Herald, 28 August 1915, 1; Box 11, file 139, Victor Wheeler Papers, M5614, GA; and A. Russell and W. Gadsden, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion interviews, RG41 BIII1, LAC.

11. 11 David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 26 October 1915, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA.

12. 12 Including the two reinforcement drafts already sent overseas, 79 percent of the officers and men raised by the 50th Battalion in 1915 were British immigrants. Box B50-010, folder 003 Nominal Rolls and Other Personnel Lists, 50th Battalion, KOCRA. Such men were more likely to have some military experience, mostly in the part-time Territorial Army, and therefore deemed more desirable recruits. London also encouraged the many young Britons abroad to enlist in the Dominion forces. Overall, almost one-half of the men who served overseas in the CEF were British immigrants.

13. 13 Box B103-002 50th Battalion, Historical Sketches 2 and 10, KOCRA; W. Gadsden and A Russell, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG41 BIII1, LAC; and box 11, folder 139, Victor Wheeler Papers, M5614, GA.

14. 14 Various training syllabi for weeks ending 26 February, 10 April and 3 June 1916, box 4217, folder 8-1, 50th Battalion, RG 9 III C 3, LAC.

15. 15 Max Aitken to Robert Borden, 10 September 1916, E series, roll A-1765, Max Aitken/Lord Beaverbrook Papers, MG 27 IIG1, LAC. Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, chapter 1 and Simpkins, Kitchener’s Army, Part II, chapters 6–12.

16. 16 Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, chapter 1; Morton, Peculiar Kind of Politics, chapters 3 and 4; and Harris, Canadian Brass, chapter 6.

17. 17 Box B50-010 50th Battalion, folder 003, KOCRA and nominal roll of officers and other ranks, 27 October 1915, box 79, 50th Battalion, RG 9 III B 3, LAC.

18. 18 Andrew Munro to father, 5 November 1915, Andrew Munro Papers, IWM.

19. 19 David Argo correspondence during the winter of 1915–16, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA.

20. 20 David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 13 and 16 May, 19 June and 8 and 23 July 1916, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA.

21. 21 David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 9 April 1916, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA. Morton, Peculiar Kind of Politics, chapters 3 and 4.

22. 22 Brennan, “Major-General David Watson,” 111–43 and Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, chapter 1.

23. 23 Max Aitken to Sam Hughes, 4 May 1916, E series, roll A-1764, Aitken/Lord Beaverbrook Papers, MG 27 IIG1, LAC.

24. 24 Gen. R. Wighan to Headquarters 4th Canadian Division, 7 June 1916, E series, roll A-1765, Max Aitken/Lord Beaverbrook Papers, MG 27 IIG1, LAC and diary 17 June and 14 and 20 July 1916, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC. W. Allen, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 BIII1, LAC and Andrew Munro to father, 18 February and 16 April 1916, Andrew Munro Papers, IWM

25. 25 David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 23 July 1916, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA. In the CEF’s practice “overseas” meant continental Europe, not the British Isles, which in itself reflects the imperial perspective of most Anglo-Canadians.

26. 26 David Watson to Max Aitken, 10 August 1916, E series, roll A-1765, Max Aitken/Lord Beaverbrook Papers, MG 27 IIG1, LAC. David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 23 July 1916, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA.

27. 27 Box 11, folder 139, Wheeler Papers, M5614, GA.

28. 28 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 101.

29. 29 10, 12 and 13 August 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

30. 30 18–21 August 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 4–5 and R. Stephen and J. A. MacDonald, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

31. 31 28 August 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

32. 32 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 4–5.

33. 33 21–23 September 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Diary 28 September 1916, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC.

34. 34 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 12.

35. 35 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 160–67; Cook, Sharp End, chapters 31 and 33; and Gary Sheffield, Somme, chapters 1–3.

36. 36 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 16.

37. 37 14–17 October 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and A. Russell and W. Gadsden, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 BIII1, LAC. Overcome by the strain, one officer intentionally wounded himself. Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 20–21.

38. 38 David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 1 November 1916, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA. 20–22 October 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 11 October 1916, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA. For obvious reasons, reliefs were carried out at night, which made navigating the warren of communication trenches all the more difficult.

39. 39 David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 1 November 1916, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA.

40. 40 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 180–92.

41. 41 26 October 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

42. 42 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 22.

43. 43 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 31 and Lt.-Col. Edward George Mason and Maj. Robert Berry Eaton, RG 150, Acc. 1992–93/166, LAC. See Brennan, “Good Men for a Hard Job” and “Completely worn out by service in France.”

44. 44 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 29.

45. 45 R. Stephen and J. A. MacDonald, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

46. 46 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 23.

47. 47 Diary 2 November 1916, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 69, LAC. On the soldiers’ spirits, David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 13 November 1916, box 50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA.

48. 48 G. W. L. Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 194 and 196.

49. 49 17 and 18 November 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and W. Allen, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

50. 50 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 196–97.

51. 51 David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 11 October 1916, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA.

52. 52 David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 26 October 1915, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA. David Argo to Mrs. Mae Argo, 1 and 13 November 1916, box B50-020 50th Battalion, folder Argo, David, KOCRA.

53. 53 C. T. Hodge to Mrs. Mae Argo, 6 January 1917, box B50-020 50th Battalion, Argo, David folder, KOCRA.

54. 54 Sydney Nightingale to Mrs. Jessie Nightingale, undated (April 1916), box B50-023 50th Battalion, Nightingale, Sydney folder, KOCRA.

55. 55 Director of Records to Mrs. Jessie Nightingale, 1 June 1920, box B50-023 50th Battalion, Nightingale, Sydney folder, KOCRA. Proceedings for the Board of Pension Commissioners for Canada to Mrs. Jessie Nightingale, 1 March 1917 and Director of Records to Mrs. Jessie Nightingale, 17 December 1917, box B50-023 50th Battalion, Nightingale, Sydney folder, KOCRA. Established in 1917, the Imperial War Graves Commission undertook the reburial and perpetual care of the graves of the Empire’s dead, a responsibility they also assumed for the World War II dead.

56. 56 Andrew Munro to his father, 4 December 1916, Andrew Mason Munro Papers, IWM. Andrew Munro to his father, 14 December 1916, Andrew Mason Munro Papers, IWM. Letters mailed on leave in England only had to survive the random attention of post office censors. Runners carried messages back and forth between headquarters and front-line units, an extraordinarily dangerous assignment.

57. 57 Andrew Munro to his father, 4 December 1916, Andrew Mason Munro Papers, IWM and Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 80.

58. 58 20, 21 and 23 November 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

59. 59 D. G. L. Cunnington, box 15, tape 3, 50th Battalion, RG 41 BIII1, LAC; memorandum, undated, box B50-023 50th Battalion, Nichol, Angus folder, KOCRA; Horace Blake to Victor Wheeler, 26 January 1964, box 2, folder 13, Victor Wheeler Papers, M-5614, GA; and Marti, For Home and Empire, 73–74. On race and recruitment in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, see Walker, “Race and Recruitment in World War I, 1–26 and Marti, For Home and Empire, chapter 3.

60. 60 13 December 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

61. 61 7 January 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Maj. Eaton briefly returned to the battalion just before Vimy, but in October had been granted a three-month leave to Canada where he was retained for service. Medical boards show he suffered from prolonged exposure to cold and wet conditions as well as deafness attributable to shell fire. Maj. Robert Berry Eaton, personnel folder, RG 150 Acc. 1992–93/166, LAC and Robert Eaton to Lionel Page, 31 August 1917 and Lionel Page to Charles Hilliam, 1 September 1917, box 4215, folder 3-16, RG 9 III C 3, LAC.

62. 62 Lt.-Col. Charles Benson Worsnop, personnel folder, RG 150 Acc. 1992–93/166, LAC and diary 18 April 1917, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 64, LAC. During the last two years of the war, many experienced officers who for medical or other reasons couldn’t cope with the strains of command were profitably employed in England in a training capacity. Stewart, Embattled General, chapters 5 and 6 and Desmond Morton, Peculiar Kind of Politics, chapters 6 and 8.

63. 63 10 January 1916, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. The heavier a unit’s casualties, the more freely gallantry awards tended to be handed out.

64. 64 Various entries January 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

65. 65 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 236–37 and 241–45.

66. 66 On the emergence of new tactical doctrine in the Canadian Corps, see Rawling, Surviving Trench Warfare, chapters 4 and 5 and Brown, “Not Glamorous, But Effective,” 421–44. In the British Army, see Griffith, Battle Tactics on the Western Front, chapters 4 and 6–8. The French Army had absorbed the same basic lessons independently, and earlier. Robert Doughty, Pyrrhic Victory, chapters 4 and 5. And on the merits of Byng, see Brennan, “Julian Byng and Leadership in the Canadian Corps,” 87–104.

67. 67 Diary 12 May 1916, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 69, LAC.

68. 68 Brennan, “Major-General David Watson,” 111–43 and Geoffrey Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, 80–81. Diary 8 and 10 May 1916, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 69, LAC and Brig.-Gens. William St. Pierre Hughes and Edward Hilliam, personnel folders, RG 150 Acc. 1992–93/166, LAC.

69. 69 Cook, Shock Troops, 55–72.

70. 70 3 February 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. 4 February 1917, Report by Capt. R. W. Read (G. 14-1), 10th Brigade WD, LAC.

71. 71 On Canadian raiding, see Miedema, Bayonets and Blobsticks. The Mills bomb was a hand grenade, while Stokes bombs (shells for the Stokes mortar) were typically tossed into the entrances of German bunkers to kill or maim the occupants. Phosphorous grenades were also highly effective in clearing bunkers. In the dark, restricted confines of trenches, clubs, knives and hand-held bayonets facilitated speedy and (relatively) quiet executions.

72. 72 Riddle and Mitchell, The Military Cross Awarded to Members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force 1915–1921, 241.

73. 73 14 February 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

74. 74 8 February 1917, Proposed Minor Operation G. 12–3, app. B2, 10th Brigade WD (February 1917), LAC. 9 February 1917, operation order S. 299 (Lt.-Col C.A. Sykes); 10 February 1917, G. 12–4; 10 February 1917, Order No. 100 (Lt.-Col. R. D. Davies); and 13 February 1917, Full Report on Raid Carried Out By 10th Infantry Brigade Night of 12th–13th February 1917 (Lt.-Col. R. D. Davies), app. B2, 10th Brigade WD (February 1917), LAC. The tapes marked out the confines of the attack as well as the position of trenches, bunkers and other objectives on a 1:1 scale.

75. 75 13 February 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

76. 76 In fact German losses were 44 killed, 110 wounded, and 52 missing. Sheldon, German Army on Vimy Ridge, 234.

77. 77 It is difficult to determine precise losses as there were seldom follow-up reports listing those subsequently dying of their wounds.

78. 78 Sheldon, German Army on Vimy Ridge, 233. A German infantry regiment was comparable to an Anglo-Canadian brigade.

79. 79 Four of the Canadians taken prisoner were wounded who had been left behind.

80. 80 Sheldon, German Army on Vimy Ridge, 235.

81. 81 The assessment was made on 27 February 1917. Sheldon, German Army on Vimy Ridge, 238.

82. 82 Sheldon, German Army on Vimy Ridge, 237.

83. 83 Sheldon, German Army on Vimy Ridge, 237–38.

84. 84 10 March 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Tim Cook, “‘A Proper Slaughter’,” 7–23. The 50th Battalion were only observers of the carnage that day, but the men never forgot the sight of grinning German soldiers waving empty sandbags and daring them in broken English to come over and join their countrymen. R. Stephen and J. A. MacDonald, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 BIII1, LAC.

85. 85 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 59 and 91 and Andrew Munro to father, 4 May 1917, Andrew Mason Munro Papers, IWM. S. Dyde, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 BIII1, LAC. Box B50-022 50th Battalion, folder Meeres, Edward, KOCRA. On the evolution of battalion command in the Canadian Corps, see Brennan, “Good Men for a Hard Job,” Canadian Army Journal, 9–28. One of the unusual ways Page centred himself amidst the hell of the trenches was by writing beautifully illustrated letters to his young daughter and nieces.

86. 86 18 March 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Costigan and Casewell had both served in the 103rd Regiment, while Svendsen had served in the British Army. Eveleigh had no military background before enlisting in the 50th. All but Costigan, the only one who was Canadian-born, had been lieutenants when the battalion left Canada.

87. 87 Rawling, Surviving Trench Warfare, chapter 4 and Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, 87–90. During February and March the 50th Battalion’s War Diary rarely mentions training activities along the lines outlined in the BEF’s newly-introduced instructional documents SS143, Instructions for the Training of Platoons for Offensive Action, and SS144, The Normal Formation for the Attack. Given corps, division and brigade headquarters insisted they did so, and carried out unannounced inspections to confirm this, such training likely struck the diarist as too normal to be worth mentioning.

88. 88 Training Schedule, 31 March 1917, box 4217, folder 8-1, 50th Battalion, RG 9 III C 3, LAC. Little more than a week before the Vimy Ridge attack, Page was shocked to learn from his officers that 191 of his men had never thrown a Mills bomb!

89. 89 1–5 April 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

90. 90 Diary 26 December 1916 and 4 and 5 January and 20 March 1917, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 69, LAC. Watson, having obtained Gen. Byng’s full support, had addressed the problems vigorously, appointing two new battalion commanders, including Page, and immediately after the battle, replacing a third. The 10th’s new brigadier was also his doing.

91. 91 NCOs from the 50th who had participated in February’s raiding earned one DCM and eight MMs.

92. 92 The remainder had been designated Left Out of Battle.

93. 93 8 April 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

94. 94 Sheldon, German Army on Vimy Ridge, 251–52. Sheldon, German Army on Vimy Ridge, 254–55 and 259–60.

95. 95 Much of the artillery, particularly the medium and heavy batteries, was British.

96. 96 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 258–59. Such counterattacks would be blunted mostly by artillery and machine gun barrages.

97. 97 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 260–61.

98. 98 A. Russell and W. Gadsden, box 15, tape 2, 50th Battalion, RG41 B III 1, LAC.

99. 99 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 97. Cook, Shock Troops, 136–37.

100. 100 10 April 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Eventually, the majority of the missing would be officially listed as killed in action, and of course many of the severely wounded would die as well. When at full strength, as it was on the 10 April, there were sixteen platoons in the battalion, four per company. Officer casualties had surpassed 50 percent, which was by no means unusual for the Western front.

101. 101 9 and 10 April 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 261.

102. 102 Bagley and Duncan, Legacy of Courage, 30 and 32 and Box B50-010 50th Battalion, Gallantry Nominations (Vimy), KOCRA. Henry Pattison remembered the 137th being lined up on parade in February to draw a fifty-man reinforcement draft for the 50th Battalion and hearing his father’s name called out. Given his age, John Pattison should have been sent to the Forestry Corps, but in less than an hour the men were off to France. H. J. Pattison, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

103. 103 Sheldon, German Army on Vimy Ridge, 315–17.

104. 104 12 April 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Sheldon, German Army on Vimy Ridge, 317 and Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, 95–96.

105. 105 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 101. Cook, Shock Troops, 137–39 and Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 100. On Canadians killing prisoners while trying to surrender, see Cook, “The Politics of Surrender,” 637–66.

106. 106 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 112.

107. 107 Diary 17 March 1917, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC. Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 101.

108. 108 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 103. 12–13 April 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

109. 109 G. Jones and W. Sinclair, box 15, tape 2, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, v 15, 50th Battalion, LAC.

110. 110 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 107.

111. 111 15–22 April 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

112. 112 Andrew Munro to father, undated (December 1916), Andrew Mason Munro Papers, IWM.

113. 113 8 May 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

114. 114 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 266–67.

115. 115 Sometimes referred to as the First, Second and Third Battles of the Scarpe after the river winding through the battlefield.

116. 116 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 266–79 and Sheffield, Forgotten Victory, 190–99. Together, the Scarpe operations were among the costliest battles fought by British Empire forces during the entire war, with the BEF (including the Canadians) suffering close to 170,000 casualties in a little over five weeks. On the French Army’s operations, see Doughty, Pyrrhic Victory, chapter 7 and Greenhalgh, French Army, chapter 5.

117. 117 Patrick Brennan, “Julian Byng,” 87–104.

Notes to chapter 2

1. 1 25 and 26 April 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

2. 2 From 1 through 11 May the 50th Battalion spent nearly equal amounts of time in support (which was well within the range of German artillery) and the front line. Although it did not participate in any significant operations, it still suffered 194 casualties from enemy fire, including twenty-nine killed. 1–11 May 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

3. 3 28 April 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

4. 4 Robert Forrest to Victor Wheeler, 20 April 1964, box 10, folder 132, Victor Wheeler Papers, M-5614, GA. Robert Forrest to Victor Wheeler, 26 January 1964, box 1, folder 12, Victor Wheeler Papers, M-5614, GA.

5. 5 All manner of explanations have been offered for this, at the time and since. The simple truth is that these men had hunted for years to support themselves and their families. During the pre-war years, the Bureau of Indian Affairs had provided rifles and ammunition for this purpose but permitted nothing larger than .22 calibre. To kill a moose with a punch-less weapon meant getting very close and then making a “heart-shot” with the first round so that the animal would die quickly and not be lost in the bush. The author thanks Darren Keewatin for this insight. Like most snipers, Norwest worked with a spotter. For most of the war, it was Pvt. Oliver Payne.

6. 6 Dempsey, “Henry Norwest,” 786–87; Calgary Herald, 11 November 1989, C9 (Norwest article), box B50-022 50th Battalion, folder Meeres, Edward, KOCRA; box B50-010 50th Battalion, folder 50th Battalion gallantry nominations (Vimy), KOCRA; and Persil Blain to Victor Wheeler, 13 March 1964, box 2, folder 13, Victor Wheeler Papers, M-5614, GA. Norwest’s wife died later in 1918, but neither she nor her children would have been eligible for a pension without giving up their Native status. Nor would Norwest, had he lived, have qualified for a grant of farmland under the Veterans Land Act. As a soldier of First Nations ancestry, a bit of land in the Warvillers Churchyard Extension Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery sufficed for the government (and people) of Canada. Calgary Herald, 11 November 1989, C9 (Norwest article), box B50-022 50th Battalion, folder Meeres, Edward, KOCRA.

7. 7 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 279–80.

8. 8 30 April and 1 May 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Pattison, John G., KOCRA.

9. 9 Officers were also ordered to ensure canteens were filled to the brim but only with water. 31 May 1917, operational order no. 27 (Lt.-Col. Page), app. 1, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

10. 10 1 and 2 June 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. 31 May 1917, operational order no. 27 (Lt.-Col. Page), app. 1, 50th Battalion WD (June 1917), LAC.

11. 11 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 114.

12. 12 C. McDonald, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

13. 13 3 June 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 117–19.

14. 14 Maj. Dawson had been badly wounded, dying the following day. 3 Jun 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

15. 15 Nicholson claimed the retreat occurred before the German counterattack, but the 50th Battalion war diary maintained it occurred during it, while the 10th Brigade account broadly reinforces the latter claim. Capt. E. H. Hill, intelligence report, 4 June 1917, app. 10, 10th Brigade WD (May 1917), LAC. 3 June 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and Box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Pattison, John, KOCRA.

16. 16 3 June 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Prisoners, while valuable intelligence sources, were a drain on an attack since on a battlefield littered with weapons, they had to be escorted to rear under guard. Page’s orders called for lightly wounded men to perform these duties whenever possible. It was common practice for prisoners to assist stretcher bearers in clearing the Canadian wounded, something most were eager to do since it endeared them to their captors, who would be less inclined to shoot them. 31 May 1917, operation order no. 27 (Lt.-Col. Page), app. 1, 50th Battalion WD (June 1917), LAC.

17. 17 Diary 3 June 1917, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 69, LAC. Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 120–21.

18. 18 3 June 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

19. 19 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 280–81.

20. 20 3 June 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Pattison, John, KOCRA. First reported wounded, twenty-three-year-old Lt. George Ambery was the nephew of Lt.-Col. George Mason. His body was never found and he was eventually listed as killed in action. Ambery’s mother was bereft, desperate to know what had happened to her son. A poignant correspondence ensued between a friend of hers and Lt.-Col. Page and Maj. Parry (who was a pre-war friend of the mother) in an effort to determine details of the lad’s fate. To their credit, both men devoted considerable time to interviewing returning wounded, though to no avail. Mrs. Olive Parry to Lt.-Col. Page, 26 Aug 1917 and Maj. Parry to Mrs. Olive Parry, 7 Sep 1917, box 4214, folder 1-10, 50th Battalion, RG 9 III C 3, LAC

21. 21 R. Stephen, box 15, tape 2, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

22. 22 Box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Pattison, John, KOCRA.

23. 23 Box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Pattison, John, KOCRA. H. J. Pattison, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

24. 24 Box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Pattison, John, KOCRA. In January 1916, without forewarning his parents, Henry Pattison managed to enlist in the 82nd Battalion though he was only sixteen. This led his father to enlist two months later, but since the 82nd was full, he chose the 137th, and then arranged for his son to transfer. Father and son went to England with the 137th in August 1916, whereupon John revealed his son’s real age, ensuring he would not be sent to the front until he turned eighteen. John Pattison joined the 50th Battalion with a draft of 285 men from the 137th on 5 February 1917, whereas his son Henry only reached the front in early September. Box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Pattison, John, KOCRA. It is clear from his future service that Henry was kept out of most dangerous situations because his father had been killed. H. J. Pattison, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

25. 25 Gen. Byng’s reward for transforming the Canadian Corps into a first-class fighting unit was to replace Gen. Allenby as Third Army commander. The Borden government insisted Byng’s replacement be a Canadian, and Currie had been the obvious choice.

26. 26 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 281.

27. 27 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 128. A “blighty” was a wound serious enough to get one hospitalized in England for a goodly time.

28. 28 5–8 June 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Lt.-Col. Page was a dedicated promoter of his men participating in sports which fostered morale, teamwork, camaraderie, fitness, and battalion identity, all of which were worthy goals. Of course competitions pitting officers against other ranks offered extra advantages on the morale front. 28 June 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

29. 29 11 and 16 June 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

30. 30 27 June 1917, 50th Battalion War Diary, LAC. Concert hall-style entertainment was much in demand by front-line troops who were, after all, civilians in uniform. Over thirty were formed in the CEF, with the 3rd Division’s ensemble, The Dumbells, the most famous. The 4th Division’s main group was The Maple Leafs. O’Neill, “The Canadian Concert Party in France.”

31. 31 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 282 and 284 and Delaney and Durflinger, eds., Capturing Hill 70, Introduction.

32. 32 1–9 July 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

33. 33 Diary 6 August 1917, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 69, LAC.

34. 34 Various entries July 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. On the successful battalion schemes, see 29 and 31 July 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Diary 21 July 1917, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 69, LAC.

35. 35 Losses on the 15 August, almost all by 1st and 2nd Division units, totalled 1,056 killed and 2,432 wounded. Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 290.

36. 36 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 289. Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 287–89.

37. 37 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 289–92 and Delaney and Durflinger, eds., Capturing Hill 70, especially chapter 7 and Conclusion.

38. 38 Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, 108–16 and Delaney and Durflinger, eds., Capturing Hill 70, 22–24.

39. 39 17–19 August 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

40. 40 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 293.

41. 41 20 August 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Orders no. 49 and 50, apps. F and G, and Report on Operations by 50th Canadian Battalion from August 17th to August 26th, 1917 (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. J, 50th Battalion WD (August 1917), LAC.

42. 42 Report on Operations by 50th Canadian Battalion from August 17th to August 26th, 1917 (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. J, 50th Battalion WD (August 1917), LAC.

43. 43 G. Jones and W. Sinclair, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

44. 44 21 August 1917, 50th Battalion WD and Report on Operations by 50th Canadian Battalion from August 17th to August 26th, 1917 (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. J, 50th Battalion WD (August 1917), LAC.

45. 45 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 292–95 and 21 August 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

46. 46 22 August 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

47. 47 21 and 22 August 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

48. 48 Report on Operations by 50th Canadian Battalion from August 17th to August 26th, 1917 (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. J, 50th Battalion WD (August 1917), LAC. Many of the men coming up were hardly in better shape. One of the replacements, Lt. X, had only just returned from a stint as liaison officer with 27th Battalion. Others soon noticed his mental state becoming more and more erratic as he wandered about carrying a rifle with the bayonet mounted and obsessed about how all the wounded were going to be gotten out. Within hours Page sent him on to a company short of officers, and the next anyone knew he was found dead in a trench. Years later a veteran recounted that upon hearing the heavy Dutch accent of a sergeant named Roerick, and being convinced that he was a German infiltrator in a Canadian uniform, Lt. X had gone berserk and bayoneted the sergeant three times. Another soldier promptly shot the officer dead—he was subsequently listed as “killed in action.” Fortunately, Roerick recovered, maintaining that he’d fired the fatal shot. Page’s own view was that “the strain had proved too much for [the man] and that he … was shot … in self-defence.” Lt.-Col. Page to Brig. Hilliam, 26 August 1917, box 4215, folder 5–4, 50th Battalion, RG 9 III C 3, LAC. W Allen, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

49. 49 Report on Operations by 50th Canadian Battalion from August 17th to August 26th, 1917 (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. J and 25 August 1917, report to HQ 10th Cdn. Inf. Bde., Lt.-Col. L. F. Page, app. K, 50th Battalion WD (August 1917), LAC. Watson, who inspected parts of the 4th Division’s operational area the following day, noted that “the numbers of bodies lying around must be enormous as the stench is perfectly awful.” Diary 26 August 1917, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 69, LAC.

50. 50 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 142.

51. 51 Box B50-024, folder Orritt, William, KOCRA.

52. 52 For example, see Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, 116–18; Delaney and Durflinger, eds., Capturing Hill 70, 22–24; Delaney, “The Corps Nervous System in Action,” 71–74; Brennan, “Major—General David Watson, 126–27; and Cook, Shock Troops, 301–07.

53. 53 Quoted in translation in Cook, Shock Troops, 304–05. Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 297.

54. 54 S. Dyde, box 15, tape 2, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC. Box B50-022 50th Battalion, folder Meeres, Edward, KOCRA, and Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 123.

55. 55 25 and 26 August 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

56. 56 30 August 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

57. 57 Training “over the tapes” referred to marking practice fields to real-life scale, with coloured tapes, stakes and pylons being used to indicate trenches, known defensive positions and so forth. When training for an attack, this enabled the officers and men to familiarize themselves with what they would actually encounter, not the least distances. At other times, the “battlefield” so created would simply match the maps and attack orders prepared for the exercise by staff officers.

58. 58 Diary 17 September 1917, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 69, LAC.

59. 59 25 and 25 August 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. The names of officers awarded the MC were always listed in the battalion war diary, the names of enlisted men earning the MM (the same award) only occasionally.

60. 60 Riddle and Mitchell, Distinguished Conduct Medal, 33.

61. 61 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 298–304 and Sheffield, Forgotten Victory, 204–16.

62. 62 As cited in Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 311.

63. 63 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 304–11.

64. 64 The 17 October entry quoted in Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 313. Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 311–12.

65. 65 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 311–14 and Cook, Shock Troops, 316–21, 323 and 325.

66. 66 Rawling, Surviving Trench Warfare, 144–45.

67. 67 Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, 121–12; Foley, “The Other Side of the Wire,” 155–78; Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 316–18; and Tactical Conditions, box 3853, folder 69-3, RG 9 III C 1, LAC.

68. 68 10 October 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

69. 69 14 October 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

70. 70 Pill boxes/block houses were also very useful for sheltering the wounded until they could be gotten safely to the rear. Sheldon, German Army at Passchendaele, 260.

71. 71 Sheldon, German Army at Passchendaele, 277–78. Von Kuhl’s report was based on a combination of German battlefield observation, captured documents, and the interrogation of prisoners of war.

72. 72 Sheldon, German Army at Passchendaele, 279.

73. 73 20 October 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

74. 74 21 October 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

75. 75 Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, 122–29 and Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 318–19.

76. 76 22 October 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Or as the 10th Brigade’s diarist put it tersely: “Weather conditions unfavourable; ground conditions, roads and tracks in bad state. Area [has been] heavily shelled.” 22 October 1917, 10th Brigade WD, LAC.

77. 77 23 October 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. 24 Oct 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

78. 78 25 October 1917, Brig. E. Hilliam to Lt.-Col. L. Page, app. D1, 10th Brigade WD (October 1917), LAC.

79. 79 Sheldon, German Army at Passchendaele, 258.

80. 80 26 October 1917, Brig. E. Hilliam to Maj.-Gen. D. Watson, app. D1, 10th Brigade WD (October 1917), LAC.

81. 81 Apart from the usual “fog of war,” the battlefield had been extensively “smoked” as part of the artillery support, chiefly to blind German machine gunners. Sheldon, German Army at Passchendaele, 258. Command posts, both battalion and brigade, were completely in the dark on 26 October. Casualties among runners were very heavy, and every other method from pigeons to signal lamps and electronic methods failed. 1 November 1917, 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade: Report on Operations in the Passchendaele Sector, October 21st to 28th 1917, app. D1, 10th Brigade WD (November 1917), LAC.

82. 82 The 46th suffered 70 percent casualties, almost of all from the murderous machine gun fire they encountered. Sheldon, German Army at Passchendaele, 259. The Bavarian units facing the brunt of the Canadian attack on 26 October were virtually annihilated. Reinforcements reaching the front could find only “a few lads covered in filth from top to bottom.” Sheldon, German Army at Passchendaele, 265.

83. 83 26 October 1917, 10th Brigade WD, LAC and 1 November 1917, 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade: Report on Operations in the Passchendaele Sector, October 21st to 28th 1917, app. D1, 10th Brigade WD (November 1917), LAC. 26 October 1917, 10th Brigade WD, LAC.

84. 84 26 October 1917, Brig. E. Hilliam to Maj.-Gen. D. Watson, app. D1, 10th Brigade WD (October 1917), LAC. 46th Battalion casualties for 26 October numbered 375 killed, wounded and missing—for the 50th Battalion it was ninety-three. Among the wounded was Capt. Arthur T. Lowes, who was officially listed as suffering from “shell shock.” 1 November 1917, 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade: Report on Operations in the Passchendaele Sector, October 21st to 28th 1917, app. D1, 10th Brigade WD (November 1917), LAC.

85. 85 Burgess won a DSO and Thorne a MC for their actions that day. Burgess’ citation read: “when part of the front line began to be driven back by the enemy, he at once went forward, took command, and by his example and influence succeeded in holding the position. He exposed himself fearlessly to an intense artillery and machine gun barrage to steady the men and keep them in their position, and he reorganized and established the line and [held it until] relieved …, undoubtedly sav[ing] a critical situation.” Riddle and Mitchell, Distinguished Service Order, 15. Thorne’s citation lauded him for “untiringly [going] from post to post [under intense artillery fire], encouraging his men and reorganizing the defences.” Riddle and Mitchell, Military Cross, 331.

86. 86 The assessment that confusion and an overrating of the threat they faced had contributed more to the 46th Battalion’s falling back than the ferocity of the German counterattacks was the personal view of Lt.-Col. Page. Report on Operations—46th Canadian Infantry Battalion, October 26th 1917 (Lt.-Col. H. Dawson) and Report of Operations of 50th Canadian Inf. Bn. From Octr. 21st to Octr. 26th, 1917 (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. D1, 10th Brigade WD, LAC. The 10th Brigade War Diary made no such judgments, nor did Hilliam’s report to Watson. 26 October 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and 26 October 1917, Brig. E. Hilliam to Maj.-Gen. D. Watson, app. D1, 10th Brigade WD (October 1917), LAC. In his own report, Lt.-Col. Dawson noted that the “withdrawal did not, however, stop at the intended line, but continued to near the jumping off point,” and that “numerous men coming back from the front area [and passing near the battalion headquarters] were halted and turned about. [But] these men,” he pointed out, “were carrying parties and stretcher parties” who should have fallen back but were now desperately needed to stiffen the front-line position. Sgt. Turner was stationed at the outpost line throughout and an eyewitness to the 46th Battalion’s retreat. He argued years later that the men had fallen back exactly as everyone had been trained—there had been no panic, but he understood that farther back it might have seemed more disorderly. A. Turner, box 15, tape 2, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

87. 87 Riddle and Mitchell, Distinguished Conduct Medal, 49 and 220–21.

88. 88 26 October 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and Report on Operations 1 Nov 1917, box 4208, folder 1-10, RG 9 III C 3, LAC.

89. 89 Riddle and Mitchell, Distinguished Conduct Medal, 191.

90. 90 27 and 28 October 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

91. 91 27 and 28 October 1917, 10th Brigade WD, LAC.

92. 92 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 320–27.

93. 93 29–31 October 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

94. 94 In comparison the more heavily committed 46th and 85th Battalions had suffered 403 and 394 casualties, respectively.

95. 95 Quoted in Sheldon, German Army at Passchendaele, 269.

96. 96 Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, 212–13 and Brennan, “Major-General David Watson,” 127. Hilliam was given command of the 44th (British) Brigade which he led until the armistice.

97. 97 Ross J. F. Hayter, CEF Personnel, RG 150 Acc. 1992–93/166, LAC.

98. 98 War Diary, 50th Btn, various entries Nov and Dec 1917.

99. 99 RG 9 III C 3, v 4217, folder 8, file 1, Programme of Training (drafted by Page), 1 Dec 1917.

100. 100 War Diary, 50th Btn, various entries Dec 1917.

101. 101 17 December 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Morton, Peculiar Kind of Politics, 132–48.

102. 102 24–25 December 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

103. 103 30 December 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. 29 and 31 December 1917, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

104. 104 The wounded totals are inflated because they included a sizable number of soldiers wounded more than once.

105. 105 15–18 January 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

106. 106 4 February 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. See also 5–8 February 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. While training could not be carried out when the battalion was in the trenches, the demands for work parties never ended.

107. 107 There were nuanced differences between Canadian (and other Dominion) and British practices, but mostly of emphasis, not substance. After all, sameness was necessary so British and Dominion formations could operate as interchangeable parts of a single army. Factors other than training and tactical distinctions contributed to the marked efficiency of the Australian, Canadian and New Zealand forces on the battlefield during 1917–18.

108. 108 5 March 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Various entries March 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

109. 109 20 and 21 March 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

110. 110 11 March 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Various entries March 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

111. 111 The Germans basically used the terms stosstruppen (shock troops) and sturmtruppen (storm troops) interchangeably.

112. 112 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 364–68.

113. 113 Sheffield, Forgotten Victory, 221–33; Showalter, Instrument of War, 253–62; and Travers, How the War Was Won, 50–100.

114. 114 Greenhalgh, French Army, chapter 7 and Doughty, Pyrrhic Victory, chapter 9.

115. 115 17 July 1918, 50th Canadian Battalion—Defence Scheme—Willerval Section, app. 10, 50th Battalion WD (July 1918), LAC. 26 July 1918, 50th Canadian Battalion Defence Scheme Arleux Section, app. 8, 50th Battalion WD (July 1918), LAC.

116. 116 McCrae, Coalition Strategy, chapter 5.

117. 117 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 378–82. See also Brown, Robert Laird Borden, chapter 11; Morton, Peculiar Kind of Politics, 162–66; and Hyatt, General Sir Arthur Currie, 163–65.

118. 118 30 April 1918, 10th Brigade WD, LAC.

119. 119 British divisions, like their Australian counterparts (but unlike the New Zealand Division), were considerably understrength for the remainder of the war.

120. 120 Various entries June 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

121. 121 Undated (June 1918), Operational Order no. 110, Battalion Tactical Scheme—with Tanks, 50th Battalion WD (June 1918), app. B, LAC; Diary 19 June 1918, Box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA; and Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 222.

122. 122 Page was again on the sick list, and Parry was acting commanding officer.

123. 123 20 June 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

124. 124 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 108.

125. 125 Cook, No Place To Run. One quarter of all the shells fired by Canadian Corps artillery during the Hundred Days Campaign were gas shells, indicating how effective Currie and his staff considered gas to be as an offensive weapon. As for its effectiveness in defensive warfare, mustard gas, which could persist for several days, was widely employed to create a sort of chemical minefield in areas the understrength German Army lacked troops to defend. This paralyzed logistics since horses, unlike men, could not really be protected.

126. 126 Andrew Munro to father, 11 January 1918, Andrew Munro Papers, Papers, IWM.

127. 127 30 and 31 July 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

128. 128 Entries for the last day of the month, March–July 1918, 10th Brigade WD, LAC.

Notes to chapter 3

1. 1 On Foch’s strategy, see Doughty, Pyrrhic Victory, 474–75. On Soissons, see Greenhalgh, French Army, 312–21.

2. 2 Diary 29 July 1918, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 69, LAC.

3. 3 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 386–90 and 390n. Messenger, Day We Won the War, chapters 2 and 3.

4. 4 Fourth Army was allotted 324 heavy “fighting” (i.e. infantry support) tanks and 96 of the new, and slightly more mobile, Whippets. Of these 162 of the former were assigned to the Canadian Corps, 42 to each assaulting division and 36 to the 4th. Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 393. The Battle of Amiens was the largest deployment of tanks by the BEF in the entire war.

5. 5 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 386–91. It can be very misleading to use divisions in comparing the size of armies. The reorganization of the Canadian Corps earlier in 1918 left its divisions nominally 22,000 men strong, and with little action since Passchendaele, they were at full strength. In contrast, British divisions had been reduced by one quarter and nominally numbered 14,000 men, though even this was rarely met, shortages being especially pronounced in the infantry. In the absence of conscription, and having seen heavier recent fighting than the Canadians, Australian battalions were now often barely 450 men strong, about one-half the Canadian figure. The divisions of the French Army, still the largest fighting force on the Western Front, numbered about 10,000 men. Thus, with four out of the twenty-one divisions committed, the Canadian Corps was providing close to one-half of Fourth Army’s attacking strength. Greenhalgh, French Army, 251–52; Hart, Very British Victory, 314–15; and Pedersen, Anzacs, 379.

6. 6 2 and 3 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and Diary 1 August 1918, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC.

7. 7 4 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Diary 4 August 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA.

8. 8 5 and 6 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Diary 6 August 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA.

9. 9 6 August 1918, 10th Brigade WD, LAC.

10. 10 6 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

11. 11 Not the same Dury as they would assault some weeks later at the Drocourt–Quéant Line.

12. 12 Diary 7 August 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA. Brigade issued the formal orders to all four battalions at 1400 on 7 August. 7 August 1918, 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Order No. 146, app., 10th Brigade WD (August 1918), LAC.

13. 13 7 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. 7 August 1918, Instructions No. 1 50th Canadian Battalion, app., 10th Infantry Brigade WD (August 1918), LAC.

14. 14 8 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations: Battle of Amiens August 6th to 11th, 1918, app. E, 10th Infantry Bde WD (August 1918), LAC. A. Turner, box 15, tape 3, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

15. 15 9 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, 220–24.

16. 16 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 415. 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations: Battle of Amiens August 6th to 11th, 1918, app. E, 10th Infantry Bde WD (August 1918), LAC.

17. 17 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 398–400, 410–11 and 414. Nicholson hardly does credit to this 4,500-m deep barrier. The old French and German lines remained intact, including masses of barbed wire and numerous concrete machine gun emplacements, all now obscured by vegetation. The trenches could not even be seen until you stumbled upon them. 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations: Battle of Amiens August 6th to 11th, 1918, app. E, 10th Infantry Bde WD (August 1918), LAC.

18. 18 A. Turner, box 15, tape 3, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

19. 19 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations: Battle of Amiens August 6th to 11th, 1918, app. E, 10th Infantry Bde WD (August 1918), LAC.

20. 20 The attrition of the British tanks was staggering. The slab-sided behemoths were slow, no faster than the infantry on foot, and were protected by armour that was only proof against machine-gun and rifle fire. German field guns firing over open sights from concealed positions easily knocked them out, as could large calibre anti-tank rifles from closer range. Moreover, they were mechanically unreliable and broke down with startling frequency. Of the 415 tanks that went into action on 8 August, only 145 were still “runners” the following morning and the precipitous decline continued. It meant the actual number of tanks crawling forward on the 10 August to support the 4th Division fell well short of the thirty-six nominally assigned. Hart, Very British Victory, 326–44. All this said, tanks were a godsend to the infantry on the battlefield, their machine gun and cannon fire suppressing or destroying machine gun nests and monopolizing the attention and firepower of an enemy who still saw tanks as THE THREAT, thus allowing the attacking infantry to manoeuvre. Their great bulk also made short work of crushing uncut barbed wire. Infantry-tank co-operation was a necessity for the survival of both but it was a new art and there was little proper doctrine and had been even less training.

21. 21 10 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

22. 22 Infantry tank communication was rudimentary to say the least—the tank commander made use of a limited repertoire of flag signals—basically “coming back,” “broken down—don’t wait,” and “all clear—come on.” For their part, the infantry were to hold up a helmet on a bayonet to indicate “held up,” then point a rifle in the direction of the problem. Instructions No. 1 50th Canadian Battalion, 7 Aug 1918, app., 50th Battalion WD (August 1918), LAC. To convey anything else required face-to-face communication and resulted in exposure to enemy fire. Visibility was so poor from a tank that it was common for their commanders to exit and direct the driver and gunners from outside. This was appallingly dangerous for the commander, but it at least facilitated communication with the infantry.

23. 23 10 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Visiting the Fouquescourt battlefield two days later, Gen. Watson was shocked by the number of bloated and dismembered bodies lying about, both men and animals. Diary 12 August 1918, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC. Victor Wheeler recalled that “the cloying odours of congealed blood and putrefied flesh were overpowering.” Victor Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 245.

24. 24 The men had been warned the Huns poisoned wells, and that in the hot, dry weather surface water would likely be fetid. The latter certainly proved correct.

25. 25 10 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. 14 August 1918, Operations of 50th Canadian Battalion from 10–8–18 to 13–8–18 (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. 11, 50th Battalion WD (August 1918), LAC and 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations: Battle of Amiens August 6th to 11th, 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (August 1918), LAC; and Diary 10 August 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA.

26. 26 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations: Battle of Amiens August 6th to 11th, 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (August 1918), LAC.

27. 27 Riddle and Mitchell, Military Cross, 326. 10 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. The redoubtable Brown would earn a MC twenty-three days later near Dury. Riddle and Mitchell, Military Cross, 39. Men nominated for gallantry awards had invariably earned them, but only a portion would be approved. Sometimes lesser recognition was substituted, sometimes nothing at all. In the end, extraordinary acts of heroism routinely went unacknowledged. Everyone understood this, and so should we.

28. 28 Riddle and Mitchell, Distinguished Conduct Medal, 66.

29. 29 Riddle and Mitchell, Distinguished Conduct Medal, 274. For Harrop see Riddle and Mitchell, Distinguished Conduct Medal, 108.

30. 30 Box B50-022 50th Battalion, folder Harrop, R. A., KOCRA.

31. 31 On Walsh and the stretcher bearers, see 14 August 1918, Operations of 50th Canadian Battalion from 10–8–18 to 13–8–18 (Lt.-Col L Page), app. 11, 50th Battalion WD (August 1918), LAC. Among them was thirty-eight-year-old Pvt. Harvey Thorne, the author’s great-uncle. 10 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

32. 32 Riddle and Mitchell, Distinguished Service Order, 80. Of course earlier in the day, when his battalion was pinned down in front of Fouquescourt, he showed that sometimes it’s best if a battalion commander returns to his headquarters where he can be in touch with the larger battle, and delegate local authority to trusted subordinates.

33. 33 10 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Obviously, the war diary could not go into detail about the nature of the wounds, but “wounded” is an unfortunately sanitized term. Some men would be quickly dabbed with iodine and bandaged and never leave the line, while others would return within a week or two. But there was horrific trauma, too—faces blown away, limbs hanging by shreds of flesh. There were injuries that would leave them disabled for the rest of their lives—if they recovered from them (and given the proximity of field hospitals and the remarkable skill of army surgeons in an era before blood transfusions and antibiotics, most would). Diary 15 August 1918, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC.

34. 34 For August 10 and 11 total casualties reached 252. 14 August 1918, Operations of 50th Canadian Battalion from 10–8–18 to 13–8–18 (Lt.-Col. L. Page) app. 11, 50th Battalion WD (August 1918), LAC.

35. 35 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 418; See also 417–18.

36. 36 Diary 10 August 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA.

37. 37 Diary 14 and 15 August 1918, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC. The latitude of the Amiens battlefield lies just south of Calgary.

38. 38 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations: Battle of Amiens August 6th to 11th, 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (1918), LAC. Diary 11 August 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA.

39. 39 14 August 1918, Operations of 50th Canadian Battalion from 10–8–18 to 13–8–18 (Lt.-Col L. Page), app. 11, 50th Battalion WD (August 1918), LAC.

40. 40 Despite the infiltration tactics employed by the stosstruppen units and their absolute avoidance of frontal assaults, it was not unusual to see ordinary German units continuing to advance en masse on a well-defended position, with predictable slaughter. Travers, How the War Was Won, 87.

41. 41 11 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and 14 August 1918, Operations of 50th Canadian Battalion from 10–8–18 to 13–8–18 (Lt.-Col L. Page) app. 11, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

42. 42 14 August 1918, Operations of 50th Canadian Battalion from 10–8–18 to 13–8–18 (Lt.-Col L. Page) app. 11, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

43. 43 11 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

44. 44 14 August 1918, Operations of 50th Canadian Battalion from 10–8–18 to 13–8–18 (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. 11, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

45. 45 12 and 13 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and diary 13 August 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA.

46. 46 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 422–27. 14–17 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

47. 47 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 419.

48. 48 Walter Sinclair, box 15, tape 1, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

49. 49 18 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Lt.-Col. Page penned a tribute to be inserted in the battalion war diary, but one which certainly reflected the cultural stereotypes of the day. Norwest “was a peculiar character. Very silent, very intent. As delighted as a child at his success and as grim as the avenging angel when on his work … His patience was colossal [and] no risks too great to take, as long as he was killing …. His Indian blood possibly helped him in his work, possibly inherited his patience and cunning from his hunting forbears …. His memory will be ever with us, his example an inspiration.” 18 August 1918, A Tribute (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. 12, 50th Battalion WD (August 1918), LAC. 26 January 1964, Robert Forrest to Victor Wheeler; 4 June 1963, Harold Scott to Victor Wheeler; and 17 June 1968, Herbert Hogg to Victor Wheeler, 17 Jun 1968, box 10, folder 132, Victor Wheeler Papers, M-5614, GA; and Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 241–42.

50. 50 27 and 28 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

51. 51 David Muirhead, CEF Personnel, RG 150 Acc. 1992–93/166, LAC. Pvt. David Paterson was likely one of the first conscripts to die with the 50th Battalion. Seriously wounded at Hallu, he died four days later. Paterson had farmed in the Nanton area. Dennis, Reluctant Warriors, 82. Diary 15 August 1918, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC.

52. 52 29 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

53. 53 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 150–51. For a similar appraisal by a junior officer, see S. Dyde, box 15, tape 2, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

54. 54 Dennis, Reluctant Warriors, 210–11. See also 192–93, 196 and 238–39.

55. 55 Dennis, Reluctant Warriors, 140, 208–10, 216–17 and 225.

56. 56 30 and 31 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

57. 57 31 August 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and WD, 10th Bde, Sep 1918, Appendices, 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations Battle of Arras September 1st to 4th, 1918, app., 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

58. 58 Sheffield, Forgotten Victory, 242–44 and Hart, Very British Victory, 364 and chapter 11.

59. 59 The Hindenburg Line ran from the Arras area south to the River Aisne near Soissons. As the Germans’ last prepared defensive position in northern France, its loss would be disastrous.

60. 60 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 427–32 and Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, 226–27.

61. 61 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 434.

62. 62 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations Battle of Arras September 1st to 4th, 1918, app., 10th Infantry Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

63. 63 Diary 29 August 1918, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E 69, LAC.

64. 64 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 435.

65. 65 1 September 1918, 50th Battalion War Diary, LAC. 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations Battle of Arras September 1st to 4th, 1918, app., 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC. Diary 1 September 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA.

66. 66 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations Battle of Arras September 1st to 4th, 1918, app., 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

67. 67 2 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

68. 68 2 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Diary 2 September 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, LAC and Cook, Shock Troops, 488–92.

69. 69 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations Battle of Arras September 1st to 4th, 1918, app, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

70. 70 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations Battle of Arras September 1st to 4th, 1918, app, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

71. 71 Diary 2 September 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA.

72. 72 2 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

73. 73 2 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Lt. Brown and Lt. McConnell had immediately assumed command of the companies. On the awarding of MMs, see 9 October 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. The thirty-two-year-old Arthur Batson had moved west from Newfoundland before the war. He had been promoted from the ranks in the 31st Battalion before being transferred to the 50th. One soldier remembered him as quiet and unassuming, a very religious man who was never without his bible, but an excellent officer whose presence always calmed his men. R. Stephen and J. A. MacDonald, box 15, tape 2, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC. Riddle and Mitchell, Distinguished Service Order, 80.

74. 74 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations Battle of Arras September 1st to 4th, 1918, app., 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC; Diary 31 August 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCR; and Cook, Shock Troops, 492.

75. 75 2 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. By this stage of the war, German manpower shortages were severe. By early October, one German corps, nominally comprising seven infantry divisions, had an infantry strength of less than 5,000 men, and there were regiments containing fewer than 200. As the Hundred Days Campaign wore on, many German divisions were basically notional, and remnants of companies, battalions, and even regiments, were cobbled together to form ad hoc units. The Allies were largely unaware of this, and continued to link smaller units identified when prisoners surrendered or dead were found on the battlefield to divisions that no longer existed but of which they had once been a part. This led to overestimations of the number of enemy they confronted. Unfortunately the same holds in many historical accounts. To compensate for their dearth of infantry, and in many instances, fading morale, front-line German units were liberally strengthened with machine gun squads—Korsettenstangen (corset stays). Beach, Haig’s Intelligence, chapter 14; Boff, Winning and Losing, 45–49; Lloyd, Hundred Days, 102–03; and Showalter, Instrument of War, 268–69.

76. 76 2 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

77. 77 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 437–39 and Cook, Shock Troops, 492–96.

78. 78 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations Battle of Arras September 1st to 4th, 1918, app., 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC. Word of a twenty-four-hour postponement reached Hayter at 0430, but he had already issued his cancellation order. 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations Battle of Arras September 1st to 4th, 1918, app., 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

79. 79 Dennis, Reluctant Warriors, 115.

80. 80 Diary 2 September 1918, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC.

81. 81 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations Battle of Arras September 1st to 4th, 1918, app., 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

82. 82 3–6 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

83. 83 15 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Various entries, 7–14 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

84. 84 War Diary, 50th Btn, 16–18 Sep 1918. It was no longer unusual to see replacement officers with the ribbon of the MM or DCM pinned to their tunics, experienced NCOs who’d just graduated from officer training courses in England. All told the battalion received only 124 replacements during the little over three weeks between the D–Q Line and Canal du Nord battles, twenty officers and 104 other ranks, but also lost the dozen men funnelled into the battalion after Amiens as emergency reinforcements. War Diary, 50th Btn, 6, 10 and 12 Sep 1918.

85. 85 18 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

86. 86 19–22 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

87. 87 Diary, 26 September 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA. Negotiation among soldiers before the LOB list was settled wasn’t unusual. A single man might offer to change positions with a friend who had a wife and children back home. Depending on the circumstances, their CO might approve it.

88. 88 26 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and 25 September 1918, 50th Canadian Battalion Instructions BW9, app., 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC.

89. 89 20 September 1918, 50th Canadian Battalion Instructions BW2, app., 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC.

90. 90 Each company’s fourth platoon had been temporarily dissolved to bring the others up to strength. 30 September 1918, Report on Operations September 27th to September 29th, 1918 50th Canadian Battalion (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. 12, 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC.

91. 91 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 440–43 and Hart, Very British Victory, 438–39.

92. 92 Riddle and Mitchell, eds., Distinguished Conduct Medal, 87.

93. 93 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations—Battles before Cambrai—Friday Sept. 27th to Sunday Sept. 29th 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

94. 94 Diary 26 September 1918, box B50-024, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA.

95. 95 See Cook, “‘More a Medicine than a Beverage,’” 6–22.

96. 96 20 September 1918, 50th Canadian Battalion Instructions BW3, app., 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), KOCRA and Diary 27 September 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA.

97. 97 Riddle and Mitchell, Distinguished Conduct, 272.

98. 98 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations—Battles before Cambrai—Friday Sept. 27th to Sunday Sept. 29th 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

99. 99 30 September 1918, Report on Operations September 27th to September 29th, 1918 50th Canadian Battalion (Lt.-Col L. Page), app. 12, 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC and Cook, Shock Troops, 512 and 516–17.

100. 100 30 September 1918, Report on Operations September 27th to September 29th, 1918 50th Canadian Battalion (Lt.-Col L. Page), app. 12, 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC and Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 445–46. Officers designated LOB were, except in extreme emergencies, not called forward. But it was Canadian practice to assign a handful of junior officers to a battalion without assigning them to a company or platoon. These formed a reinforcement pool to be tapped during a battle. It was a practical, if sad, recognition that junior infantry officers suffered very high loss rates. Nominally company strengths were around 200 men.

101. 101 30 September 1918, Report on Operations September 27th to September 29th, 1918 50th Canadian Battalion (Lt.-Col L. Page), app. 12, 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC and 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations—Battles before Cambrai—Friday Sept. 27th to Sunday Sept. 29th 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

102. 102 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations—Battles before Cambrai—Friday Sept. 27th to Sunday Sept. 29th 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

103. 103 The intent was to assemble troops at the last minute so they’d be in position by 15 minutes before Zero-hour, preventing heavy casualties if German artillery bombarded the front line. The assembly positions were located about 50 m behind the jumping-off (that is, front) line. 27 September 1918, 50th Canadian Battalion Operation Order No. 137, app., 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC.

104. 104 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 449 and 27 September 1918, 50th Canadian Battalion Operation Order No. 137, app., 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC.

105. 105 Riddle and Mitchell, Military Cross, 304. Riddle and Mitchell, Military Cross, 148. 28 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Reflecting on lessons learned two days later, Page emphasized that “too much time cannot be spent in training officers in tactics. I think the success of the [Marcoing Line operation] is largely due to a platoon commander grasping the situation and outflanking the enemy.” 30 September 1918, Report on Operations September 27th to September 29th, 1918 50th Canadian Battalion (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. 12, 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC. 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations—Battles before Cambrai—Friday Sept. 27th to Sunday Sept. 29th 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

106. 106 28 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

107. 107 Moving selected field artillery batteries into the combat zone greatly assisted the infantry in overcoming strong points, but casualties to the gunners and their draft horses were heavy.

108. 108 Riddle and Mitchell, Military Cross, 249.

109. 109 30 September 1918, Report on Operations September 27th to September 29th, 1918 50th Canadian Battalion (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. 12, 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC. 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations—Battles before Cambrai—Friday Sept. 27th to Sunday Sept. 29th 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

110. 110 28 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

111. 111 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations—Battles before Cambrai—Friday Sept. 27th to Sunday Sept. 29th 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

112. 112 28 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and 30 September 1918, WD, Report on Operations September 27th to September 29th, 1918, 50th Canadian Battalion (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. 12, 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC. Capturing artillery pieces had been unheard of earlier, but was now routine, a tribute to the rapidity and depth of the advances as well as the sad state of the German Army’s horse-power which forced gun crews to abandon their weapons. The fact many guns had not been spiked points to collapsing morale.

113. 113 30 September 1918, Report on Operations September 27th to September 29th, 1918, 50th Canadian Battalion (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. 12, 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC. Dennis, Reluctant Warriors, 136. Bullet wounds were much less traumatic and far cleaner (i.e., did not draw soil into the wound), and hence less prone to infections like tetanus and gas gangrene which along with blood loss were the major complicating factors in medical treatment.

114. 114 30 September 1918, Report on Operations September 27th to September 29th, 1918, 50th Canadian Battalion (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. 12, 50th Battalion WD (September 1918), LAC.

115. 115 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations—Battles before Cambrai—Friday Sept. 27th to Sunday Sept. 29th 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

116. 116 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 448–53. To admit the rapidly deteriorating state of the German Army in no way denigrates Canadian success but does provide a fuller explanation of how that success was achieved.

117. 117 29 and 30 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations—Battles before Cambrai—Friday Sept. 27th to Sunday Sept. 29th 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

118. 118 This handful were the only reinforcements documented. Groups of returning wounded were not mentioned because they weren’t deemed reinforcements. Such reinforcement numbers, if complete, meant that during the last month and half of the war the battalion was operating at no better than half its nominal fighting strength. 29 and 30 September 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations—Battles before Cambrai—Friday Sept. 27th to Sunday Sept. 29th 1918, app. E, 10th Brigade WD (September 1918), LAC.

119. 119 3 October 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. For details on Cunnington’s capture and subsequently months as a prisoner of war, see D. Cunnington, box 15, tape 2, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC. The Germans captured only a handful of men from the 50th Battalion.

120. 120 11 October 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. Diary 11 October 1918, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC.

121. 121 Diary 1 November 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA. Cook, Shock Troops, 554–55.

122. 122 See for instance Wheeler’s gruesome account in 50th Battalion, 271.

123. 123 45,000 casualties out of a fighting force of around 100,000 men.

124. 124 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 465–70. Cook, Shock Troops, 554–55 and “Politics of Surrender,” 637–66.

125. 125 Quoted in Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 475.

126. 126 They were frequently hungry, too, as rations had been cut to help feed the refugees forced southward by the retreating Germans to further hamper the Allied pursuit.

127. 127 A. Russell and W. Gadsden, box 15, tape 3 and A. Turner, box 15, tape 4, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC.

128. 128 Diary 19 October 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA. Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 271.

129. 129 25 October 1918, Report on Operations October 17th to October 22nd, 1918, 50th Canadian Inf. Battalion (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. 34, 10th Brigade WD (October 1918), LAC.

130. 130 17 and 18 October 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and 25 October 1918, Report on Operations October 17th to October 22nd, 1918, 50th Canadian Inf. Battalion (Lt.-Col. L. Page), app. 34, 10th Brigade WD (October 1918), LAC.

131. 131 18 October 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

132. 132 19 October 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

133. 133 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 293.

134. 134 The principal staff officer of a corps. Hayter’s replacement was Brig. John Ross, an experienced, capable officer who had commanded the 5th Brigade for a year until badly wounded at Amiens.

135. 135 27 October 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. A serving officer in the BEF, the heir to the throne (and future King Edward VIII) was seconded to the Canadian Corps for a month during the latter stages of the war. 25 October 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

136. 136 29 October 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

137. 137 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 470–71.

138. 138 First Army intelligence estimated five German divisions were deployed. Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 471. Assessing enemy strength in any sector by counting divisions, particular in the last months of the war, was a mug’s game. The defenders likely outnumbered the attackers but their firepower and morale didn’t match the Canadians’.

139. 139 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 471–72.

140. 140 Marble, British Artillery, 242–45. McNaughton was Canada’s most innovative and capable artillery officer. As counter-battery staff officer, he was in charge of the Corps’ heavy artillery. The field artillery was nominally in the hands of Maj.-Gen. E. W. B. Morrison, but in practice directed by his able senior staff officer, Maj. Henry Crerar. Altogether during the Mont Houy operation the Canadian and British gunners fired close to 88,000 rounds, or over 1,900 tonnes of shells.

141. 141 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 278.

142. 142 Report on Operations, October 27th to November 2nd, 1918—50th Battalion, app. 4, 50th Battalion WD (November 1918), LAC and Cook, Shock Troops, 556–62.

143. 143 13 November 1918, Narrative of Operations Second Battle of Valenciennes November 1st, 1918 (Brig. J. M. Ross), app. C, 10th Brigade WD (November 1918), LAC.

144. 144 Riddle and Mitchell, Military Cross, 308.

145. 145 Box B50-022, folder Mayson, William, KOCRA.

146. 146 Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 471-74.

147. 147 1 November 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. 13 November 1918, Narrative of Operations Second Battle of Valenciennes November 1st, 1918 (Brig. J. M. Ross), app. C, 10th Brigade WD (November 1918), LAC.

148. 148 Among the others was Pvt. Charles Oke, whose diary has been frequently cited in this chapter. Diary 5 November 1918, box B50-024 50th Battalion, folder Oke, Charles, KOCRA. Temporary blindness frequently followed exposure to mustard gas.

149. 149 There was no 4th Division presence at all, even Watson snubbed his invitation. Diary 7 November 1918, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC. BEF rules forbade the identification of individual formations (including both Dominion corps) in official releases in order to deny the enemy that intelligence, ensuring that all advances, victories and so forth were announced as British. This became increasingly irritating to the senior ranks of the Canadians Corps during the Hundred Days. In an army where one-third of the officers and half of the other ranks were British-born, a Canadian national pride was blossoming and demanding recognition. See Brennan, “The other battle,” 251–65.

150. 150 Diary 11 November 1918, David Watson Papers, MG 30 E69, LAC. The French anthem was followed by God Save the King and then O Canada.

151. 151 A. Turner, box 15, tape 4, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC. J. A. Macdonald, box 15, tape 2, 50th Battalion, RG 41 B III 1, LAC. For Turner 11 November was filled with tragedy. The mid-afternoon mail-call brought a delayed cable from home informing him that his 2½-year-old son had died a week earlier. Turner had married just before the war broke out and their first child had been born after he had gone overseas—Turner had never seen him.

152. 152 Edgar Doxee to his mother, box B50-021 50th Battalion, folder Doxee, Edgar, KOCRA. Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 286.

153. 153 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 286.

154. 154 Various entries November and December 1918 and 13 January 1919, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

155. 155 Morton and Wright, Winning the Second Battle, 111. Various entries January–March 1919, 50th Battalion WD, LAC and Dennis, Reluctant Warriors, 206–10 and 216–17.

156. 156 27–30 April 1919, 10th Brigade WD, LAC. Various entries, April 1919, 10th Brigade WD, LAC. Morton, Peculiar Kind of Politics, chapter 9.

157. 157 3–4 May 1919, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. By 9 May the barracks were all but empty. Page had every man’s leave extended till 20 May. 10 May 1919, 50th Battalion WD, LAC. On the Victory Parade, see Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 311.

158. 158 26–28 May 1918, 50th Battalion WD, LAC.

159. 159 Calgary Daily Herald, 5 June 1919, 1.

160. 160 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 311.

161. 161 Calgary Daily Herald, 20 December 1918, 17 and 1 February 1919, 15 and 18.

162. 162 Calgary Daily Herald, 7 Jun 1919, 7 and 13–14.

163. 163 Calgary Daily Herald, 5 Jun 1919, 1. This was fewer than the number leaving England, since returning soldiers were let off the train wherever they chose, and a fair number who’d suffered severe wounds had already come back. All told more than 70 “originals” survived the war. Under the command of Maj. Eveleigh, about a hundred men from the group that had crossed on the Empress of Britain actually reached Calgary on 8 June. Their welcome had been more subdued.

164. 164 Calgary Daily Herald, 5 Jun 1919, 1. Returning veterans of the battalion had formed the 50th Club, though there were also civilians involved. The GWVA was the principal veterans’ organization for other ranks, the officer-controlled Royal Canadian Legion absorbing it in 1925.

165. 165 Calgary Daily Herald, 9 Jun 1918, 7.

166. 166 Calgary Daily Herald, 9 Jun 1918, 7 and Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 311.

167. 167 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 2, KOCRA.

168. 168 Calgary Daily Herald, 11 Jun 1919, 9.

169. 169 Morton and Wright, Winning the Second Battle, chapters 1–4; Morton, When Your Number’s Up, chapter 11; J. L. Granatstein, Canada’s Army, 150–52; and Cook, Shock Troops, chapters 38 and 39. On the emergence of government and other public efforts to support the families of serving soldiers during the war years, see Morton, Fight or Pay.

170. 170 Wheeler, 50th Battalion, 312.

171. 171 Calgary Daily Herald, 7 Jun 1919, 14.

172. 172 Calgary Daily Herald, 5 Jun 1919, 1 and box 1764, folder DHS 11-16, RG 24, DHH. The latter totals, like all of Canada’s official casualty statistics for the Great War, were inflated by including the same individuals each time they were wounded.

173. 173 Calgary Daily Herald, 5 Jun 1919, 1.

174. 174 Jackson, Empire on the Western Front, 246–54.

Notes to chapter 4

1. 1 Granatstein, Canada’s Army, 158. Granatstein, Canada’s Army, 155–58.

2. 2 Lt.-Col. L. Page to mayor, 18 February 1919, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder Regimental Colours Miscellaneous, 1919–35, KOCRA.

3. 3 Granatstein, Canada’s Army, 158–59. There was also the question of those numbered battalions that had been broken up for reinforcements in England, as veterans demanded they also be perpetuated. Ones raised by a pre-war militia regiment or whose men had mostly gone to a single front-line battalion were incorporated into the lineage of the post-war militia regiment associated with that battalion.

4. 4 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 2.

5. 5 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 10.

6. 6 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 11 and Report of Annual Inspection, 1921, box 5888, folder HQ7-111-18, RG 24, LAC.

7. 7 Box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder Ephemera 1919–24, KOCRA and box B103-002, Calgary Rifles, Personnel, Historical Sketches 2.

8. 8 Two other battalions of the Calgary Regiment were also formed, the 2nd and 3rd, commemorating the 89th and 137th CEF Battalions, respectively, but only the 1st Battalion would operate as a fully-fledged militia unit.

9. 9 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 8 and 10, KOCRA.

10. 10 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 11and Gen. J. MacBrien to Brig.-Gen. A. Bell (OC MD 13), 5 Apr 1923 and Brig.-Gen. A. Bell to deputy minister of Department of Militia, 10 April 1923, box 5888, folder HQ7-111-18, RG 24, LAC.

11. 11 Annual Inspection Report, 1923–4, box 5888, folder HQ7-111-18, RG 24, LAC. 10 April 1923, Brig.-Gen. A. Bell to deputy minister Department of Militia and Annual Inspection Report, 1922–3, box 5888, folder HQ7-111-18, RG 24, LAC.

12. 12 Lt.-Col. L. Page to mayor, 18 February 1919, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder Regimental Colours Miscellaneous, 1919–35, KOCRA. Regimental Activities Annual Report, 1929, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 006, KOCRA and Report 2nd Battalion Calgary Regiment, 2 February 1923—7 February 1924, box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, KOCRA.

13. 13 Wood, Militia Myths, 267–68.

14. 14 The commemoration of the 1918 Armistice was, during the early years, as much about celebrating victory as honouring the fallen. The R. B. Bennett government proclaimed it as Remembrance Day in 1931. Vance, Death So Noble, 16–17 and 211–19.

15. 15 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 11.

16. 16 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 11.

17. 17 1928 Annual Report, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 001, KOCRA.

18. 18 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 11.

19. 19 Report 2nd Battalion Calgary Regiment, 2 February 1923–7 February 1924, Box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, folder, KOCRA. Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 11 and Report 1st Battalion Calgary Regiment, box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, KOCRA.

20. 20 Report 2nd Battalion Calgary Regiment, 2 February 1923–7 February 1924, box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, KOCRA.

21. 21 Report 1st Battalion Calgary Regiment, 5 March 1926–17 February 1927, box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, KOCRA.

22. 22 Box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 001 Historical Record 1920–34, KOCRA. Box 103-002, Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 4, KOCRA and Report 1st Battalion Calgary Regiment 1928, box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, KOCRA.

23. 23 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 11, KOCRA. Granatstein, Canada’s Army, 160–61.

24. 24 Regimental Activities Annual Report 1929, box TCR001 Calgary Regt 1919–41, folder 006 Historical Record 1920–34, KOCRA.

25. 25 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 10, KOCRA and Report 1st Battalion Calgary Regiment 1929, box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, KOCRA, and Granatstein, Canada’s Army, 160–61.

26. 26 Report 1st Battalion Calgary Regiment 27 February 1925–4 March 1926 and 1929, box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, KOCRA. The Calgary Regiment’s financial situation suffered from the fact that the 103rd Regiment had existed only since 1910, and half of what it had managed to put away had gone to the Calgary Highlanders in 1924 when the post-war regiment’s two battalions had effectively gone their separate ways.

27. 27 A third militia regiment was included in the 24th Brigade—the Southern Alberta Regiment based in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.

28. 28 Various, box TCR003, Calgary Regiment, 1920–39, folder 002 Memos and Correspondence, 1926–28, KOCRA.

29. 29 Box 103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 10, KOCRA.

30. 30 Apart from manifesting imperial sentiments, it is unclear why the officers of the KORR were apparently equally keen. Box B50-021 50th Battalion, folder Cunnington, D.G. L., KOCRA and box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 001 Historical Record 1920–34, KOCRA.

31. 31 Box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 001 Historical Record 1920–34, KOCRA.

32. 32 Report 1st Battalion Calgary Regiment 1929, box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, KOCRA and Regimental Activities Annual Report 1929, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 006, KOCRA. On the return to deference for all things British, see Granatstein, Canadian Army, chapter 5 and Vance, Maple Leaf Empire, 133, 139 and 142–44.

33. 33 Lt.-Col. Naysmith and Maj. Robie, the commanding officers of the Calgary Regiment’s skeleton 2nd and 3rd Battalions, were added to represent the interests of the 89th and 137th Battalions, respectively.

34. 34 Lt.-Col. D. J. MacDonald (MD 13) to OC 1/Calgary Regiment, 19 December 1927, box B50-021 50th Battalion, folder Cunnington, D. G. L., KOCRA. Box B50-021 50th Battalion, folder Cunnington, D. G. L., KOCRA and box B103-002 50th Battalion, Historical Sketches 10, KOCRA.

35. 35 Report on 1st and 2nd Battalions Calgary Regiment, 8 February 1924–26 February 1925, box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, KOCRA. Lt.-Col. L. A. Cavanaugh to J. Allen, 11 March 1935, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 003 Documents and Correspondence 1930–38, KOCRA and Brig.-Gen. A. H. Bell to deputy minister of Department of Militia, 10 April 1923, box 5888, folder HQ7-111-18, RG 24, LAC.

36. 36 Lt.-Col. L. A. Cavanaugh to J. Allen, 11 March 1935, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 003 Documents and Correspondence 1930–38, KOCRA.

37. 37 Foran, Calgary, 117–28.

38. 38 Lt.-Col. E. Knight to OC MD 13, 6 October 1930 and Lt.-Col. E. Knight to Brig.-Gen. A. H. Bell, 23 Oct 1930, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 010 Correspondence re: Proposal Regimental Re-designation, KOCRA. Cunnington’s appointment as commander of 24th Brigade in 1930 marked the departure of the last of the officers who had helped found the Calgary Regiment in 1920. Box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, folder The Calgary Regiment 1st Battalion Historical Record 1930, KOCRA.

39. 39 Lt.-Col. E. Knight to CO King’s Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), 28 May 1930, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–1941, folder Documents and Correspondence 1930–38, KOCRA.

40. 40 Box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 001 Historical Record 1920–34, KOCRA.

41. 41 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 4 and King’s Own Calgary Regiment—Resume of History from 1910 to 1960, KOCRA.

42. 42 Historical Record 1st Battalion Calgary Regiment 1931, box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, folder Historical Record 1920–39 and box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA.

43. 43 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA.

44. 44 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA.

45. 45 Granatstein, Canada’s Army, 162.

46. 46 Lt.-Col. L. Cavanaugh to O. N. Patrick, President Calgary Board of Trade, 30 June 1933, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 013 Documents and Correspondence 1930–38, KOCRA. In selecting the military base project, the prime minister’s long involvement in the Calgary militia scene no doubt was a factor.

47. 47 A leaflet handed out at its rallies denounced “MILLION DOLLAR BARRACKS—MILLIONS FOR MILITARY PURPOSES—SOLDIERS—BARRACKS—GUNS—WAR—THIS IS FASCIST PREPARATION IN CANADA,” Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA.

48. 48 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 2 and Calgary Daily Herald clippings (undated), KOCRA. Lt.-Col. L. Cavanaugh to O. N. Patrick, President Calgary Board of Trade, 30 June 1933, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 013 Documents and Correspondence 1930–38, KOCRA and box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA.

49. 49 Granatstein, Canada’s Army, 167.

50. 50 The new militia structure included sixteen cavalry regiments, fifty-nine infantry battalions, twenty-seven machine gun battalions, six tank battalions and four armoured car regiments. The rise in the number of machine gun battalions and the creation of armoured car and tank units reflected changes being introduced in the British Army within which any Canadian expeditionary force would have to integrate. canadiansoldiers.com/organization/1936modernization.htm.

51. 51 Quoted from Marteinson, ed., We Stand on Guard, 213.

52. 52 Granatstein, Canada’s Army, 171.

53. 53 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 8, KOCRA and Lt.-Col. L. Cavanaugh to OC KORR (Lancaster), 1 April 1937, box TCR 001 Calgary Regiment, 1919–41, folder 010 Correspondence re: Proposed Regimental Re-designation, KOCRA. One of Cavanagh’s concerns had been that the shift from infantry to armour might force an end the alliance with The King’s Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), but both parties were keen to maintain it. Lt.-Col. L. Cavanaugh to OC KORR (Lancaster), 1 April 1937, box TCR 001 Calgary Regiment, 1919–41, folder 010 Correspondence re: Proposed Regimental Re-designation, KOCRA.

54. 54 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA.

55. 55 Lt.-Col. J. Packard, OC 2/KORR (Lancaster) to Lt.-Col. L. Cavanagh, 14 February 1937, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 017, Documents and Correspondence 1930–38, KOCRA.

56. 56 Lt.-Col. L. Kavanaugh to Lt.-Col. J. Packard, OC 2/KORR (Lancaster), 27 March 1937, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 017, Documents and Correspondence 1930–38, KOCRA.

57. 57 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA.

58. 58 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA.

59. 59 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 4 and 10, KOCRA.

60. 60 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 4 and 12, KOCRA.

61. 61 Calgary Herald clipping, 7 February 1959, box TCR014, Calgary Regiment, Personnel, J–Z, folder Jull, W. K., KOCRA.

62. 62 This was intended to be an annual event for the militia tank units, and the group of officers and men headed to Camp Borden for eight days of instruction in mechanized tactics. The course ended the day before Britain declared war. Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA.

63. 63 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 8, 10 and 12, KOCRA.

64. 64 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA.

65. 65 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 4, 8, 10 and 12, KOCRA.

66. 66 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA.

67. 67 From 1867 onward, the official term for the regular army was the Permanent Active Militia, though it was not commonly used. On 1 September 1939 the Canadian Active Service Force (CASF) was formed to serve overseas. Members of Permanent Active Militia had to re-enlist to serve in the CASF, though in most cases this was a mere formality. In late 1940 the CASF became the Canadian Army (Active), or just Canadian Army in popular usage. The militia was officially termed the Non-permanent Active Militia until 1940 when for the duration of the war it became the Canadian Army (Reserve), though “militia” continued in wide use for part-time army units.

68. 68 Stacey, Six Years of War, 35.

69. 69 Few Anglo-Canadians would have cared whether or not Ottawa had exercised Canada’s rights under the 1931 Statute of Westminster to declare war in its own right. After the country had torn itself apart during the First World War, it mattered to Ottawa that this did not appear to French and “New” Canadians as just another knee-jerk colonial response. The optics mattered. On militia attitudes, see also Vance, Maple Leaf Empire, 141.

70. 70 The CASF was authorized on 1 September 1939 as the expeditionary force. As with the Regular Army, members of the NPAM had to volunteer specifically for the CASF to serve overseas.

71. 71 8 and 12 August 1940, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

72. 72 Calgary Herald, 17 October 1939 and Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 10 and 12 and The King’s Own Calgary Regiment—Resumé of History from 1910 to 1960, Historical Sketches 4, KOCRA.

73. 73 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 2 and 8, KOCRA and Calgary Herald, 6 June 1940, 10.

74. 74 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 10, KOCRA and Calgary Herald, 21 June 1940, 12.

75. 75 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12, KOCRA. Calgary Herald, 31 August 1940, 13 and Pt. 1 Orders, 12 September 1940, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, app., LAC.

76. 76 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12.

77. 77 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 10.

78. 78 Calgary Herald, 13 August 1940 and box B103-002, Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 12.

79. 79 Unnamed soldier, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 014 Documents Calgary Regt (Tank) 1940–41, KOCRA. Unnamed soldier, box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 014 Documents Calgary Regt (Tank) 1940–41, KOCRA.

80. 80 British armoured doctrine called for armoured brigades to comprise the tank component of armoured divisions that would carry out breakthrough operations, whereas army tank brigades would be attached to infantry divisions as needed for infantry support. The concept of the latter persisted through the war. Because it would have to be compatible with British formations it fought alongside, the Canadian Army embraced it as well.

81. 81 On the big army plan see Granatstein, Canada’s War, 208–10 and Canada’s Army, 186–89 and Stacey, Six Years of War, chapter 3.

82. 82 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 4, KOCRA. Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 2, KOCRA.

83. 83 15 February 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Box TCR001 Calgary Regiment 1919–41, folder 014 Documents Calgary Regt (Tank)—Responsibilities of NPAM (1940), KOCRA.

84. 84 MD 13 HQ to Lt.-Col. Jull, 15 February 1941; MD 13 HQ to OC 14th Army Tank Battalion, 22 February 1941; and Canadian Armoured Corps to MD 2 HQ (re: Calgary Regiment), 18 February 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (February 1941), app. 1, Mobilization—14th Army Tank Battalion, LAC.

85. 85 Calgary Herald, 13 February 1941, 1 and 17 February 1941, 10. MD 13 HQ to Lt.-Col. W. Jull, 15 February 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (February 1941), app. 1, Mobilization—14th Army Tank Battalion, LAC and box TCR002 Calgary Regiment 1938–46, W. K. Jull Collection, Unit Mobilization Scheme The Calgary Regiment (Tank) 1938–42, KOCRA. The reservoir of mechanically-savvy recruits was a lot shallower than generally believed as only one Prairie farm in three had a working tractor in 1939, and many urban working-class men had little or no experience with automobiles.

86. 86 17 and 18 February 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and box 14CAR001 14th Armoured Regiment, folder 001 Historical Sketch—Calgary Regiment Tank, KOCRA.

87. 87 18 and 21 February 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, KOCRA and Calgary Herald, 21 February 1941, 9. Most of the soldiers from the army training centres were training as infantrymen.

88. 88 Calgary Herald clipping, 7 February 1959, box TCR014, Calgary Regiment, Personnel, J-Z, folder Jull, W. K., KOCRA and Calgary Herald, 21 February 1941, 9.

89. 89 Department of National Defence to MD 13 HQ, 25 February 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (February 1941), app. 1, LAC. Mechanical aptitude was considered to be “knowledge of the I[nternal] C[ombustion] engine sufficient to carry out normal operational maintenance.” Enlistment of Officers in the RCAC, 26 February 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (February 1941), app. 1, LAC.

90. 90 Box 14CAR001 14th Armoured Regiment, folder Report 1941, KOCRA. Among the thirteen were Capts. C. E. Page, J. Begg and C. E. Turney, and Lts. F. T. Jenner and C. A. Richardson. Both Begg and Richardson would be future commanding officers. Box TCR003 Calgary Regiment 1920–39, folder Daily Orders, Pt. 2 (various annual lists of officers), KOCRA.

91. 91 25, 27 and 28 February and 1 March 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Calgary Herald, 15 March 1941, 11. A further 40 infantry trainees from the Edmonton Regiment were taken on strength.

92. 92 4, 5 and 13 March 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and box 14CAR001 14th Armoured Regiment, folder Report 1941, KOCRA.

93. 93 13 March 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

94. 94 16 and 17 March 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Administrative Instructions no. 69, 12 March 1941 and Transportation Instruction, 13 March 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (March 1941), app. 3, LAC.

95. 95 Canadian Armoured Corps to MD 2 HQ (re: Calgary Regiment), 18 February 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (February 1941), app. 1, LAC and Calgary Herald, 18 March 1941, 10.

96. 96 Calgary Herald, 3 July 1942, 13 and 4 July 1942, 9.

97. 97 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 2 and 4 and The King’s Own Calgary Regiment—Resumé of History from 1910 to 1960, Historical Sketches 4, KOCRA and Calgary Herald, 22 March 1941, 11.

98. 98 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 2, 8 and 10 and The King’s Own Calgary Regiment, Resume of History from 1910 to 1960, Historical Sketches 4, KOCRA.

99. 99 Box 14CAR001 14th Armoured Regiment, folder Report 1941, KOCRA.

100. 100 Calgary Herald, 29 September, 3, 22 October, 7 and 3 December 1943, 7.

101. 101 Box B103-002 Calgary Rifles, Historical Sketches 8 and box 14CAR001 14th Armoured Regiment, folder 001 Historical Sketch—Calgary Regiment Tank, KOCRA.

102. 102 Calgary Herald, 18 March 1941, 10.

103. 103 20 March 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD and 20 March 1941, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. 18 and 19 March 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

104. 104 24 March 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

105. 105 28 March 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. There were 250-odd such machines at Borden, scrounged from American stores and slipped into Canada as scrap beginning in October 1940 to avoid US neutrality laws. Though little updated from the Great War-vintage Renault FT-17 tanks, the Canadian Armoured Corps felt fortunate to have them. Given the war situation there was no possibility of obtaining anything better from Britain as had been the pre-war plan.

106. 106 For a thorough description of the training regimen, see Henry, “Tanks of Dieppe,” 32–38.

107. 107 4 and 10 April 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD and Pt. 1 Orders nos. 28 and 29, 10 April 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (April 1941), app. 2, LAC.

108. 108 23 April 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

109. 109 28 April 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. A Canadian-built version of the British Valentine infantry tank was chosen to equip the 1st Army Tank Brigade when it was formed in 1940. Some 1,400 were ultimately built. Fearing production delays, among other concerns, the army chose not to adopt it save for training purposes in Canada. Most of the 1,400 built went to the USSR where they gave yeoman service.

110. 110 Calgary Herald, 16 April 1941, 16.

111. 111 15–17 May 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. On training, various entries May 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

112. 112 Evaluation of Brigade Exercise, 15–27 May 1941, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1941), app., LAC.

113. 113 Circular no. 58, Maj. J. G. Andrews to officers commanding brigade units, 10 May 1941, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1941), app., LAC.

114. 114 27 May 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 22–26 May 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

115. 115 29 and 30 May 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The length of embarkation leave varied by the distance a man needed to travel—in this case five days for those with local destinations and up to ten days for those with more distant ones, like Alberta. 4 and 9 June 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

116. 116 Pt. 1 Order no. 66, 29 May 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (May 1941), app., LAC.

Notes to chapter 5

1. 1 Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001 Fred Bagley, Priceless Sacrifice, KOCRA.

2. 2 18 June 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

3. 3 The advance party, about one-sixth of the battalion’s strength, crossed in the same convoy but aboard another liner, HMTS Britannic. 20 June 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. In May and June 1945 the same liner brought thousands of British war brides and their children to new homes in Canada.

4. 4 20 and 21 June 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

5. 5 The Pasteur and other troopships converted from fast ocean liners usually made their crossings without escort. Less than a month after the sinking of the German battleship Bismark, fear of encountering large units of the Kriegsmarine remained high, not least among the Pasteur’s passengers. 22 June 1941, box 14CAR (14th Armoured Regiment), L. G. Alexander Diaries, no. 1, 1 March 1941–5 February 1943, KOCRA.

6. 6 Ship’s standing orders (undated), app., 14th Armoured Regiment (June 1941), LAC.

7. 7 26 June 1941, box 14CAR (14th Armoured Regiment), L. G. Alexander Diaries, no. 1, 1 March 1941–5 February 1943, KOCRA.

8. 8 30 June 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Various entries 21–30 June 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

9. 9 1 July 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

10. 10 2 July 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

11. 11 3–5 July 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

12. 12 11 July 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The Matilda IIA* was a slow (perhaps 15 kph cross-country) but heavily armoured infantry tank with a 40-mm gun. Its best days were behind it.

13. 13 13 July 1941, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. 13 and 14 July 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

14. 14 29 August 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The authorized tank strength of an army tank battalion was constantly fluctuating but averaged around fifty machines. Organization of an Army Tank Battalion (undated), app. 2, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (August 1941), LAC.

15. 15 15, 17 and 20 July 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

16. 16 26 July 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

17. 17 Summary of the month, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (July 1941), LAC.

18. 18 6 August 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

19. 19 16 August 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The fear of paratroop landings as a preliminary to wholesale invasion continued to dominate British (and hence Canadian) defensive planning. The still only partially equipped armoured units would man what tanks they had, with the rest of the men fighting as infantry. Appreciation of Task “Canada” by Comd. I Cdn Army Tank Bde on 15 Jul 41, app. 26, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (July 1941), LAC.

20. 20 Report on AJAX Exercise, 16 August 1941, app. 3, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1941), LAC.

21. 21 Appreciation of Training Programme 1 Cdn Tank Bde (Brig. Worthington), 9 Jun 1941, app. 12, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1941), LAC. The 11th and 12th were mobilized in 1939.

22. 22 24 August 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD and summary of Exercise Defence of Wiltshire No. 2, app. 4, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (June 1941), LAC.

23. 23 Pt. 1 orders, 23 August 1941, app. 2, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (August 1941), LAC. At least the rabbits appear to have been consumed, the war diary for 30 July referring to a rumour that “an illegal rabbit-pie was served to several officers in the sergeants’ mess.”

24. 24 Pt. 1 orders, 9 August 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (August 1941), LAC. 23 August 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

25. 25 16 July 1941, Daily intelligence summary no. 7, app. 4, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (July 1941), LAC. Pt. 1 orders, 8 August 1941, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1941), LAC.

26. 26 Stacey and Wilson, Half Million, chapter 2.

27. 27 Vance, Maple Leaf Empire, 179. See also 174–79.

28. 28 Vance, Maple Leaf Empire, 179. See also 181–83.

29. 29 Various entries 12 and 22–30 September 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

30. 30 Pt. 1 orders no. 113, 21 October 1941, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (October 1941), LAC.

31. 31 27–30 October and 3–4 November 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

32. 32 9 October 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

33. 33 21 October 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD and Syllabus of Training, week of 6–12 October 1941, app. 5, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (October 1941), LAC. Overall, equipment, including tanks, had been arriving in good quantity. Progress Report, 28 September–4 October 1941, 10 October 1941, app. 2, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (October 1941), LAC.

34. 34 24 October 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

35. 35 7 and 10 November 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

36. 36 The planned replacement for both the Matilda II and Valentine infantry tanks, the Mk IV Churchill, was hastily introduced almost without testing in 1941, and plagued with mechanical faults. Early models included a rather unnerving warning from Vauxhall Motors: “Fighting vehicles are urgently required, and instructions have been received to proceed with the vehicle as it is rather than hold up production. All those things which we know are not as they should be will be put right.” Eventually the kinks were ironed out and from 1943 onward the Churchill proved a very combat-worthy and adaptable tank. Those initially equipping the Calgary Regiment were Mk IIs. Heavily armoured (inspiring confidence in their crews), they weighed 36 tonnes as a result, and could make perhaps 25 kph on roads though considerably less cross-country. The main armament was the already inadequate 2-pounder (40-mm) which would eventually be replaced as one of many required upgrades. Churchill Tank, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_tank. Churchill Infantry Tank Mk IV, www.tanks_encyclopedia.com/ww2/gb/A22_Churchill_Tank.php

37. 37 19–20 November 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

38. 38 Box 14CAR001 14th Armoured Regiment, folder 001 Stoney Richardson Conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA. 28 November 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

39. 39 8–11 December 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and box 14CAR006 14th Armoured Regiment, folder Andrews, J. (biography 1961), KOCRA.

40. 40 16–18 December 1941, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. A rear party, which had stayed behind to clean up the camp at Headley, reached Seaford on the 20th.

41. 41 Box 14CAR001 14th Armoured Regiment, folder 00l, Stoney Richardson Conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA.

42. 42 Training Schedule Week Ending 14 Feb 42, undated, app. 7, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (February 1942), LAC.

43. 43 12 February 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The sense that a German invasion of the British Isles was imminent extended beyond civilians. The Calgary Regiment’s considered opinion was that “the likelihood of an invasion [is] very close.” 1 March 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

44. 44 14 March 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Bn Trg Programme Week Ending 14 Mar 42, 4 March 1942, app. 3, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (March 1942), LAC.

45. 45 18 March 1942, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. Progress Report to Canada, 15 Mar 1942, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (March 1942), LAC.

46. 46 6 April and 8 May 1942, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

47. 47 1, 2, 13 and 14 April 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

48. 48 Beaver III and IV Exercise Instruction No. 1, 15 April 1942 (Lt.-Col. J. G. Andrews); Notes on Beaver III, 20 April 1942 (Lt.-Col. J. G. Andrews); and notes on Beaver III, 22 April 1942 (Lt.-Col. J. G. Andrews), app. 3, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, (April 1942), LAC.

49. 49 23 April 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 19–23 April 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

50. 50 24 and 25 April, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

51. 51 General Notes on Beaver III—Lessons Learned within the Bn, 27 April 1942 (Lt.-Col. J. G. Andrews, app. 3, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (April 1942), LAC.

52. 52 1st Cdn Army Tank Bde—Remarks of Chief Umpire (Exercise Beaver III), undated, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (April 1942), LAC.

53. 53 General Notes on 1 Cdn Corps Exercise Beaver III 19–24 Apr 1942, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1942), LAC. During the exercise all 139 Churchills in the brigade had driven over 200 kms, with 119 of them reported “off the road” at one time or other due to major or minor breakdowns. Henry, “The Tanks of Dieppe,” n. 26, 53.

54. 54 10–13 May 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

55. 55 16 May 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

56. 56 18 May 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

57. 57 18 May 1942, box 14CAR, L. G. Alexander diaries, no. 1, 1 March 1941–5 February 1943, KOCRA.

58. 58 English, Monty and the Canadian Army, 72–73. Henry, “Calgary Tanks at Dieppe,” 61.

59. 59 25 May 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 22–25 May 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 20 and 21 May 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. As the training proceeded, the battalion had been receiving the latest version of the Churchill, armed with a 6-pounder (57-mm) gun and with various other improvements.

60. 60 6 June 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 1–6 June 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

61. 61 12 June 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 10, 11 and 15 June 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

62. 62 Stacey, Six Years of War, 334.

63. 63 13 June 1942, box 14CAR 14th Armoured Regiment, L. G. Alexander diaries, no. 1, 1 Mar 1941–5 Feb 1943, KOCRA.

64. 64 Johnston, Disaster of Dieppe, 38.

65. 65 21–24 June 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 25 and 26 June 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

66. 66 Stacey, Six Years of War, 339.

67. 67 3–6 July 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

68. 68 7–8 July 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; Johnston, Disaster at Dieppe, 40; and 9 and 14 July 1942, box 14CAR 14th Armoured Regiment, L. G. Alexander diaries, no. 1, 1 Mar 1941–5 Feb 1943, KOCRA.

69. 69 14 and 18 July 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

70. 70 Stacey, Six Years of War, 340. See also 335 and 340–45.

71. 71 30 July 1942 and 1 and 2 and 5–12 August 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

72. 72 Report by Lieut JHB MacDonald re Operation against Dieppe—19 August 1942, undated, app. 12, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1942), LAC.

73. 73 Box 14CAR001 14th Armoured Regiment, folder 001, Fred Bagley, Priceless Sacrifice, KOCRA. Initially produced as a training film promoting the “careless talk costs lives” message, Next of Kin was released commercially in Britain in 1942. In the film, a raid on a French port suffers heavy losses as a direct result of security lapses by some of the soldiers involved in the operation and the civilians with whom they mingle. All British and Commonwealth soldiers were shown the movie.

74. 74 Pt. 1 Orders, no. 170, 17 Aug 1942, app. 1, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (August 1942), LAC and Report by Lieut JHB MacDonald re Operation against Dieppe—19 August 1942, undated, app. 12, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1942), LAC. Later in his report, MacDonald recounted that while travelling in mid-July, he and another officer had stopped at a pub for supper, only to be regaled with most of the outline of Rutter by the owner who insisted he had received the information from a Canadian general. The fact remains, however, that German intelligence was much less well informed than the aforesaid publican, and certainly possessed nothing that compromised Jubilee.

75. 75 16–18 August 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Report by Lieut JHB MacDonald re Operation against Dieppe—19 August 1942, undated, app. 12, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1942), LAC. TLCs were a British design dating from 1940 and were made by both British and Americans shipyards in numerous variants. The American version was designated Landing Craft, Tank or LCT. The type used at Dieppe had a crew of twelve, a top speed of less than 10 knots, and could carry three heavy tanks. They were not armoured for contested landings.

76. 76 Box 14CAR001 14th Armoured Regiment, folder 001, Fred Bagley, Priceless Sacrifice, KOCRA.

77. 77 18 August 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

78. 78 Box 14CAR001 14th Armoured Regiment, folder 001, Fred Bagley, Priceless Sacrifice, KOCRA.

79. 79 Box 14CAR001 14th Armoured Regiment, folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans’ Association (June 1991, Rev. Waldo Smith, Our Padre’s Story, KOCRA.

80. 80 Stacey, Six Years of War, 346–47. Controversies about the Dieppe raid abound in popular literature, but scholars have been more circumscribed. This account draws exclusively on the latter, and the documentary record, to flesh out the role and achievements of the Calgary Regiment. For further accounts, see Villa, Unauthorized Action and Whitaker and Whitaker, Dieppe.

81. 81 Stacey, Six Years of War, 346–48 and 352.

82. 82 Stacey, Six Years of War, 352–59 and Report No. 9, Operation “Jubilee,” Pt. III: Some Special Aspects, 10 February 1944, box 6918, RG 24, LAC.

83. 83 There are several well-researched and readable accounts of Canada’s worst day in the war, starting with Stacey’s Six Years of War, chapters 11 and 12 and Whitaker and Whitaker, Dieppe. A popular account is Zuehlke, Tragedy at Dieppe.

84. 84 Stacey, Six Years of War, 375. See also 363–74 and 389.

85. 85 Stacey, Six Years of War, 359, 363–86 and 388–89.

86. 86 Only about half of the combat engineers scheduled to land with the tanks got ashore, and they suffered nearly 90 percent casualties. Whitaker and Whitaker, Dieppe, 252.

87. 87 Observations on the Dieppe Raid—19 Aug 42 by Major CB Van Straubenzee 12th Cdn Army Tank Regt, 25 Aug 1942, app. 12, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1942), LAC and Stacey, Six Years of War, 390–93. Ammunition resupply was of course impossible.

88. 88 Page eventually was able to provide the most detailed report on the tanks’ operations, assembled from his own experiences and thorough interviews of fellow officer prisoners, and smuggled home when he was repatriated in October 1943. Report no. 108, Operation “Jubilee”: The Raid on Dieppe, Sec 2: The Attack on the Main Beaches, amendment 1, 26 November 1949, box 6918, RG 24, LAC.

89. 89 Johnston, Disaster of Dieppe, 51. Johnston, Disaster of Dieppe, 46–59.

90. 90 The main armament being modest, the shells were small, which meant a large number could be stowed—150 for the 2-pounders and 84 for the 6-pounders, plus 58 rounds for the 3-inch howitzers in the Mk Is. The Besa machine guns carried between 5,000 and 7,000 rounds in belts, depending on the Mark. Henry, “Tanks of Dieppe,” app. 4, 167.

91. 91 Box 14CAR—Personnel S-U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis, POW memoir, KOCRA.

92. 92 Report no. 108, Operation “Jubilee”: The Raid on Dieppe, Section 2: The Attack on the Main Beaches, 10 February 1944, box 6918, RG24, LAC.

93. 93 Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001, Fred Bagley, Priceless Sacrifice, KOCRA. Report no. 108, Operation “Jubilee”: The Raid on Dieppe, Section 2: The Attack on the Main Beaches, 10 February 1944, box 6918, RG24, LAC; box 14CAR-002 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, A. (Dieppe diary), KOCRA; and Whitaker and Whitaker, Dieppe, 262.

94. 94 19 August 1942, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 1, 1 March 1941–5 February 1943, KOCRA; box 14CAR-002 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence G. (Doc), Dieppe Diary, KOCRA; box 14CAR006—Personnel A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Andrews, J., KOCRA; and box 14CAR-012 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001, Maj. C. P. Stacey, Memorandum of Interviews with Major CE Page and Other Personnel Repatriated from Germany, 29 Oct 1943, KOCRA. Lt.-Col. Andrews’ name is inscribed on the Brookfield Memorial (for the missing) near Woking, England. The eyewitness descriptions of what happened to TLC 8 during the second landing attempt are confused and even contradictory, reflecting the chaos of the moment, but they do convey the general outline of what happened.

95. 95 19 August 1942, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 1, 1 March 1941–5 February 1943, KOCRA.

96. 96 Calgary Herald, 5 September 1942, 1.

97. 97 16–18 August 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Lt. J. H. B. MacDonald, Operation against Dieppe, August 1942 (undated) and Maj. C. B. Van Straubenzee (12th Armoured Regiment), Observations on the Dieppe Raid, 25 August 1942, app. 12, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1942), LAC.

98. 98 Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), (Rev.) Waldo Smith, Our Padre’s Story, KOCRA.

99. 99 16–18 August 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Lt. J. H. B. MacDonald, Operation against Dieppe, August 1942 (undated), app. 12, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1942), LAC. The barges were the lightly armoured (and much smaller) infantry landing craft. These were used during the later withdrawal attempts. They also suffered grievous losses.

100. 100 19 August 1942, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 1, 1 March 1941–5 February 1943, KOCRA and box 14CAR-002 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence G. (Doc), Dieppe diary, KOCRA.

101. 101 Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001 Fred Bagley, Priceless Sacrifice, KOCRA.

102. 102 Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001 Fred Bagley, Priceless Sacrifice, KOCRA.

103. 103 19 August 1942, box 14CAR—Personnel, O-P (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Pinder, Tom (POW diary 1942–43), KOCRA.

104. 104 Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001 Fred Bagley, Priceless Sacrifice, KOCRA.

105. 105 Box 14CAR—Personnel S-U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis (POW memoir), KOCRA.

106. 106 Johnston, Disaster of Dieppe, 60–66.

107. 107 That said, other tank crewmen were offered cigarettes by their captors and generally set at ease as to what at least their immediate fate would be. Box 14CAR—Personnel S-U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis (POW memoir), KOCRA.

108. 108 Box 14CAR—Personnel A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Anderson, A. F., A Story or Two as Remembered about Dieppe and Stalag VIII-B, 1942–1945, KOCRA; box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001 Fred Bagley, Priceless Sacrifice, KOCRA; and box CAR14—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA.

109. 109 19 August 1942, box 14CAR—Personnel Q-R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, V, POW diary, KOCRA.

110. 110 19 August 1942, box 14CAR—Personnel Q-R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, V, POW diary, KOCRA.

111. 111 Most of the partly dressed and bootless Canadian troops seen in German photographs had been preparing to swim out to evacuation boats.

112. 112 19 August 1942, box 14CAR—Personnel Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, V, POW diary, KOCRA.

113. 113 14CAR—Personnel G–H (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Ganshirt, J., War Claims Commission—Statement Concerning Claim for Maltreatment, KOCRA.

114. 114 Box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA and box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis (POW memoir), KOCRA. Surviving records are confusing—it is not even clear the Calgary prisoners always moved together on the way to their POW camp. Some accounts say they stayed at the brickyard for two days, others for four or one, and so on.

115. 115 The infamous German black bread prisoners received comprised rye and potato flour, a little wheat flour, wood fibre and meat. Apart from being rock hard, it was “sour, awful, but good enough when you were hungry.” 19 August 1942, box 14CAR—Personnel Q-R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, V., POW diary, KOCRA.

116. 116 20 August 1942, box 14CAR—Personnel, O–P (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Pinder, Tom (POW diary 1942–3), KOCRA. 20 August 1942, box 14CAR—Personnel Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, V., POW diary, KOCRA.

117. 117 21 August 1942, box 14CAR—Personnel Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, V., POW diary, KOCRA.

118. 118 Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Al Wagstaff, Dieppe’s Prisoners of War, KOCRA. All memoirs and other accounts refer to Verneulles but the town may well have been Verneuil-sur-Seine.

119. 119 Johnston, Disaster of Dieppe, 69–78. Box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA; and box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis (POW memoir), KOCRA. 14CAR—Personnel G–H (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Ganshirt, J., War Claims Commission—Statement Concerning Claim for Maltreatment, KOCRA and box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis (POW memoir), KOCRA.

120. 120 Pt. 1 orders no. 176, 22 August 1942, app. 1, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (August 1942), LAC. 19–22 August 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. A further 92 reached Seaford two days later.

121. 121 Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Rev. Waldo Smith, Our Padre’s Story, KOCRA.

122. 122 23 August 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

123. 123 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Rev. Waldo Smith, Our Padre’s Story, KOCRA.

124. 124 20 August 1942, 19 August 1942, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 1, 1 March 1941–5 February 1943, KOCRA.

125. 125 Box 14CAR-002 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, A. (Dieppe diary), KOCRA.

126. 126 Stacey, Six Years of War, 395. Report no. 83, Preliminary Report on Operation “Jubilee,” 19 September 1942, box 6918, RG 24, LAC.

127. 127 Schmidlin to Crerar, 9 September 1942, app. 8, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (September 1942), LAC. Report no. 9, Operation “Jubilee,” Part III: Some special aspects, 10 Feb 1944, box 6918, RG 24, LAC and Report no. 83, Preliminary Report on “Jubilee,” 19 September 1942, box 6918, RG 24, LAC and Vance, Maple Leaf Empire, 189–90.

128. 128 Stacey, Six Years of War, 392. The preliminary appraisal by German intelligence officers had dismissed the fighting ability of the Canadian troops, noting especially a lack of initiative and that they had “surrendered in swarms.” Intelligence report on British landing at Dieppe [trans.], 22 Aug 1942, box 6918, RG 24, LAC. But this judgment was overruled by senior officers of the 302nd Division who rightly noted that “the large number of casualties and wounded PW shows that the enemy put up a valiant fight [and] that in addition to the above whole units were captured is explained by the hopelessness of further resistance.” 14CAR-012 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001, Report of the Battle Experiences of the 302 German Inf Div [trans.], KOCRA.

129. 129 Stacey, Six Years of War, 398. Stacey, Six Years of War, 391.

130. 130 Intelligence Report on British landing at Dieppe [trans.], 22 August 1944, box 6918, RG 24, LAC. Stacey, Six Years of War, 393.

131. 131 Stacey, Six Years of War, 399–404.

132. 132 Maj. C. B. Van Straubenzee (12th Armoured Regiment), Observations on the Dieppe Raid, 25 August 1942, app. 12, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1942), LAC.

133. 133 The Germans’ examination concluded sixteen Churchills reached the promenade. Report no. 116, Operation “Jubilee,” Additional information from German sources, 10 May 1944, box 6918, RG 24, LAC.

134. 134 14CAR012 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001, Maj. C. P. Stacey, Memorandum of Interviews with Major C. E. Page and Other Personnel Repatriated from Germany, 29 Oct 1943, KOCRA.

135. 135 14CAR012 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001, Report of the Battle Experiences of the 302 German Inf Div [trans.], KOCRA and Stacey, Six Years of War, 380.

136. 136 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Assoc. (June 1991), Hugh Henry, The 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment at Dieppe, 68–69, KOCRA. Apart from Lt.-Col. Andrews, those killed included Trps. R. Cornelssen, P. Friesen, Thomas Gorman, E. C. Huscroft, V. F. Olliffe, Charles L. Provis, William D. P. Sawers, William Stewart, and M. F. Zima; L/Cpl. Dwight E. Welch; Sqdn. Sgt.-Maj. Alexander Tough; and Capt. D. G. Purdy. List of killed 14th Armoured Regiment, KOCRA.

137. 137 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Hugh Henry, The 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment at Dieppe, 68–69; 19 August 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; Stacey, Six Years of War, 380 and 389; and 19 August 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

138. 138 Stacey, Six Years of War, 393.

139. 139 Stacey, Six Years of War, 396.

140. 140 Calgary Herald, 19 August 1942, 1.

141. 141 Calgary Herald, 20 August 1942, 1 and 2.

142. 142 Calgary Herald, 21 August 1942, 2.

143. 143 Calgary Herald, 24 August 1942, 2.

144. 144 Soldiers knew anything frank in a cable meant the cable would not be sent, so they self-censored, mentioning just their own fate, and often that of a few other comrades which could be passed on to their loved ones.

145. 145 Calgary Herald, 24 August 1942, 1.

146. 146 Balzer, Information Front, 112. The entire chapter 4 is pertinent and is appropriately entitled “‘Sugaring the Pill’: Selling Dieppe to Canadians.”

147. 147 Calgary Herald, 4 September 1942, 1 and 3. Calgary Herald, 5 September 1942, 1.

148. 148 Calgary Herald, 19 September 1942, 1.

149. 149 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001 Fred Bagley, Priceless Sacrifice, KOCRA.

150. 150 Calgary Herald, 18 and 21 December 1942, 1.

151. 151 Capt. (Hon.) W. E. L. Smith to Mrs. Olliffe, 7 November 1942, box 26730, folder Victor Olliffe, RG 24, LAC.

152. 152 Mr. F. and Mrs. H. L. Olliffe to Office of Records, Adj. Gen. Office, 13 March 1943, box 26730, folder Victor Olliffe, RG 24, LAC.

153. 153 Telegram to Mrs. Olliffe, 15 April 1943, box 26730, folder Victor Olliffe, RG 24, LAC.

154. 154 Office of Records, Adj. Gen. Office to Mrs. Olliffe, 11 Jun 1943, box 26730, folder Victor Olliffe, RG 24, LAC.

155. 155 Maj. Hadley to British Red Cross (via Swiss Legation, Berlin), 4 September 1942, box 27307, folder Dwight Welch, RG 24, LAC.

156. 156 Welch was reinterred in Holland in the Holten Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in 1948. In a touching action, Canadian military authorities were approached later that year by a Dutch resident of Holten who informed them that he and his wife had adopted Welch’s grave and would take care of it. He had enclosed a letter to the parents in the hope it would be sent on to them (which it was) “so that they might know that their son is not forgotten in a … country far away, but that his life [has] a place in our hearts too.” I. de Jong-Munsterman to Director of Records, 19 November 1948, box 27307, folder Dwight Welch, RG 24, LAC.

157. 157 Lt. E. Bennett to family, undated, box 25643, folder Rhinard (Bobby) Cornelssen, RG 24, LAC.

158. 158 Tpr. A. Johnson to Mrs. W. Johnson, 20 September 1942, box 25643, folder Rhinard (Bobby) Cornelssen, RG 24, LAC.

159. 159 M. McIntyre to Miss J. Nabb, 28 September 1942, box 25643, folder Rhinard (Bobby) Cornelssen, RG 24, LAC. All of these excerpts were gleaned from Canadian Army censorship reports of prisoner of war mail.

Notes to chapter 6

1. 1 24 August 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD and Nominal Roll of Officers on Strength, 14 and 21 August 1942, 24 August 1942, app. 3, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (August 1942), LAC.

2. 2 1–10 September 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

3. 3 11 September and 9 November 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

4. 4 Progress Report to Canada, 8, 16 and 23 October 1942, app. 5, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (October 1942), LAC.

5. 5 Schmidlin to Crerar, 9 September 1942, app. 8, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (September 1942), LAC.

6. 6 When Dr. Alexander received his MC from King George VI at a Buckingham Palace awards ceremony on 27 October, the King’s comment was a terse “it was a dirty show, good work, congratulations.” 27 October 1942, box 14CAR—Personnel (14th Armoured Regiment), folder L. G. Alexander diaries, no. 1, 1 March 1941–5 February 1943, KOCRA.

7. 7 12 October 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

8. 8 21, 22 and 30 October 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

9. 9 1 November 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. This had been achieved by stripping twenty-six Churchills from the British 36th Tank Brigade. Progress Report to Canada, 23 Oct 1942, app. 5, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (October 1942), LAC.

10. 10 Pt. 1 orders, no. 909, 1 October 1942, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (October 1942), LAC.

11. 11 27 and 28 November 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

12. 12 Pt. 1 orders, no. 281, 24 December 1942, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (December 1942), LAC.

13. 13 Pt. 1 orders, no. 273, 15 December 1942, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (December 1942), LAC. Pt. 1 orders, no. 278, 19 December 1942, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (December 1942), LAC. In January 1943 First Canadian Army discontinued pay stoppages and the publication of names in an effort to get soldiers suffering from venereal disease to seek prompt treatment. Pt. 1 orders, no. 8, 12 January 1943, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (January 1943), LAC.

14. 14 Report to 1 Canadian Corps, 4 January 1943, app. 10, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (January 1943), LAC.

15. 15 2, 5, 9 and 16 December 1942 and 20 January and 5 February 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

16. 16 24 December 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and G. Thring letter, 7 January 1999, box Capt. George Thring Papers, folder 50/14 Veterans Association, KOCRA. Given they had all but disappeared in England, chocolate bars were wonderful treats for the children.

17. 17 25 and 26 December 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

18. 18 28 December 1942, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Troopers’ pay was raised from $1.30 a day to $1.50, with the dependents monthly deduction rising from $20.00 to $23.00. Beyond this, additional dependents benefits were paid by the Government of Canada. Pt. 1 orders, no. 282, 26 December 1942, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (December 1942), LAC.

19. 19 4–11, 18 and 22 January 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

20. 20 25 February 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

21. 21 Stacey, Six Years of War, 249–51 and 22 February 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

22. 22 Granatstein, Canada’s Army, 212–16 and 231.

23. 23 1–12 March 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Their tanks consumed nearly 12,000 gallons of gasoline, and the wheeled vehicles another 40,000, an illustration of the demanding logistics of armoured warfare. 17 March 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

24. 24 13 and 15 March 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

25. 25 Comments—“Exercise Spartan,” 15 March 1943, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

26. 26 18 March 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The Ram grew out of the need to acquire a cruiser tank for the Canadian Armoured Corps at a time when British tanks were in short supply. To speed production, the Ram was based on the American M3 General Lee design. While it proved adequate, the vast production of the superior M4 Sherman meant they were only used for training, where similarity to the Sherman—the latter, too, was based on the M3—was a distinct advantage. Eventually most were converted to Kangaroo armoured personnel carriers or Sexton self-propelled howitzers. http://tanks-encylopedia.com/ww2/canada/Ram-Cruiser-Tank/php

27. 27 20 March 1943, box 14CAR—L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 2, 5 February 1943–20 May 1944, KOCRA. Box 14CAR001, folder 001, Stoney Richardson conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA.

28. 28 The commanding officer of the 15th (Scottish) Division, whose army tank brigade was the recipient of the Churchills, was so impressed by their running order that he wrote a fulsome letter of thanks to Gen. Crerar. Pt. 1 orders, no. 91, 19 April 1943 (Gen. Bullen-Smith to Crerar, 13 April 1943), app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (April 1943), LAC. Brig. Wyman was pleased as punch. Wyman to Neroutsos, 17 April 1943, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (April 1943), LAC.

29. 29 31 March and various entries 1–10 April 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD and Range Practices—AFV Range, 24 Mar 1943, app. 11, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (March 1943), LAC.

30. 30 Henry, “Tanks of Dieppe,” 128 and box 14CAR001, folder 001, Stoney Richardson conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA. In the British regimental system which the Canadian Army adopted, this was always a potential problem. An outsider could be resented, at least initially, and his appointment was usually a sign that higher command thought the regiment needed shaking up, that none of the other officers were deemed sufficiently capable, or that factions ensured no internal appointment was broadly acceptable.

31. 31 27 and 30 April 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

32. 32 7 May 1943, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 2, 15 February 1943–20 May 1944, KOCRA.

33. 33 3 and 4 May 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

34. 34 Tank Encyclopedia, http://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/US/M4-Sherman.php and Canadiansoldiers, http://Canadiansoldiers.com/vehicles/tanks/Shermantanks/htm and Charles Prieur, War Chronicles 1939–1945 Three Rivers Regiment (Tank), unpublished manuscript, http://www.12rbc.ca/upload/pdf/news/war-chronicles-anglais-28-02-6.pdf.

35. 35 Box 14CAR001, folder 001, Stoney Richardson conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA. On crews’ initial view, box 14CAR—Personnel, C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Cawsey, C., memoirs, KOCRA.

36. 36 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 1943–1945, 3–8 and 20–26. Capturing the island would reopen the Mediterranean to Allied shipping while at the same time threaten the mainland of Italy with attack, undermine Italian morale, and potentially force the Germans to divert military resources to Italy’s defence.

37. 37 8 May 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

38. 38 Various entries 4–10 May 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and box 14CAR-001, folder 001, Stoney Richardson conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA.

39. 39 Various entries 11–22 May 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Syllabus of Trg AFV Range Kirkcudbright, 11 May 1943, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (May 1943), LAC.

40. 40 The sealing was done with a plastic material. The goal was to have the tanks capable of wading in as much as 2 m of water.

41. 41 26 May 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

42. 42 Pt. 1 orders, no. 117, 22 May 1943, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (May 1943), LAC. When it came to lacking amenities for off duty hours, “Doc” Alexander dismissed Langholm as “even worse than [the] Salisbury Plain. Believe it or not.” 18 June 1943, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 2, 15 February 1943–20 May 1944, KOCRA.

43. 43 Pt. 1 orders, no. 111, 14 May 1943, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (May 1943), LAC. Pt. 1 orders, no. 112, 15 May 1943, app., 14th Armoured Regiment War Diary (May 1943), LAC. The black beret identified soldiers as being armour and was a source of pride.

44. 44 The assaulting forces, including the 12th Army Tank Battalion, sailed in a separate convoy.

45. 45 1 July 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 17, 20 and 25 June 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Memorandum On Trg On Board Ship, 2 June 1943, app. 6, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1943), LAC. The Landing Ship, Tank was about ten times the displacement of the LCT (Landing Craft, Tank), and could carry up to twenty-two 30-ton tanks. LSTs were ocean-going vessels capable of making up to 12 knots. Despite the irreverent sobriquet Large Slow Target bestowed by their crews, it was a robust ship that suffered relatively few losses considering the circumstances under which they were compelled to operate. “Landing Ship, Tank,” http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_Ship_Tank.

46. 46 Various entries 1–7 and 8–9 July 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

47. 47 Memorandum on Trg on Board Ship, 2 Jun 1943, app. 7, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1943), LAC.

48. 48 28 June and 1 and 5 July 1943, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 2, 15 February 1943–20 May 1944, KOCRA.

49. 49 10, 12 and 13 July 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

50. 50 13 July 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

51. 51 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 19–20.

52. 52 15 and 16 July 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

53. 53 All three men had to be evacuated to a military hospital in Algeria.

54. 54 17–22 July 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 21 July 1943, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 2, 15 February 1943–20 May 1944, KOCRA.

55. 55 Box 14CAR002 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence, Sicilian and Italian Campaign Notes, 14 July 1943, KOCRA. Sicily was the poorest part of Italy, and southern Italy one of the poorest areas of Europe.

56. 56 23–25 July 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

57. 57 Box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Cawsey, C., memoirs, KOCRA.

58. 58 28 July 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 1 Canadian Army Tank Brigade Operational order no. 4, 27 July 1943, app. 5, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (July 1943), LAC. The 11th would subsequently see action during the first ten days of August supporting British attacks. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 167–68.

59. 59 9 and 10 August 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

60. 60 Box 14CAR-001, folder 001, Stoney Richardson conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA. Box 14CAR002 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence, Sicilian and Italian Campaign Notes, 14 July 1943, KOCRA.

61. 61 Calgary Herald, 3 August 1943, 7.

62. 62 Calgary Herald, 11 September 1943, 1.

63. 63 11 August 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

64. 64 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 88–164.

65. 65 For its part, Wyman’s command suffered twenty-two killed and eighty-three wounded, of which the Three Rivers Regiment suffered the greater portion—twenty-one killed and sixty-two wounded. The Calgary Regiment’s losses totalled only eight wounded. These were casualties in action and did not include accidents.

66. 66 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 180–202.

67. 67 17 and 18 August 1943, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 2, 15 February 1943–20 May 1944, KOCRA and box 14CAR-002 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence, Sicilian and Italian Campaign Notes, 15 and 19 August 1943, KOCRA. 12, 15 and 19 August 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

68. 68 31 August 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

69. 69 1 and 2 September 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

70. 70 3 and 4 September 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC, 1 Cdn Div Intelligence Summary, no. 11, 4 September 1943, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (September 1943), LAC and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 202–09.

71. 71 5 September 1943, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 3, 21 May 1943–9 March 1945, KOCRA.

72. 72 5 September 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

73. 73 6–7 September 1943, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 3, 21 May 1943–9 March 1945, KOCRA. On the second day a squadron of armoured cars from the Princess Louise Dragoon Guards linked up with Neroutsos’ small battle group.

74. 74 6 and 7 September 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 209–10. On the difficulties the terrain of the Calabrian interior posed for vehicle movement, see 13 Corps Planning Intelligence Summary No. 3—Topographical Appreciation of Calabria, 13 Aug 1943, app. 19, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (September 1943), LAC.

75. 75 6–7, 8 and 10 September 1943, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 3, 21 May 1943–9 March 1945, KOCRA and box 14CAR-002 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence, Sicilian and Italian Campaign Notes, 6 and 9 September 1943, KOCRA. 8 September 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

76. 76 10 September 1943, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 3, 21 May 1943–9 March 1945, KOCRA.

77. 77 15 September 1943, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 3, 21 May 1943–9 March 1945, KOCRA.

78. 78 Box 14CAR002 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence, Sicilian and Italian Campaign Notes, 9 September 1943, KOCRA.

79. 79 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 220–21 and 12 September 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

80. 80 17–22 and 2September 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 224–28.

81. 81 Calgary Herald, 29 September 1943, 1.

82. 82 Various entries 23–30 September 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

83. 83 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 235. 1 October 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

84. 84 Box 14CAR016 Italy (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 007 Reimer, Peter, The First Battle of Motta, 1 October 1943 (memoir), KOCRA.

85. 85 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 236. The fact that the Canadian Army was completely motorized gave it great mobility, in theory (and often in practice) a huge advantage against the only partially mechanized Heer. But it also tied lines of advance and logistical support to roads and their associated bridges and viaducts. This posed great difficulties in Italy where roads were generally of low quality, easily interdicted by demolitions, and invariably under observation by the enemy in the surrounding hills.

86. 86 Box 14CAR002 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence, Sicilian and Italian Campaign Notes, 1 October 1943, KOCRA.

87. 87 Box 14CAR002 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence, Sicilian and Italian Campaign Notes, 1 October 1943, KOCRA. 1 and 2 October 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The standard field artillery piece in the British (and Canadian) Army was the 25-pounder (88-mm) gun/howitzer which could provide plunging fire, something the Sherman’s 75-mm cannon could not.

88. 88 Box 14CAR002 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence, Sicilian and Italian Campaign Notes, 1 October 1943, KOCRA. During the course of the battle, Calgary gunners managed to despatch two 88s at point-blank range as well as knock out a number of the (then) standard 50-mm and smaller 37-mm anti-tank pieces. The infamous Eighty-eight was an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun with the high muzzle velocity associated with such weapons and a longer killing range than any other German anti-tank gun. A Sherman’s armour stood little chance against it and the crews knew it.

89. 89 Box 14CAR016 Italy (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 007 Reimer, Peter, The First Battle of Motta, 1 October 1943 (memoir), KOCRA.

90. 90 The thickest armour of any tank protected its front, the normal direction of advance, meaning any withdrawal entailed slowly backing up, a manoeuvre further complicated by the fact it had to be done all but blind if the commander’s hatch was closed.

91. 91 1 and 2 October 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Richardson was the commander of B Squadron, and Ritchie his second-in-command, but as could be the case, in this instance the latter led the tanks into action while for the former remained at headquarters helping to direct the battle.

92. 92 1 October 1943, box 14CAR L. G. Alexander Diaries (14th Armoured Regiment), no. 3, 21 May 1943–9 March 1945, KOCRA.

93. 93 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 236 and 1 and 2 October 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

94. 94 Box 14CAR-002 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence, Sicilian and Italian Campaign Notes, 1 October 1943, KOCRA.

95. 95 Box 14CAR-016 Italy (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 007 Reimer, Peter, The First Battle of Motta, 1 October 1943 (memoir), KOCRA and box 14CAR034 (14th Armoured Regiment)—Personnel C, folder Charbonneau, A., MC citation, KOCRA.

96. 96 2 October 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 1 October 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

97. 97 Within 72 hours of having suffered the losses, brigade forwarded six replacements from its reserve pool, a response German commanders could only dream of. 4 October 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

98. 98 Box 14CAR—Personnel, S-U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Underhill, F. D., MM citation, KOCRA.

99. 99 2 October 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The killed in action included Cpl. Fennell, L/Cpl. Brothers, and Tprs. Baerr, Beisig, Cooper, French, Hourie, Lepp, Renaud and Rowley.

100. 100 Quoted in Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 237.

101. 101 Box 14CAR George Thring Papers (14th Armoured Regiment), folder George Thring, My Life’s Story, KOCRA.

102. 102 3 October 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

103. 103 Box 14CAR002 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence, Sicilian and Italian Campaign Notes, 3 October 1943, KOCRA.

104. 104 Box 14CAR002 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Alexander, Laurence, Sicilian and Italian Campaign Notes, 4 October 1943, KOCRA.

105. 105 4–6, 8 and 11–14 October 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and various entries in October 1943 including 31 October, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. For the larger context of Canadian operations between Motta and Campobasso, see Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 238–51.

106. 106 15 and 17–19 October 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The Calgary Regiment had covered 650 kms in ten days without a single mechanical failure, a remarkable feat for tracked vehicles. 26 October 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

107. 107 22 October and 2–4 November 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; 1 November 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; Pt. 2 orders, no. 11, 16 October 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (October 1943), LAC; and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 250.

108. 108 Pt. 2 orders, no. 9, 8 October 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

109. 109 Lessons Learned in Sicilian and Italian Campaign, 1 November 1943, app. 6, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (October 1943), LAC.

110. 110 Lessons Learned in Sicilian and Italian Campaign (A Squadron), 30 October 1943, app. 6, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (October 1943), LAC. Maj E. A. C. “Ned” Amy had come over from the Ontarios after Trotter was killed.

111. 111 Lessons Learned in Sicilian and Italian Campaign (B Squadron), 30 October 1943, app. 6, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (October 1943), LAC.

112. 112 CAC Training in England (Lt.-Col. Neroutsos), 31 Oct 1943 and CAC Training in England (A, B and C Sqns.), 30 October 1943, app. 5, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (October 1943), LAC.

113. 113 31 October and 1 November 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

114. 114 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 264–74.

115. 115 In August, 1st Army Tank Brigade had been officially renamed the 1st Armoured Brigade, and the 11th, 12th and 14th Army Tank Battalions the 11th, 12th and 14th Armoured Regiments, respectively. The full title of the 14th became 14th Armoured Regiment (The Calgary Regiment). The new nomenclature was only adopted in the field in November. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, n. 276.

116. 116 18–21 and 24 November 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 16 November 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

117. 117 Weekly Report to Commander 1 Cdn Corps, 29 November 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (November 1943), LAC. Experience in Sicily and on the mainland showed a major engine overhaul on Sherman Mk Vs had been required only after they’d covered 1,600–2,400 kms, depending on the terrain (soft ground and steep grades wreaked havoc on running gear, transmissions, and clutches) and the discipline the crews showed in completing daily maintenance. Engine overhauls were only possible, of course, if replacement engines were available. In fact, not a single Sherman in the 1st Armoured Brigade had suffered a major transmission failure, and engine failures at low mileages had been very rare. Weekly Report to Commander 1 Cdn Corps, 29 November 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (November 1943), LAC. Richardson attributed the high tank reliability to the fact that “the maintenance and care of our equipment had been very, very well carried out.” Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Lt.-Col. C. A. “Stoney” Richardson, Stoney’s Story, 3, KOCRA. One of the inevitable consequences of the chronic parts shortages was the propensity of passing tank crews to strip damaged vehicles to build up a personal reserve of the most vital parts. But it reduced otherwise-repairable tanks “to nothing more than a bare hull,” and such cannibalizing became a military offence. Brigade order no. 264, 28 December 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (December 1943), LAC.

118. 118 29–30 November and 2 and 5–6 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

119. 119 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 288–301.

120. 120 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Maj. Ned Amy, Love Those Shermans, KOCRA.

121. 121 The twenty-five-year-old Maj. Amy was carrying out his first operation with the Calgary Regiment, though he had considerable combat experience with the Ontarios. Donaldson, “Thunder in the Mountains,” 66.

122. 122 Both tanks were recovered by the Light Aid Detachment of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps. Numbering about two dozen men, one LAD was permanently attached to each armoured regiment and carried out recoveries of immobilized tanks, whether they were merely stuck, broken down mechanically, or damaged in action but deemed repairable. Their work was invaluable.

123. 123 Even though the main road was obviously mined, it would have been suicide for engineers to attempt to clear it while under German fire. And the only way to stop the German fire was to take San Leonardo.

124. 124 Beyond the Sangro—An Account of the Operations of 1 CAB during December 1943, Report from OC 14 Cdn Armd Regt 9–20 Dec 1943, Pt. III, Sec. 3, app. 40, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (February 1944), LAC.

125. 125 Donaldson, “Thunder in the Mountains,” 70–71 and Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Herb Knodel and Peter Reimer, The Battle of San Leonardo—9 December 1943, KOCRA.

126. 126 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Maj. Ned Amy, Love Those Shermans, KOCRA; Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Herb Knodel and Peter Reimer, The Battle of San Leonardo—9 December 1943, KOCRA; and Roy, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 247.

127. 127 By the time Lt. Charbonneau’s tank was pulled back later in the day, they had only five of thirty-five 500-round machine gun belts they’d set out with, a single HE round, and five AP rounds. “It had been a busy day,” as Herb Knodel later recalled. Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Herb Knodel and Peter Reimer, The Battle of San Leonardo—9 December 1943, KOCRA.

128. 128 Donaldson, “Thunder in the Mountains,” 74.

129. 129 Nominally, Panzer Grenadier Divisions had six infantry battalions and a tank battalion (usually self-propelled guns), as well as the usual field artillery and other supporting arms. Unlike the normal German infantry division, which relied mostly on horse-drawn transport, a panzer grenadier division was fully motorized. At full strength—which was rare in practice—it numbered some 10,000 men. “Panzergrenadier,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzergrenadier.

130. 130 The Panzerkampfwagen IV was by this time the most common German tank encountered. In combat effectiveness, it was roughly comparable to the Sherman. “Panzer IV,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_IV.

131. 131 Wyman issued the broad attack order, but it had fallen to Neroutsos to assemble the various elements on very short notice, and of course to Amy to execute the attack. For his superior command decisions at San Leonardo as well as his regiment’s high level of training, Neroutsos was awarded the DSO. Box 14CAR Personnel, N (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Neroutsos, C, DSO citation, KOCRA.

132. 132 Box 14CAR004 Personnel, A (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Amy, E., MC citation, KOCRA; Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 295–305; and Zuehlke, Ortona, 137–41.

133. 133 Roy, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 248.

134. 134 9 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; Donaldson, “Thunder in the Mountains,” 79; and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 301–03. The killed in action included Sgt. A. J. Harrison, Cpl. W. C. Oaks, A/Cpl. P. M. Scott, and Tprs. C.A. Childress, R. A. Cole and A. G. Hurd. Altogether the regiment “lost” twenty-seven of its tanks though most had gotten stuck or broken down. But they couldn’t contribute to the capture or defence of San Leonardo.

135. 135 Box 14CAR George Thring Papers (14th Armoured Regiment), folder George Thring, My Life’s Story, KOCRA.

136. 136 “Battle Exhaustion,” the official name adopted by the Canadian Army during World War II for the debilitating psychological effects of combat, was emerging as a major source of casualties by late 1943. More advanced (and effective) treatments were emerging which commanders often, but not always, embraced. Copp and McAndrew, Battle Exhaustion, chapters 3–5.

137. 137 10 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

138. 138 Only about one-sixth of the 11th and 14th Regiment tanks towed to workshops during the period of heavy fighting in the first half of December had been knocked out (these were salvaged for spares); brigade tank workshops worked furiously to repair the others. 11 and 16 December 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

139. 139 12 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 11 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The Germans wasted their manpower in these and many other counterattacks. The 90th Panzer Grenadier Division’s CO was cashiered during the battle for his mishandling of the division. By the end of the fighting in and around Ortona, it had been reduced to little more than a husk. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 309–10.

140. 140 They were Tprs. A. H. Ward and E. A. Anderson.

141. 141 13–14 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 304–10.

142. 142 Beyond the Sangro—An Account of the Operations of 1 CAB during December 1943, Report from OC 14 Cdn Armd Regt 9–20 Dec 1943, Pt. III, Sec. 3, app. 40, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (February 1944), LAC and Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), David Ewart, Sadness and Bravery on “Vino Ridge,” KOCRA.

143. 143 13 December 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; box 14CAR004 Personnel, G–H (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Halstead, C. R., MC citation, KOCRA; and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, n. 315.

144. 144 15 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Box 14CAR-001, folder 001, Stoney Richardson conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA.

145. 145 14 December 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

146. 146 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), David Ewart, Sadness and Bravery on “Vino Ridge,” KOCRA.

147. 147 The tankers, along with the infantrymen still holding the position, “undertook an in-depth study of the art of wine-tasting—an ample supply being at hand.” The ridge had gotten its informal name from the numbers of wine vats located in the area. Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Herb Knodel and Peter Reimer, The Battle of San Leonardo—9 December 1943, KOCRA.

148. 148 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 315–20.

149. 149 1st Canadian Division report cited in Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 318. On casualties, 31 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

150. 150 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 321–33. The defenders in Ortona were mostly Fallschirmjäger of the 1st Parachute Division, who had also contested The Gully.

151. 151 18–22 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

152. 152 Beyond the Sangro—An Account of the Operations of 1 CAB during December 1943, Report from OC 14 Cdn Armd Regt 9–20 Dec 1943, Pt. III, Sec. 3, app. 40, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (February 1944), LAC.

153. 153 Beyond the Sangro—An Account of the Operations of 1 CAB during December 1943, Report from OC 14 Cdn Armd Regt 9–20 Dec 1943, Pt. III, Sec. 3, app. 40, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (February 1944), LAC.

154. 154 Donaldson, “Thunder in the Mountains,” 81–83.

155. 155 23 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

156. 156 The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes ran canteens and many other services for servicemen (and their families) both overseas and in Britain. Their focus was the other ranks.

157. 157 24 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 25 and 27–29 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

158. 158 27–31 December 1943, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Battle casualties of 1 Cdn Armd Bde, 10 Jul 43 to 3 Jan 44, app., 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade WD (January 1944), LAC. The totals were twenty-five killed, seventy wounded and four missing in action. These were 38 percent of the brigade’s casualties which, considering the 14th Regiment’s reserve role in Sicily, attests to its being in the thick of the fight thereafter.

159. 159 There are many personal accounts of Canadian veterans and their wartime experiences. But in contrast there is practically nothing on the experiences of parents, wives—including widows—or children, which has left a great gap in our understanding of the war and its impact on Canada.

160. 160 Box 14CAR Personnel, S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Slifka, L., letter to his wife, 3 June 1942, KOCRA.

161. 161 Box 14CAR Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Raskin, Elly, letter from his wife, 30 September 1943, KOCRA.

162. 162 Calgary Herald, 20 April 1943, 1 and 3.

163. 163 Calgary Herald, 30 April 1943, 12.

164. 164 Interview with Donald Alexander, 22 January 2015.

165. 165 Calgary Herald, 23 June 1941, 13 and Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Ellen Taylor, The Ladies’ Auxiliary, KOCRA.

166. 166 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Ellen Taylor, The Ladies’ Auxiliary, KOCRA; box 14CAR Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder L/Cpl. Hursh, S., KOCRA; and Calgary Herald, 24 April 1942, 7, 30 April 1943, 12 and 9 November 1943, 6.

167. 167 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Association (June 1991), Ellen Taylor, The Ladies’ Auxiliary, KOCRA.

168. 168 Vance, Maple Leaf Empire, 183.

169. 169 Vance, Maple Leaf Empire, 186–87 and Stacey and Wilson, Half Million, 134–48. Once established, the Canadian Wives Bureau, which the army ran for all three services, saw to it that the over 40,000 wives and 20,000 children were well cared for and prepared, such as they could be, for the start of their new lives in Canada. Stacey and Wilson, Half Million, 141.

170. 170 Padre N. E. L. Smith memo, 6 May 1943, box 27003, folder Philip Scott, RG 24, LAC. Various forms, Box 27003, folder Philip Scott, RG 24, LAC.

171. 171 Estates Branch, Canadian Military HQ (London) to Mrs. Scott, 17 May 1944, box 27003, folder Philip Scott, RG 24, LAC.

172. 172 Mrs. P. M. Scott to Director of Records, Adj. Gen. Branch, 17 January 1946 and DVA to Mrs. P. M. Scott, 1 February 1946, box 27003, folder Philip Scott, RG 24, LAC.

173. 173 Canadian Red Cross, AB Div. to Directorate of Repatriation (Ottawa), 22 February 1945, box 27003, folder Philip Scott, RG 24, LAC.

174. 174 Mrs. John Fahrner (Scott) to DVA, 18 July 1949, box 27003, folder Philip Scott, RG 24, LAC. Various forms and correspondence, box 27003, folder Philip Scott, RG 24, LAC.

Notes to chapter 7

1. 1 In January 1944, after the Sangro and Ortona operations, Field Marshal Montgomery had offered formal congratulations to all of his units. His cable to the Canadian tankers noted that “if you want a job done get the First Canadian Armoured Brigade.” Box B103-002 (Calgary Rifles), Historical Sketches 8, KOCRA.

2. 2 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 338–55.

3. 3 1 January 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 3 January 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. The attached component included medical personnel, sappers and other specialists, and of course the Light Aid Detachment.

4. 4 7 January 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

5. 5 8 and 30–31 January 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 375–78.

6. 6 23 February 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 27 February 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. Wyman assumed command of the 2nd Armoured Brigade which was subsequently deployed to Normandy.

7. 7 3 and 5 March 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

8. 8 Weekly Report on Operations, 1 Cdn Armd Bde, 6–12 Mar 1944, app. 22 and 13–19 March 1944, app. 23, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (March 1944), LAC. Drunkenness was becoming a concern within the regiment. Pt. 1 orders, N-26, 20 March 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Whether fairly or not, the Canadians were singled out as the worst miscreants at the main Eighth Army rest area at Bari. Pt. 1 Orders, No. 29, 8 Mar 1944, app. 1, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (March 1944), LAC.

9. 9 23 March 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; 31 March 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 384.

10. 10 25 March 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. Neroutsos had long considered lightly armoured, wheeled reconnaissance vehicles “absolutely useless” for the task. Beyond the Sangro—An Account of the Operations of 1 CAB during December 1943, Report from OC 14 Cdn Armd Regt 9–20 Dec 1943, Pt. III, Sec. 3, app. 40, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (February 1944), LAC.

11. 11 Box 14CAR Personnel, V–Z (14th Armoured Regiment), folder White, John, Dieppe/POW memoir, KOCRA.

12. 12 1 September 1942, box 14CAR—Personnel O–P (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Pinder, Tom, POW diary 1942–43, KOCRA; box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA; and box 14CAR—Personnel Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, C.V., POW diary (undated), KOCRA.

13. 13 Box 14CAR—Personnel Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, C. V., POW diary (undated), KOCRA and box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA.

14. 14 Box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis, POW memoir. In May the officers of the 2nd Division had taken an eleven-day course on how to evade capture, cope with capture and escape, but there was nothing on dealing with a long period of captivity. Vance, Objects of Concern, 101. It is unclear whether it was offered to Calgary Regiment’s officers. Other ranks were totally unprepared.

15. 15 10 April 1943, box 14CAR—Personnel O-P (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Pinder, Tom, POW diary 1942–43, KOCRA. Box 14CAR—Personnel, G–H (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Ganshirt, J., War Claims Commission, Statement Concerning Claim for Maltreatment, 29 April 1954, KOCRA.

16. 16 Box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis, POW memoir, KOCRA; box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA; and box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Vererans Assoc. (June 1991), Al Wagstaff, Dieppe’s Prisoners of War, KOCRA.

17. 17 Box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis, POW memoir, KOCRA; box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Assoc. (June 1991), Al Wagstaff, Dieppe’s Prisoners of War, KOCRA; box 14CAR—Personnel Q-R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, C. V., POW diary (undated), KOCRA; and Vance, Objects of Concern, 145–47.

18. 18 Various entries, box 14CAR—Personnel, O-P (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Page, C. E., POW diary, KOCRA. Oflag stood for Offizierslager whereas Stalag stood for Stammlager.

19. 19 Vance, Objects of Concern, 103–04, 111–13 ff. and 120–25.

20. 20 Box 14CAR—Personnel A-B (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Anderson, A. F., A Story or Two as Remembered about Dieppe and Stalag VIII-B, 1942–1945, KOCRA.

21. 21 Vance, Objects of Concern, 149–50 and 156.

22. 22 16 February 1943, box 14CAR—Personnel O-P (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Pinder, Tom, POW diary 1942–43, KOCRA. Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Assoc. (June 1991), Al Wagstaff, Dieppe’s Prisoners of War, KOCRA.

23. 23 Vance, Objects of Concern, 149 ff.

24. 24 Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Assoc. (June 1991), Al Wagstaff, Dieppe’s Prisoners of War, KOCRA.

25. 25 Calgary Herald, 9 March 1943, 6 and 13 March 1945, 5 and box TCR002—W. K. Jull Papers, 1938–46 (Calgary Regiment), folder Correspondence and Ephemera, 1940–46, undated memorandum (late 1943), KOCRA.

26. 26 Box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA; box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis, POW memoir, KOCRA; box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Assoc. (June 1991), Al Wagstaff, Dieppe’s Prisoners of War, KOCRA and Vance, Objects of Concern, 139–45.

27. 27 Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Assoc. (June 1991), Al Wagstaff, Dieppe’s Prisoners of War, KOCRA and Box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA.

28. 28 21 November 1942, box 14CAR—Personnel O-P (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Pinder, Tom, POW diary 1942–43, KOCRA. There was always the opportunity to slip the true state of affairs past German censors by using coded phrases only the letter’s recipient would understand, for instance by saying not to worry, they were as healthy or well-fed as uncle Fred, when Uncle Fred was notoriously lean or sickly.

29. 29 M. Leithead to (sister) Mae, 4 July 1943, box 14CAR—Personnel I–L (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Leithead, M., collection of Kriegsgelangenenpost.

30. 30 F. Morton to parents, 19 and 24 September and 8 October 1943, box 14CAR—Personnel M (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Morton, Forbes, Kriegsgelangenenpost and letters to parents, 1942–43, KOCRA.

31. 31 M. Leithead to (sister) Mae, 9 January 1944, box 14CAR—Personnel I–L (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Leithead, M., collection of Kriegsgelangenenpost, KOCRA.

32. 32 M. Leithead to (sister) Mae, various dates 1943–44, box 14CAR—Personnel I–L (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Leithead, M., collection of Kriegsgelangenenpost, KOCRA and various dates, box CAR14—Personnel M (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Morton, Forbes, Kriegsgelangenenpost and letters to parents, 1942–43, KOCRA. Very few letters to prisoners of war survive, for even if saved to reread (and reread), as was usually the case, most were lost in the chaos of the last months of the war.

33. 33 Henry, “The Tanks of Dieppe,” 121. Vance, Objects of Concern, 134–38.

34. 34 15 April 1943, box 14CAR—Personnel O-P (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Pinder, Tom, POW diary 1942–43, KOCRA.

35. 35 After reaching England on a POW medical repatriation in October 1943, Maj. C. E. Page confirmed the mellowing of the shackling protocols. Box 14CAR—Personnel Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, C. V., POW diary (undated), KOCRA; box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA; and box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis, POW memoir, KOCRA. On the Christmas celebrations, box 14CAR—George Thring Papers (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 50/14 Veterans Assoc., Thring letter 7 January 1999, KOCRA.

36. 36 Box 14CAR—Personnel, V–T (14th Armoured Regiment), folder White, John, POW reminiscences, KOCRA. Box 14CAR—Personnel Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, C. V., POW diary (undated), KOCRA.

37. 37 Box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA.

38. 38 Box 14CAR—Personnel Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, C. V., POW diary (undated), KOCRA.

39. 39 Vance, Objects of Concern, 157–61 and box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis, POW memoir, KOCRA.

40. 40 Vance, Objects of Concern, 160 and box 14CAR—Personnel, N (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Nelson, Gus, POW reminiscences and MM citation, KOCRA. McMullen received the DCM.

41. 41 14CAR—Personnel, I–L (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Johnston, Roy, POW memoir, KOCRA; box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA; box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis, POW memoir, KOCRA.

42. 42 Box 14CAR—Personnel A–B (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Anderson, A. F., A Story or Two as Remembered about Dieppe and Stalag VIII-B, 1942–1945, KOCRA.

43. 43 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 387–99.

44. 44 Field Return of Officers, 7 April 1944 and Field Return of Other Ranks, 1 April 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (April 1944), LAC and 27–29 March 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

45. 45 Caron and Purves commanded the Three Rivers and Ontario Regiments, respectively.

46. 46 8 April 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC and Summary of Corps Commander’s Address to Senior Officers of 13 Corps at Venafro, 8th April 1944, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC.

47. 47 1 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. These were the Ontario and the Calgary Regiments—the Three Rivers Regiment was otherwise occupied.

48. 48 In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC. The 14th Regiment and 8th Indian Division had already carried out some squadron-battalion training earlier in the year, so they were building on a sound base. Unfortunately not all of the infantry battalions had been able to participate. Training Instruction no. 1, 9 March 1944, 21st Indian Brigade WD (March 1944), box 18879, WO 169, TNA. Russell’s confidence in the Calgary Regiment’s capabilities survived a major friendly fire incident during a fire support operation in late February which had left two of his men killed and eleven wounded. 28 February 1944, 19th Indian Brigade WD, box 18871, WO 169, TNA.

49. 49 11–13 April 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC. The Indian Army operated in Urdu and British officers in Indian units had to be fluent. A growing number of Indian officers could speak functional English (or better), but NCOs were rarely fluent, and sepoys generally knew no English at all. In Italy, each infantry brigade in the Indian Army retained the pre-war standard of one British battalion and two Indian ones. From commanding officer down, no one in the British battalions was expected to speak Urdu. Officers would inevitably pick enough up for basic communication after being posted to an Indian brigade.

50. 50 16, 17, 25–27 and 28–30 April 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; Pt. 1 orders, N-80, 20 April 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (April 1944), LAC; 4 and 7 April 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; and 19 April 1944, 17th Indian Brigade WD, box 18867, WO 169, TNA.

51. 51 Training Instructions no. 2, 31 March 1944, 21st Indian Brigade WD (March 1944), box 18879, WO 169, TNA and 9 April 1944, 8th Indian Division WD, box 18796, WO 169, TNA.

52. 52 Note no. 15 “Honker,” 18 April 1944, 8th Indian Division WD (May 1944), box 18797, WO 169, TNA. 20 April 1944, 17th Indian Brigade WD, box 18867, WO 169, TNA and 17 Ind Inf Bde River Cross Exercise, undated, 17th Indian Brigade WD (April 1944), box 18867, WO 169, TNA.

53. 53 30 April 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 27 April 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

54. 54 Various entries 1–10 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC and In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC. It was the same for the Indian units. 3 and 4 May 1944, 19th Indian Brigade WD, box 18871, WO 169, TNA.

55. 55 7–8 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 7–9 May 1944, 19th Indian Brigade WD, box 18871, WO 169, TNA.

56. 56 10 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC.

57. 57 10 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

58. 58 Deception measures were extensively employed in the days preceding the attack. The intent was not just to mask the build-up but to convince the Germans that the Allied line was actually being thinned. WD, 1st Arm 9 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

59. 59 11 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

60. 60 The Italians (and British) called the Garigliano north of Sant’ Angelo the Rapido, and the south of there the Gari. The Americans called to both parts the Rapido, which still leads to confusion.

61. 61 “Battle of the Rapido River,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rapido_River.

62. 62 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 399–401.

63. 63 Operational order no. 17, 3 May 1944, 8th Indian Division WD (May 1944), box 18797, WO 169, TNA.

64. 64 Intelligence Summary no. 389, 8 May 1944, XIII British Corps WD (May 1944), box 339, WO 170, TNA. German tanks and to a lesser extent their self-propelled guns were similarly road-bound.

65. 65 Pal, Campaign in Italy, 152–53.

66. 66 12 May 1944, CBC War Correspondent Scripts 1944, no. 4, box 20, folder 10, Peter Stursberg Papers, MG31 D78, LAC.

67. 67 Box 14CAR—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Quinn, James, reminiscences of the Gari River and the Hitler and Gustav Lines, KOCRA.

68. 68 Box 14CAR—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Quinn, James, reminiscences of the Gari River and the Hitler and Gustav Lines, KOCRA.

69. 69 Pal, Campaign in Italy, 158 and Report no. 158 (Army Historical Section), Operations of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in Italy May 1944 to February 1945, Pt. 1, The Gustav and Hitler Lines, folder 148.22 B1 (D1), DHH.

70. 70 12 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. Throughout the battle, numbers of Canadian engineers were attached to the regiment, clearing mines, blowing paths through anti-tank obstacles, and assisting in tank recovery operations. One was killed and another wounded. In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, Part III, Sec (b), Engineer Operations with Armoured Regiments May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC.

71. 71 Corps intelligence summary, no. 366, undated (May 1944), XIII British Corps WD (May 1944), box 339, WO 170, TNA. Box 14CAR—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Quinn, James, reminiscences of the Gari River and Hitler and Gustav Lines, KOCRA.

72. 72 Director of Public Relations (War Department India), One More River, 21. Each battalion had been assigned 16 assault boats and three large rafts.

73. 73 Battle Log C, 13 May 1944, 8th Indian Division WD (May 1944), box 18797, WO 169, TNA; Summary of Enemy Reactions, Methods and Losses during the Battle of the Gari River, 11–16 May 1944, app. 1, 19th Indian Brigade WD (May 1944), box 18871, WO 169, TNA; and Intelligence Summary, no. 392, 12 May 1944, XIII British Corps WD (May 1944), box 339, WO 170, TNA.

74. 74 This, too, failed, and the battalion finally managed to establish a viable bridgehead on the night of 12–13 May. In one of the cruel ironies of war, some A Squadron tanks had passed by the Argylls’ position but the tank carrying the radio set linked to the infantry hit a mine and along with the radio, was disabled. Pinned down, their efforts to attract the attention of the other tanks were unsuccessful.

75. 75 Battle Log A, 20h00 11 May to 08h00 12 May, 1944, 8th Indian Division WD (May 1944), box 18797, WO 169, TNA; Operational Order no. 26, 9 May 1944, 19th Indian Brigade WD (May 1944), box 18871, WO 169, TNA; 11 and 12 May 1944, 19th Indian Brigade WD, box 18871, WO 169, TNA; Summary of Enemy Reactions, Methods and Losses during the Battle of the Gari River, 11–16 May 1944 , app. 1, 19th Indian Brigade WD (May 1944), box 18871, WO 169; Corps Intelligence Summary, no. 392, 12 May 1944, XIII British Corps WD (May 1944), box 339, WO 170, TNA; and Pal, Campaign in Italy, 167–72.

76. 76 Initially there were four bridges planned for the use of the armour supporting the 4th British Infantry Division’s attack north of Sant’ Angelo and the 8th Indian Infantry Division’s to the south. Plymouth’s addition turned out to be critical because the construction of Cardiff, the 8th Indian Division’s second bridge, had to be abandoned. Further north, Amazon was not completed until May 13th (with very heavy engineer casualties in the process) and London not until the 14th. Only Oxford (and Plymouth) were operational on the morning of the attack.

77. 77 Box 14CAR—Personnel, S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Seymour, Ian, reminiscences of the Kingsmill bridge, KOCRA.

78. 78 Battle Log A, 20h00 11 May to 08h00 12 May 1944, 8th Indian Division WD (May 1944), box 18797, WO 169, TNA.

79. 79 Box 14CAR—Personnel, S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Seymour, Ian, reminiscences of the Kingsmill bridge, KOCRA and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, n., 403. Kingsmill was an officer in the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, permanently attached to the Calgary Regiment. 12 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 12 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

80. 80 Instances like this where artillery promptly intervened was deemed critical to the successful advance of armour in “close” country. Co-ordination between British and Canadian field and medium batteries (the RA supplied most of the Indian Army’s field artillery) and Murphy’s brigade was first-rate during the May battles. 31 May 1944 (summary of May operations), 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

81. 81 Given that the construction of the most northerly bridge had been abandoned at first light, reopening Plymouth was critical. Despite being wounded directing the repairs, Capt. Kingsmill, who won the MC that day, and his men managed to reopen it to jeep and carrier traffic by early afternoon, greatly easing the logistical situation. Sometime later it was reopened to tanks. 12 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC 12 May 1944, 19th Indian Brigade WD, box 18871, WO 169, TNA. Tony Kingsmill’s bridging concept had the inestimable value of speed if everything else worked, and proved its merits on the Gari, despite the bad luck of being quickly knocked out by a fluke German artillery round. The disadvantages were the sheer unwieldiness of the carrier tank/bridge arrangement and the need for a long, straight run at the river over ground solid enough to support its weight. The circumstances encountered during the remainder of the war in Italy meant it was never attempted again. Box 14CAR035—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Quinn, James, reminiscences of the Gari River and Gustav and Hitler Lines, KOCRA.

82. 82 Nearly half the tanks of the two assault squadrons of the Ontarios had already bogged down in the mud on the far side of Oxford. Most were operational by the following morning. In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC.

83. 83 While some were German mines, most were American, strewn everywhere along the east bank after their bloody nose on the Rapido. Unfortunately when they withdrew, they failed to hand over maps of the minefields to the units relieving them.

84. 84 Box 14CAR016—Italy Documents (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001, Allan Cawsey to Bob Sharpe, undated, KOCRA. Some idea of the chaos resulting from tanks bogging down or losing a track to a mine—Maj. Bob Taylor, A Squadron’s CO, fought in five different tanks that day, having lost his own in the mud and at various points, commandeered the other four. 18 May 1944, CBC War Correspondent Scripts 1944, no. 4, box 20, folder 10, Peter Stursberg Papers, MG31 D78, LAC.

85. 85 Maj. Donald C. Taylor, for his repeated demonstrations of courage, tenacity and tactical sense while commanding C Squadron during the Honker operations, was awarded the MC.

86. 86 Box 14CAR033—Personnel, C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Cawsey, A., memoirs, KOCRA; 12 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 402–03.

87. 87 Box 14CAR035—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Quinn, James, reminiscences of the Gari River and Gustav and Hitler Lines, KOCRA and box 14CAR033—Personnel, C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Cawsey, A., memoirs, KOCRA. The following morning while Cawsey stood in his open hatch scanning for enemy troops with his binoculars, he was wounded by a mortar fragment and spent the next two months in hospital.

88. 88 Box 14CAR035—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Quinn, James, reminiscences of the Gari River and Gustav and Hitler Lines, KOCRA. In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC.

89. 89 12 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

90. 90 Donaldson, “Thunder in the Mountains,” 88. See also 101.

91. 91 31 May 1944 (summary of May operations), 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

92. 92 12 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 12 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. 13 Corps Intelligence Summary, no. 392, 12 May 1944, XIII British Corps WD (May 1944), box 339, WO 170, TNA.

93. 93 12 May 1944, 8th Indian Division WD, box 18797, WO 169, TNA.

94. 94 Donaldson, “Thunder in the Mountains,” 103 and Pal, Campaign in Italy, 175.

95. 95 Pal, Campaign in Italy, 183.

96. 96 12 May 1944, XIII Corps WD, box 339, WO 170, TNA.

97. 97 21 Ind Inf Bde Planning Note no. 4, 8 May 1944, 21st Indian Brigade WD (May 1944), box 18879, WO 169, TNA.

98. 98 In fact, this description characterized the great majority of the country where the Canadian and British forces would be attacking during May and into early June. Donaldson, “Thunder in the Mountains,” 94.

99. 99 13 May 1944, 8th Indian Division WD, box 18797, WO 169, TNA.

100. 100 13 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Pal, Campaign in Italy, 176. Apart from their many killed, the German battalion’s losses included 130 prisoners of war, and a great deal of equipment.

101. 101 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 405.

102. 102 Pal, Campaign in Italy, 176–77; WO 170, v 339, WD 13 Corps May 1944, 13 Corps Intelligence Summary no. 393, 13 May 1944, XIII British Corps WD (May 1944), box 339, WO 170, TNA and Summary of Enemy Reactions, Methods and Losses during the Battle of the Gari River, 11–16 May 1944, app. 1, 19th Indian Brigade WD (May 1944), box 18871, WO 169, TNA. The 115th Panzer Grenadier Regiment possessed upwards of thirty tanks and the same number of StuGs but these were never deployed in strength.

103. 103 During one such resupply trip, Lt. J. Purslow was killed when his carrier struck a mine.

104. 104 14 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 14 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC and In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC.

105. 105 For his repeated displays of courage and exceptional leadership of B Squadron through the Honker fighting, Maj. Fred Ritchie was awarded the MC.

106. 106 15 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy Apr–May 1944 app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; Summary of Enemy Reactions, Methods and Losses during the Battle of the Gari River, 11–16 May 1944, app. 1, 19th Indian Brigade WD (May 1944), box 18871, WO 169, TNA; and Pal, Campaign in Italy, 182. It was an indication of the Germans’ desperate reinforcement situation that the Pignataro garrison included seventy students and their instructors rushed into the line from a nearby mountain warfare course.

107. 107 13 Corps Intelligence Summary no. 431 (trans. German document on Anglo-American fighting tactics in Italy, 26 May 44), app. B, XIII British Corps WD (August 1944), box 343, WO 170, TNA.

108. 108 16 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; 15 and 16 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 407 and 409–20.

109. 109 17 and 18 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

110. 110 18 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 18 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC and In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC; and box 14CAR035—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Quinn, James, reminiscences of the Gari River and Gustav and Hitler Lines, KOCRA.

111. 111 Pal, Campaign in Italy, 185–87 and 13 Corps Intelligence Summary no. 386, 1 May 1944 and no. 399, 20 May 1944, XIII British Corps WD (May 1944), box 339, WO 170, TNA.

112. 112 Box 14CAR035—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Quinn, James, reminiscences of the Gari River and Gustav and Hitler Lines, KOCRA.

113. 113 Box 14CAR035—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Quinn, James, reminiscences of the Gari River and Gustav and Hitler Lines, KOCRA. 19 and 21 May 1944, 13 British Corps WD, box 339, WO 170 and 13 Corps Intelligence Summary no. 399, 20 May 1944, XIII British Corps WD (May 1944), box 339, WO 170, TNA.

114. 114 20 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 19 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC and In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC. Years later, when asked to comment on the British planning in front of Aquino, Neroutsos pointedly noted that “there was some confusion and lack of liaison with the infantry commanders of the 78th Division who gave out somewhat contradictory orders.” Box 14CAR—Personnel, N (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Neroutsos, C. H., correspondence with historian W. A. McAndrew, 24 May 1987, KOCRA.

115. 115 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 411–12. 22 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

116. 116 Box 14CAR035—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Quinn, James, reminiscences of the Gari River and Gustav and Hitler Lines, KOCRA. Lt. George Thring, only recently recuperated from his wounds at Vino Ridge, remembered his friend Al Beresford visiting him the previous night and handing him a parcel for his wife. Beresford had a premonition that he was going to be killed, and try though he might, Thring could not talk him out of it. Box 14CAR—George Thring Papers (14th Armoured Regiment), folder George Thring, My Life’s Story, KOCRA.

117. 117 Beresford, twenty-three, had grown up in Calgary and was one of the regiment’s originals, having worked his way up from trooper. He left a widow, Winnie. A Montréaler, twenty-four-year-old Harry Lamb had married his English war bride Jean in 1943. He had transferred to the Calgary Regiment from the Ontarios only ten days before he was killed. Both men were interred in Cassino Commonwealth War Graves cemetery after the war.

118. 118 22–24 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 24 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC and In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC. 23 May 1944, XIII British Corps WD (May 1944), box 339, WO 170, TNA.

119. 119 25 and 26 May 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 435–36. 25 May 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

120. 120 13 Corps Intelligence Summary no. 402, 24 May 1944, XIII British Corps WD (May 1944), box 339, WO 170, TNA.

121. 121 27–31 May and 1 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

122. 122 Battle Casualties for May 1944, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (May 1944), LAC. At the time this included four men missing and presumed killed. In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, Summary of Casualties 8–30 May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC. The regiment had suffered twenty-nine killed or died of wounds and another seventy wounded in all of 1943. Casualties by Regiment, 1943, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (January 1944), LAC.

123. 123 In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, Part V Sec (b), Report on 1 Cdn Arm Bde RCEME Operations 11–29 May, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC.

124. 124 In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC. The 121,000 .30 calibre machine gun rounds fired pointed in the same direction. These ammunition expenditures covered the period 12–18 May.

125. 125 Buckley, British Armour, 82, 97, 107 and 180–86. Box 14CAR033—Personnel, C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Cawsey, A., memoirs, KOCRA.

126. 126 Box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Vererans Assoc. (June 1991), Jim Quinn, Some Regimental Notes, KOCRA.

127. 127 14CAR—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Ritchie, Fred, reminiscences, KOCRA.

128. 128 Buckley, British Armour, 126–28 and 186–87.

129. 129 Box 30510, folder Wilfred Beresford, R 112, LAC.

130. 130 In the Liri Valley: An Account of Operations 1 Cdn Armd Bde Italy April–May 1944, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1944), LAC.

131. 131 Box 14CAR033—Personnel, C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Cawsey, A., memoirs, KOCRA.

132. 132 Report on Operations—11 May 44 to 28 May 44, undated, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1945), LAC. Points of Interest Noted on Recent Operations, undated (late May 1944), app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1945), LAC.

133. 133 8 Ind Div Training Instruction no. 7, Maj.-Gen. Russell, 30 July 1944, 8th Indian Division WD (August 1944), box 18798, WO 169, TNA.

134. 134 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 442 and 447–51. The German Army’s own estimates indicated that units engaged in the battles of the Gustav and Hitler Lines had typically lost between 50 and 90 percent of their manpower and heavy weapons. See also Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 459.

135. 135 Pt. 1 orders, no. 34, 6 April 1944, app. 7, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (April 1944), LAC. Allfrey’s letter was dated 30 March 1944.

136. 136 1 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 6 and 7 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

137. 137 11 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 10 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 11 June 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

138. 138 Box 14CAR033—Personnel, C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Cawsey, A., memoirs, KOCRA and box 14CAR-001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Assoc. (June 1991), Stoney Richardson, Stoney’s Story, KOCRA. Richardson was always guarded with his views, but in an interview in 1989, when asked about the various commanders under whom he had served, he commented favourably and in depth about all of them but one. Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Stoney Richardson, conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA.

139. 139 12 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

140. 140 13 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 10 and 11 June 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

141. 141 14 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

142. 142 14 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 17–18 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The Ontario Regiment would support the 78th British Infantry Division during the Trasimene operations.

143. 143 14CAR—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Ritchie, Fred, reminiscences, KOCRA.

144. 144 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Stoney Richardson, conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA. 19 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

145. 145 Intelligence Summary no. 418, Operational Order no. 324, 334 [German] Inf Div (trans.), app. C, XIII British Corps WD (June 1944), box 341, WO 170, TNA and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 465–66.

146. 146 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 466 and n., 466 and Pratt, 1 Canadian Armoured Brigade, 54.

147. 147 1 Cdn Armd Bde Intelligence Summary no. 104, app. A, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1944), LAC. This was the translation of an appraisal of the situation made by Gen. Heidrich of the 1st Parachute Division on 25 May.

148. 148 21–22 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Stoney Richardson, conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA.

149. 149 23 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 22 and 24–28 June 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

150. 150 1 Cdn Armoured Bde Intelligence Summary, no. 115 [up to 6 July 1944], app. 6, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (July 1944), LAC.

151. 151 Intelligence summary no. 423 [orders from Field Marshall Kesselring (trans.)], app. A, XIII British Corps WD (June 1944), box 341, WO 170, TNA.

152. 152 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 467–69 and 28 and 29 June 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

153. 153 1 Cdn Armoured Bde Intelligence Summary no. 114 (up to 3 July 1944), app. 6, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (July 1944), LAC.

154. 154 29 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

155. 155 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Stoney Richardson, conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA and 14CAR—Personnel, Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Ritchie, Fred, reminiscences, KOCRA. Richardson emphasized the generous help of many local farmers when their rations were pinched. But in too many cases the soldiers were thoughtless. They should have realized that when civilians fled into the hills to escape the fighting, they simply left their livestock behind, hoping when they returned the animals, on which their livelihood depended, would still be there. It would never have been tolerated in France, Belgium or Holland, but officers generally looked the other way in Italy. See Vance, Maple Leaf Empire, 199.

156. 156 29 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

157. 157 Naturally, both Canadian tank units blamed the other for the foul-ups. Pratt, 1 Canadian Armoured Brigade, 142.

158. 158 Sitreps, undated, 12th British Brigade WD (July 1944), box 549, WO 170, TNA and Report no. 160, Historical Section, Operations of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in Italy May 1944 to February 1945, Pt. 2, 3 Jun–1 Sep 1944, folder 148.22 B1 (D1), DHH. As embarrassing as they were, the attackers’ woes didn’t match the difficulties faced by the terrified Italian villagers occupying these communities, huddling where they could while the fighting raged around them.

159. 159 This was the first operable Panther (Panzer Mk V) the regiment had damaged in Italy, and probably the first they had engaged, despite crews seeing the formidable tanks (and even more formidable Tigers) everywhere.

160. 160 30 June 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 470–71 and 29 and 30 June 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

161. 161 On German morale in the sector, as gauged from prisoners of war, see 1st Cdn Armoured Brigade Intelligence Summary No. 107, 16 Jun 1944, app. 1, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (June 1944), LAC.

162. 162 1 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

163. 163 1 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

164. 164 Report no. 160, Historical Section, Operations of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in Italy May 1944 to February 1945, Pt. 2, 3 Jun–1 Sep 1944, folder 148.22 B1 (D1), DHH. 2 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; 2 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 471. This bare description hardly does justice to Kreger’s heroism. Though under mortar and machine gun fire, he exited his Stuart to personally inspect all three bridges, and in one case with two crewmates, Tprs. Nick Mitruk and Paddy O’Neill, held off German demolition parties with a Bren gun for half an hour while engineers were brought forward. Kreger won a DCM. Calgary Herald, 31 July 1944, 11.

165. 165 Calgary Tanks Keep Germans Running in Italy, Calgary Herald, 25 Jul 1944, 1.

166. 166 2 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. The railhead for resupply was still Cassino, so thoroughly had Allied air power devastated the Italian rail net as well as port facilities north of Naples. Report no. 160, Historical Section, Operations of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in Italy May 1944 to February 1945, Pt. 2, 3 Jun–1 Sep 1944, folder 148.22 B1 (D1), DHH.

167. 167 12th Inf Bde Intm Summary no. 46, period 3–8 July, app., 14th Armoured Brigade WD (July 1944), LAC.

168. 168 4 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 3 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 471.

169. 169 4 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 12th Inf Bde Intm Summary no. 46, period 3–8 July, app., 14th Armoured Brigade WD (July 1944), LAC.

170. 170 The Panzerfaust was hastily improvised mid-war to give German infantry a simple but devastatingly effective close-in anti-tank and bunker-busting weapon. Its very limited range made it a suicide weapon against tanks which had infantry in close support. The Panzerschreck (colloquially, the Ofenrohr or “smokestack”) was developed from and a more powerful version of the American-designed Bazooka, but as the name suggests, gave away its position when fired. Both weapons were used to ambush Allied tanks, usually from the side or rear where their armour was thinner. Recoilless Anti-Tank Grenade (undated), app. J, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (July 1944), LAC; Intelligence Summary no. 415, Extracts from Various Reports on Weapons in Use by 1 Para Regt, XIII British Corps WD (June 1944), box 341, WO 170, TNA; and Morale in 356 [German] Inf Div, 8th Indian Division Intelligence Summary no. 140, undated, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1944), LAC.

171. 171 5 July 1944, 14th Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. 12th Inf Bde Intel Summary no. 46, period 3–8 July, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (July 1944), LAC. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 472.

172. 172 6 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

173. 173 12th Inf Bde Intel Summary no. 46, period 3–8 July, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (July 1944), LAC. 12 Inf Bde Information Summary no. 46, 3–8 July 44, 12 British Brigade WD (July 1944), box 549, WO 170, TNA. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 472–73.

174. 174 7 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 6 and 7 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

175. 175 9 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 8 July 1944,14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; 8 and 9 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; and Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Stoney Richardson, conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA.

176. 176 27 June 1944, CBC War Correspondent Scripts 1944, no. 2, box 20, folder 8, Peter Stursberg Papers, MG31 D78, LAC.

177. 177 10 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. On collaborating with partisans for the first time, see 4 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD and various other entries in early July and 4 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. For many Canadian soldiers “the Italian [civilian] continues to be anything but popular,” as an army censorship report noted with understatement. Extracts from CMP Appreciation & Censorship Report No. 52 for Period 1–15 Sep 44 Inclusive, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1945), LAC. 14–21 August 1944, 19th Indian Brigade WD (August 1944), box 18871, WO 169, TNA.

178. 178 For a very thorough examination, see 12 Inf Bde Information Summary no. 50, 15–17 July 1944, 12th British Brigade WD (July 1944), box 559, WO 170, TNA.

179. 179 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 473 and 16 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

180. 180 15–17 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 16 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

181. 181 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 473.

182. 182 16 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

183. 183 8th Indian Division Training Instruction no. 7, 30 July 1944 (Maj.-Gen. Russell), 8th Indian Division WD (August 1944), box 18798, WO 169, TNA. This was another instance of the British Army following a dubious practice with inferior results for its combined arms operations. When possible, the US Army (and the Free French forces) followed the far more sensible approach of assigning individual independent tank battalions to the same infantry units so that familiarity was established.

184. 184 18 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. In fact, A Squadron was matched with 1/Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, B Squadron with 6/13 Frontier Force Rifles and C Squadron with the 3/8 Punjabs, the exact pairings of May. 19 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 22 and 23 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

185. 185 Maj. Fred Ritchie spoke for his fellow officers when he pointed to the professionalism and extensive combat experience the 8th Indian Division brought to their tasks, as well as the impressive quality of their staff officers, an area in which the Canadian Army was still feeling its way. 14CAR—Personnel, Q-R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Ritchie, Fred, reminiscences, KOCRA.

186. 186 19 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. In a message to Brig. Murphy, Maj.-Gen. Alfred Ward, the 4th Division’s commanding officer, acknowledged the three regiments’ “sterling work” and “splendid determination and fighting spirit.” Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 475.

187. 187 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 473–75.

188. 188 20–21 and 22 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 475. C Squadron was temporarily assigned to 21st Indian Brigade, meaning all three squadrons would be committed to action simultaneously.

189. 189 22 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

190. 190 22 and 23 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 476. Although the Indian Army’s priority was building up its forces to fight the Japanese, the three divisions in Italy were not suffering from a shortage of Indian reinforcements, though once the men arrived in theatre, they had to spend additional time in mountain warfare training. That said, given the Indian Army’s unique organization along ethnic and caste lines, there were often problems with having the right mix of reinforcements at hand. The far larger problem was reinforcing the British component—one-third of the infantry, most of the field artillery and many of the technical specialists in an Indian infantry division in theatre were British, and with the British Army desperately short of reinforcements of every description, units in Italy had a very low priority. Furthermore, for language reasons replacing British junior officers serving in Indian units was always a challenge, and combat losses from this cadre were inevitably high. Kavanaugh, 10th Indian Division, chapter 4 and appendices 7 and 8.

191. 191 24 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 24 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

192. 192 25 and 28 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. On the Germans’ creativity with booby traps, see 1 Cdn Armoured Bde Intelligence Summary No. 114, covering period up to 3 July 1944, app. 6, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (July 1944), LAC.

193. 193 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 476.

194. 194 26 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 26 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC and 1 Cdn Armoured Bde Intelligence Summary No. 114, covering period up to 3 July 1944, app. 6, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (July 1944), LAC.

195. 195 27–29 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; 19 July 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; and 27 and 28 1944, XIII British Corps WD (July 1944), box 342, WO 170, TNA.

196. 196 31 July 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

197. 197 9 August 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 2 and 8–11 August 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 6 August 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

198. 198 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Stoney Richardson, conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA.

199. 199 The army’s report on morale as gleaned from the censorship for the first two weeks of August highlighted growing problems in the 1st Armoured Brigade, noting that “the majority of personnel, … both officers and men, clearly feel that a leave period is long overdue [given] the length of time they have been performing an operational role. All ranks state bluntly that they are tired, and need a rest.” In the words of one anonymous 14th Regiment trooper: “Our boys are getting pretty sore. We are the only Canadian troops here not in the Canadian Corps and they have all been out on leave at rest camps a long time now. We … are attached directly to a Limey Corps and believe me they sure work us. When the infantry we are working with go out, up come fresh ones and we keep going.” Appreciation and Censorship Report for Period 1–15 Aug 44 Incl., app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1945), LAC. The 1st Armoured Brigade men also shared the growing bitterness felt throughout the Canadian Army over the lack of a mandatory provision of home leave for the long-service men, some of whom had been overseas for over four years. The toll on their marriages was a particular concern. Extracts from Appreciation and Censorship Report No. 49 for Period 16–31 July 44 Inclusive, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1945), LAC.

Notes to chapter 8

1. 1 25 August 1944, 19th Indian Brigade WD (August 1944), box 188871, WO 169, TNA.

2. 2 17–18 August 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 11–12 and 19–21 August 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

3. 3 20 August 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

4. 4 Pal, Campaign in Italy, 415.

5. 5 23 and 24 August 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

6. 6 25 August 1944, XIII British Corps WD, box 343, WO 170, TNA.

7. 7 26 August 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 25 August 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 25 and 26 August 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. B Squadron crossed on 31 August with the remainder of 8th Indian Division’s infantry.

8. 8 These summits rose about 600 m above sea level, but from the valley bottoms they were formidable obstacles indeed and offered superb observation. The 356th Infantry Division had been badly mauled from the moment it had been inserted into action south of the Trasimene line. Much of its Volksdeutsche element (ethnic Germans born in Eastern Europe) had deserted, with the remainder transferred to the field artillery where suitable opportunities were more limited. Its infantry battalions were a combination of older men combed from the rear echelons and teenagers, predominately German-born. Save for the youngest, these soldiers were described as less fanatic (for the most part) than the parachutists, but capable fighters. Despite their six infantry battalions numbering only about 250 men each, they were now battle-hardened, ably lead, and liberally equipped with anti-tank weapons from Panzerfausts to 88s, along with StuGs and even a few tanks. Tactically it “had shown all the usual German skill.” Intelligence Summary no. 444, Morale in 356 Inf Div, app., XIII British Corps WD (August 1944), box 343, WO 170, TNA.

9. 9 27 August 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 27 and 28 August 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. 28 August 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. Captured German documents expressed awe over the unrelenting volume, not to mention accuracy, of British artillery fire, whether supporting attacks or in the counter-battery role. 8th Ind Div Intelligence Summary no. 138, 1 August 1944, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1944), LAC.

10. 10 31 August 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; 1 September 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; and Report on Operations of 14 CAR (Calgary Regt) for Period 21 Jul to 30 Nov 44, Capt, R. T. Currelly, 12 December 1944, folder 141.4 A1 4013 (D1), DHH. Currelly was a historical officer, but the report was revised by Lt.-Col. Richardson, as was the practice.

11. 11 1 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 30 August and 1 September 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 485–86.

12. 12 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 487–92.

13. 13 As partisan activity increased, German reprisals against the civilian population were merciless. “Maximum severity” was the army’s official policy, with large numbers of hostages taken and shot, and whole villages burned to the ground on mere suspicion of partisan sympathies. Italian Fascist militias also carried out reprisals. Operations against Partisans, order no. 2, I Parachute Corps, 20 July 1944 [trans.], app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (August 1944), LAC.

14. 14 1–5 and 7–8 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Report on Operations of 14 CAR (Calgary Regt) for Period 21 Jul to 30 Nov 44, Capt. R. T. Currelly, 12 December 1944, folder 141.4 A1 4013 (D1), DHH. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 531

15. 15 10 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

16. 16 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 597–98.

17. 17 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 598.

18. 18 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 598. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 495–97 and Director of Public Relations/War Department (India), One More River, 28.

19. 19 Operations of British, Indian and Dominion Forces in Italy—XIII Corps in Northern Apennines, Part III: The Campaign in the Northern Apennines (10 Aug 1944 to 1 Apr 1945), Section G: 13 Corps in the Mountains, undated (April 1945), 17, box 7520, WO 204, TNA and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 598–600.

20. 20 12 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 11 and 12 September 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

21. 21 13 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Report on Gothic Line Positions Area M Veruca and M Citerna, Capt. J. L. Whitton, B Sqn., 18 September 1944, app. 6, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (September 1944), LAC and 13 September 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. British and Indian reports say much less about the fire support given by the tanks than the Calgary Regiment’s war diary does, stressing that they aided the infantry when they could whereas the field artillery (and mortars) were there every day. Information log, 18 September 1944, XIII British Corps WD (September 1944), box 346, WO 170, TNA and Pal, Campaign in Italy, 433–34 and 514–20.

22. 22 Report on Operations of 14 CAR (Calgary Regt) for period 21 Jul to 30 Nov 1944, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1945), LAC.

23. 23 18 September 1944, 17th Indian Brigade WD (September 1944), box 18867, WO 169, TNA.

24. 24 Operational Instruction no. 18, 15 September 1944, app., XIII British Corps WD (September 1944), box 345, WO 170, TNA.

25. 25 15 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 18 September 1944 and various other entries as well as Sitrep (situation reports) for September, 17th Indian Brigade WD (September 1944), box 18867, WO 169, TNA. The 25-pounder gun/howitzers could be towed into position by wheeled vehicles, conquering steeper grades and causing less damage to the roads, especially in muddy conditions.

26. 26 13 and 16 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; 15–18 September 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; and Pal, Campaign in Italy, 435–36. Pal notes that the greater utility of towed artillery was anticipated.

27. 27 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 600 and 13 Corps Intelligence Summary no. 462, 17 Sep 1944, app., XIII British Corps WD (September 1944), box 345, WO 170, TNA. By this stage, most German battalions had from (rarely) 400 men to fewer than 100. The average was about 250, or less than a third of the average Indian battalion and less than half of the average British. 13 Corps Intelligence Summary no. 465, 25 September 1944, app., XIII British Corps WD (September 1944), box 345, WO 170, TNA.

28. 28 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 601–02; 20 September 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; and Director of Public Relations/War Department (India), One More River, 10 and 30.

29. 29 17 and 18 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Richardson was soon off to Rome on a week’s leave himself.

30. 30 21 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 19–20 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 19 and 25 September 1944, 17th Indian Brigade WD (September 1944), box 18867, WO 169, TNA and Operations of British, Indian and Dominion Forces in Italy—XIII Corps in Northern Apennines, Part III: The Campaign in the Northern Apennines (10 Aug 1944 to 1 Apr 1945), Section G: 13 Corps in the Mountains, undated (April 1945), 26–27, box 7520, WO 204, TNA. When interrogated, German POWs listed severe weather, exhaustion, artillery fire which seemed to never end, and indifferent food as the major causes of their misery. For those facing Indian units, fear of being captured was always added to the list. Intelligence Review no. 31, 31 October 1944, 21st Indian Brigade WD (October 1944), box 18880, WO 169, TNA. “Spontaneous” retreats had become such a serious problem with some German units that Kesselring ordered soldiers withdrawing without authorization be shot on the spot. Intelligence Summary no. 468, 8 October 1944, XIII British Corps WD (October 1944), box 347, WO 170, TNA.

31. 31 25 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 24 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and WO 204, v 7520, Operations of British, Indian and Dominion Forces in Italy—XIII Corps in Northern Apennines Part III: The Campaign in the Northern Apennines (10 Aug 1944 to 1 Apr 1945), Section G: 13 Corps in the Mountains (undated April 1945), 57, box 7520, WO 204, TNA.

32. 32 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 602–03; 26–29 September 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; and 28 and 29 September 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

33. 33 3–7 October 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

34. 34 Report on Operations of 14 CAR (Calgary Regt) for Period 21 Jul to 30 Nov 44, Capt. R. T. Currelly, 12 December 1944, folder 141.4 A1 4013 (D1), DHH and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 603.

35. 35 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Stoney Richardson, conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA. 9–11 October 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

36. 36 13 and 17–20 October 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; various entries including 17–20 October 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; and Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Stoney Richardson, conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA.

37. 37 22 October 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

38. 38 17 Ind Inf Bde Operational order no. 41, 22 Oct 1944, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (October 1944), LAC. 22 and 23 October 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

39. 39 26–28 October 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC and Report on Operations of 14 CAR (Calgary Regt) for period 21 Jul to 30 Nov 44, Capt. R. T. Currelly, 12 December 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (December 1944), LAC. Operations of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in Italy, May 1944 to February 1945, Pt. 3, The Gothic Line, Historical Section, box 6920, RG 24, LAC; Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 605 and 1 December 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Being dependent on mules was not as bad as having no mules to be dependent upon, which was the enemy’s predicament. WO 169, v 18879, WD 21 Ind Bde Sep 1944, 21 Ind Inf Bde Intelligence Review no. 27, 15 Sep 1944, 21st Indian Brigade WD (September 1944), box 18879, WO 169, TNA.

40. 40 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 605. 28 October and 1–5 November 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

41. 41 WO 169, v 18799, WD 8 Ind Div Dec 1944, 8 Ind Div Planning Note no. 35, 8 December 1944, 8th Indian Division WD (December 1944), box 18799, WO 169, TNA.

42. 42 18 November 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. Indian soldiers were hardly in a better position when it came to leave, and censor reports revealed considerable dissatisfaction with British failures to deliver on earlier promises. Kavanagh, 10th Indian Division, 121–38. Pt. 1 order no. N-75, 19 November 1944, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (November 1944), LAC.

43. 43 21 November 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 10–18 November 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; 13, 16 and 17 November 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; and 8 Ind Div Intelligence Summary no. 164, 5 November 1944, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (November 1944), LAC.

44. 44 27 and 30 November 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. An indicator of declining morale over the previous weeks had been a marked rise in looting and other disciplinary offences throughout all Canadian units, and by officers as well as men. Pt. 1 order N-77, 23 November 1944, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (November 1944), LAC. Under orders himself, Richardson had everyone in his command read or hear read out Lt.-Gen. McCreery’s message of 25 November where the Eighth Army’s commander sternly denounced looting, often from abandoned homes and farms, pointing to the conditions of poverty and hunger endured by Italian peasants and villagers as a direct consequence of the fighting and to their willingness to shelter escaped prisoners as well as provide intelligence, both at the risk of their lives. Allied forces bore a moral responsibility to treat these people justly. Pt. 1 order N-81, 3 December 1944, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (December 1944), LAC.

45. 45 Balzer, Information Front, 50–51.

46. 46 Balzer, Information Front, 47. Balzer, Information Front, chapter 2.

47. 47 Sweazey, “Broadcasting Canada’s War.” Balzer, Information Front, 47 and chapter 2.

48. 48 Calgary Herald, 9 May 1944, 6.

49. 49 These many references made it clear just how diverse the provinces of origin—and diluted the initial Alberta character of the regiment—had become after the heavy Dieppe losses.

50. 50 Calgary Herald, 16 May 1944, 1. Calgary Herald, 18 May 1944, 1 and 3 and 25 May 1944, 1.

51. 51 Calgary Herald, 25 July 1944, 1 and 31 July 1944, 11.

52. 52 Stursberg to Bert Powley, 13 June 1944, War Correspondent—Italy CBC 1944—messages, box 20, folder 6, Peter Stursberg Papers, MG31 D78, LAC. Connor Sweazey generously shared this material from the Stursberg Papers.

53. 53 24 June 1944, CBC War Correspondent Scripts 1944, no. 2, box 20, folder 8, Peter Stursberg Papers, MG31 D78, LAC.

54. 54 6 July 1944, CBC War Correspondent Scripts 1944, no. 2, box 20, folder 8, Peter Stursberg Papers, MG31 D78, LAC.

55. 55 6 July 1944, CBC War Correspondent Scripts 1944, no. 2, box 20, folder 8, Peter Stursberg Papers, MG31 D78, LAC.

56. 56 19 July 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and box 14CAR016—Italy (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001, transcript of BBC report from Italy, 22 January 1945, KOCRA.

57. 57 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 654–56. 10 December 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. It was little wonder Russell’s command were worn out—the division had been continually in action since 21 July, the Calgary Regiment being with them the whole time.

58. 58 Operations—complimentary, no. 401/G, 29 November 1944, 17th Indian Brigade WD (November 1944), box 18867, WO 169, TNA.

59. 59 12 December 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 10 and 13 December 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 8 December 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. For the time being B Squadron remained in Modigliana, about 20 kms to the northwest, supporting the 1/5 Gurkhas.

60. 60 War Office Conferences—Standardization and Organization, 1 Nov 44, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1945), LAC. Buckley, British Armour, 96–97, 111 and 168–73. Given the 1st Armoured Brigade rarely faced anything more formidable than a StuG, inadequate numbers of Fireflies didn’t have the consequences it did in France. Buckley, British Armour, 107–08.

61. 61 The 17-pounder suffered from a poor HE round until late in the war. This necessitated keeping large numbers of regular Shermans in action. Buckley, British Armour, 176–77.

62. 62 As quoted in Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 643.

63. 63 23 December 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

64. 64 Director of Public Relations/War Department (India), One More River, 26.

65. 65 Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Stoney Richardson, conversations with Dick Maltby, August 1989, KOCRA. Indian units in Italy have never received their due credit. At the time, the British Army tended to consider them less battle-worthy than white troops. Racism definitely played a role. The presence of so many capable British officers, and complete British battalions, in the Indian brigades reassured the Canadians, but the officers and men of the 14th, all of whom had grown up in a society where racism was pervasive and acceptable, deserve credit for opening their eyes.

66. 66 20 February 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. In the aftermath of the Gari fighting, the Three Rivers Regiment accused the Indian battalions of being too eager to take to ground and stay there even when their tank support resumed its advance. This seems so out of character with the Calgary and Ontario Regiments’ experience that it’s hard to know what to make of it. Report no. 158, Operations of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in Italy May 1944 to February 1945, Pt. 1, The Gustav and Hitler Lines, Historical Section, folder 148.22 B1 (D1), DHH.

67. 67 29 December 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. 25 December 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

68. 68 28 and 30 December 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

69. 69 30 December 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. During the most difficult stretches, several members of each crew had to walk ahead of their tank as guides. “This Trip Calgarys Sure to Remember,” Maple Leaf, 16 January 1945, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (January 1945), LAC. About 55 kms from San Donato, the frozen, exhausted column had passed through the lines of the 11th Armoured where they had been greeted with hot tea and sandwiches, welcomed into warm billets and been refuelled—comrades true. 30 December 1944, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. The first 30 kms to Borgo San Lorenzo added 110 kms to the Shermans’ odometers, some indication of the severe ice conditions. Box 14CAR016—Italy (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 001, transcript of report broadcast on CBC News Roundup, 22 January 1945, KOCRA. This was simply copied from a piece written by Lt. P. S. Millar, the regiment’s intelligence officer, for Maple Leaf.

70. 70 Pt. 1 orders, no. 1, Brig. W. C. Murphy to Lt.-Col. C. A. Richardson, 2 January 1945, app. A, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (January 1945), LAC.

71. 71 31 December 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

72. 72 31 December 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The casualties suffered in 1944 included twelve officers and twenty-one other ranks known to have been killed or died of their wounds, with five other ranks still listed as missing/presumed killed. Another twenty officers and 113 men had been wounded, one of the latter having been taken prisoner. All told, this constituted one-quarter of their nominal strength. 31 December 1944, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

73. 73 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 651–52.

74. 74 Maj. B. W. Bill Malcolm, the author’s father-in-law, served as one of their battery commanders throughout 1944.

75. 75 Richardson to OC 4th Mahratta A/Tank Regiment, 22 January 1945, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (January 1945), LAC. 2, 6 and 10 January 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. The M10 was also part of Canadian armoured regiments’ vehicle establishment.

76. 76 8 January 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

77. 77 31 January 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 24, 26 and 29 January 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment, LAC and 23–25 January 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

78. 78 Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 656–63.

79. 79 Tanks in the Po Valley, Maj. D. W. Davidson, undated (early February 1945), app. 6, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (February 1945), LAC.

80. 80 1–7 February 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 31 January 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

81. 81 20 February 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 15 and 16 February 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 14 February 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

82. 82 18 February 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

83. 83 22, 24–26 and 28 February 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. On the strict security measures, 14 Cdn Arm Regt ADM Instr No. 1, 23 February 1945, app. 5, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (February 1945), LAC.

84. 84 3 March 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

85. 85 31 March 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The brigade war diary was rather less negative about the Italian experience, perhaps inevitably so given that while its headquarters personnel could appreciate the bigger picture and what had been achieved, they hadn’t endured the miserable conditions that officers and men in fighting units had. 1 March 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. 1–6 March 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC; and Nicholson, Canadians in Italy, 662–63.

86. 86 Box 14CAR—George Thring Papers (14th Armoured Regiment), folder George Thring, My Life’s Story, KOCRA.

87. 87 6–8 March 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

88. 88 9 and 10 March 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

89. 89 10 March 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 14 March 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

90. 90 Brig. Murphy’s speech to his officers immediately upon their arrival in Belgium reinforced the new reality as to how the Canadian Army must now treat civilians. He reminded them that Belgians had been oppressed by the Nazis for four long years, and that many had resisted them and suffered greatly for doing so. “It was definitely laid down,” the war diary emphasized, “that all personnel would be instructed as to the change of atmosphere and attitude in this new theatre [author’s emphasis].” His points were well taken and no doubt sincere, but inadvertently confirm that the underlying sentiments on display in Italy were not just embraced by tank crewmen purloining pigs or squadron officers refusing to discipline them for it but were found farther up the chain of command. 16 March 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

91. 91 15 March 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The rest of the brigade’s units felt just as welcomed in the nearby communities where they stayed. 10 and 12 March 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

92. 92 The establishment of the armoured regiments was now sixty-three tanks—thirty-one Shermans with 75-mm guns, eight with 105-mm howitzers and twenty-four Fireflies. 17 March 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

93. 93 15, 17 and 28–29 March 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Pt. 1 orders no. 14, 16 March 1945, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (March 1945), LAC.

94. 94 Vance, Objects of Concern, 176. Various reasons were and continue to be offered for this evacuation policy, including preserving the prisoners as bargaining chips, executing them later as reprisals for Allied war crimes (e.g. the bombing of German cities), or simply to be marched to death, reprisal by other means. The prisoners were part of the sea of German civilian refugees fleeing from Central and Eastern Europe during this same period. Almost no officer prisoners were involved in the marches, the Germans leaving them in their regular camps.

95. 95 Box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis, The March through Germany (memoir), KOCRA and box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA.

96. 96 Morton to parents, 23 January 1945, box 14CAR—Personnel M (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Morton, Forbes, Kriegsgelangenenpost and letters to his parents, 1942–45, KOCRA.

97. 97 Box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis, The March through Germany (memoir), KOCRA. During the last months of the war, the International Red Cross, mostly through its Swedish organization, obtained the approval of the German government (and the co-operation of the Allied Powers) to operate convoys of trucks and buses which would bring succour to and in some cases remove from danger prisoners of war and civilian internees. The vehicles were painted white so as to be readily identified by prowling Allied ground attack aircraft.

98. 98 Box 14CAR—Personnel C (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA.

99. 99 Box 14CAR—Personnel V–Z (14th Armoured Regiment), folder White, John, Dieppe/POW memoir, KOCRA.

100. 100 Box 14CAR—Personnel V–Z (14th Armoured Regiment), folder White, John, Dieppe/POW memoir, KOCRA.

101. 101 Box 14CAR—Personnel S–U (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Scott, Denis, The March through Germany (memoir), KOCRA.

102. 102 Box CAR14—Personnel Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Richardson, C. V., POW diary (undated), KOCRA.

103. 103 Box 14CAR—Personnel A–B (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Anderson, A. F., A Story or Two as Remembered about Dieppe and Stalag VIII-B, 1942–1945, KOCRA.

104. 104 8 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Stacey, Victory Campaign, 524, 534–44 and 564–68.

105. 105 10 and 11 April 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

106. 106 4, 7–8 and 10–11 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 8 and 9 April 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

107. 107 12 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

108. 108 14 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The first tanks of the Ontario Regiment had managed to get across the Neder Rijn on the morning of 13 April after which they provided close support for the British infantry investing the city. Stacey, Victory Campaign, 571.

109. 109 Stacey, Victory Campaign, 572–81.

110. 110 15 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

111. 111 16 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

112. 112 16 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

113. 113 17 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Descriptive account advance to Ede Apr 16/17 ’45, app. 8, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (April 1945), LAC and 17 April 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

114. 114 17–20, 22–23 and 25–27 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and various entries in late April and 1 May, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. On the cease fire and accompanying negotiations to liberate the remainder of Holland peacefully, see Stacey, Victory Campaign, 581–87.

115. 115 20 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Crews were obsessed with the efficacy of this measure, although wartime tests confirmed it generally made no difference at all. Anecdotally it did, and one could hardly blame men threatened daily with incineration for grasping at any expedient. 16 and 17 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

116. 116 30 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Casualties for the month had been one killed and five wounded. 30 April 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

117. 117 4 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 3 May and 4 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 1st Armoured Brigade WD, 1st Arm Bde, LAC.

118. 118 5 and 6 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. The disarming often saw personal weapons, especially Luger pistols, turn into souvenirs or items to barter with Dutch civilians. The Canadian Army immediately cracked down on both practices. Pt. 1 orders, no. 28, 8 May 1945, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (May 1945), LAC. One German soldier trying to pass himself off as a Dutch civilian picked the wrong checkpoint—Tpr. R. G. Brodeur recognized him as a co-worker on the Chrysler assembly line in Windsor immediately before the war. 30 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

119. 119 8 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 7 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

120. 120 Commanding Officer’s “VE Day” Message, 8 May 1945, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1945), LAC.

121. 121 8 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 9, 11 and 16 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Until they reached the designated concentration areas German soldiers were not disarmed. Given the attitude of the Dutch underground this was probably a wise precaution. Both Murphy and Richardson accepted that the Belgian soldiers with whom they were now collaborating would also have settled scores. 8 May 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC.

122. 122 11 and 12 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

123. 123 Neary, Civvy Street, 281–82. Vance, Maple Leaf Empire, 212. For an analysis of the development, execution and legacy of programs for Canada’s Second World War veterans, see also Neary and Granatstein, eds., Veterans Charter. The Family Allowance Act and the continuation of the Wartime Housing Corporation’s activities into the immediate post-war years, although not designed for veterans per se, greatly benefited this community.

124. 124 20 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 21 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

125. 125 24 and 26 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

126. 126 25 and 27 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Lt.-Col. Stoney Richardson to Elizabeth Rowse, 28 May 1945, 14CAR—Personnel Q–R (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Rowles, J. P., KOCRA.

127. 127 31 May 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

128. 128 1 June 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. In the end, almost 80 percent of the officers and men cast ballots. 12 June 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Pt. 1 orders, no. 26, 2 May 1945 and Brigade orders, no. 71, 2 May 1945, app. 1, 14th Armoured Regiment WD (May 1945), LAC. In a shock to the government with its many veterans initiatives in place, the soldier vote went overwhelming for the CCF and cost Mackenzie King his own seat in Saskatchewan.

129. 129 7–9 and 13 June 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and undated entry, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1945), LAC.

130. 130 It was assumed most of the armoured fighting vehicles would be going to the Pacific, hence the emphasis on having them in top-notch running order. 15 May 1945, 1st Armoured Brigade WD, LAC. Amazingly, two Shermans issued to the regiment in Scotland made it through to VE Day. One was Maj. Bob Taylor’s Alberta, and the other was Calgary which had been holed by an anti-tank gun during the Liri Valley fighting but subsequently repaired to serve as a recovery vehicle. Both had almost 5,000 kms to their credit when turned in. Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Assoc., (June 1991), Stoney Richardson, Stoney’s Story—Home at Last, KOCRA.

131. 131 16, 18 and 19 June 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. As seemed to be the case everywhere in Holland, if local men were not invited to dances along with local women, the latter rarely showed up. 5 July 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

132. 132 Pt. 1 orders, no. 48, 12 June 1945, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (June 1945), LAC; Pt. 1 orders, no. 41, 29 May 1945, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (May 1945), LAC: and Pt. 1 orders, no. 54, 13 June 1945, app., 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1945, LAC. VD infection rates were another complication when it came to relations with the locals. These had soared after the German surrender, despite soldiers being warned that their repatriation would be held back three months. By early July, the Calgary Regiment had the ignominious honour of having the second highest infection rate in the 5th Division, fourteen new cases having been reported during their first nine days at Franeker, though one suspects most of trouble had been gotten into while on leave in Amsterdam. The rate declined steadily during the remainder of the summer. 14 and 25 July 1945 and various entries in August 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. As units demobilized, the regiment was formally attached for a time to the 5th Armoured Division.

133. 133 13 and 14 June 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC; undated entries, 1st Armoured Brigade WD (June 1945), LAC; Stacey, Victory Campaign, 615–17; and Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Assoc., (June 1991), Stoney Richardson, Stoney’s Story—Holland, KOCRA.

134. 134 20 June 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 22 June 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Even with cross-posted replacements, the regiment’s manpower had dropped by about 100 officers and men within a matter of weeks. Field Returns of Other Ranks, 6 July 1945 and Field Return of Officers, 20 July 1945, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (July 1945), LAC.

135. 135 29 June 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

136. 136 On the attitudes of the Franeker civilians, various entries e.g. 18 July 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The previous troops billeted there had not been popular, which didn’t help matters. Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Assoc., (June 1991), Stoney Richardson, Stoney’s Story—Holland, KOCRA.

137. 137 7 and 17 July 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Pt. 1 orders, no. 64, 23 Jul 1945, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (July 1945), LAC.

138. 138 Pt. 1 orders, no. 78, 30 August 1945, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (August 1945), LAC.

139. 139 Various entries July and August 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC and Pt. 1 orders, no. 78, 30 August 1945, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (August 1945), LAC.

140. 140 Granatstein, Canada’s Army, 314.

141. 141 9 August 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 6 August 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

142. 142 18 August 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. Most found themselves temporarily members of the Ontario Regiment or the 8th Reconnaissance Regiment (14th Canadian Hussars) which returned to Saskatchewan. Pt. 1 orders, no. 78, 30 August 1945, app., 14th Armoured Regiment WD (August 1945), LAC.

143. 143 8 September 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. 9 and 10 September 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC.

144. 144 27–30 September 1945, 14th Armoured Regiment WD, LAC. The last entry for the war diary was 30 September 1945.

145. 145 Vance, Objects of Concern, 222–23.

146. 146 Box 14CAR—Personnel (14th Armoured Regiment), folder Craigie, Don, Fred Bagley, Don Craigie and the Ordeal of Dieppe, KOCRA and box 14CAR—Personnel V–Z (14th Armoured Regiment), folder White, John, Dieppe/POW memoir, KOCRA.

147. 147 Box B103-002 (Calgary Rifles), KOCR (RCAC) Museum Historical Overview, KOCRA.

148. 148 Box 14CAR—George Thring Papers (14th Armoured Regiment), folder George Thring, My Life’s Story, KOCRA. Box 14CAR001 (14th Armoured Regiment), folder 011, Onward II, 50/14 Veterans Assoc., (June 1991), Stoney Richardson, Stoney’s Story—Home at Last, KOCRA.

149. 149 Report on Operations of 14 CAR (Calgary Regt) for Period 21 Jul to 30 Nov 44, R. T. Currelly, 12 December 1944, folder 141.4 A1 4013 (D1), DHH. The Historical Section’s reports were reviewed and approved by senior officers, which for portions dealing with 14th Armoured Regiment operations meant Richardson and Murphy.

150. 150 Operations of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in Italy, May 1944 to February 1945, Pt. 3, The Gothic Line, Report no. 175, Historical Section, box 6920, RG 24, LAC. Report on Operations of 14 CAR (Calgary Regt) for Period 21 Jul to 30 Nov 44, R. T. Currelly, 12 December 1944, folder 141.4 A1 4013 (D1), DHH.