by Mark Zuehlke
NOTES
CHAPTER 1 / MILITARY SINS
1 Ron Hurley, interview by author, Vancouver, BC, 4 Oct. 2000.
2 Major J.E. Oldfield, The Westminsters’ War Diary: An Unofficial History of The Westminster Regiment (Motor) in World War II (New Westminster, BC: n.p., 1964), 66–67.
3 Ron Hurley interview.
4 Stan Scislowski, Not All of Us Were Brave (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1997), 174–75.
5 Alex Morrison and Ted Slaney, The Breed of Manly Men: The History of the Cape Breton Highlanders (Toronto: The Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, 1994), 174.
6 Oldfield, 68–69.
7 Eric Morris, Circles of Hell: The War in Italy, 1943–1945 (New York: Crown Publishers, 1993), 259–64.
8 Albert Kesselring, The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Kesselring, Lynton Hudson (trans.) (London: William Kimber, 1953), 196–97.
9 Morris, 270.
10 Colonel J.H. Green, Cassino 1944: The Battles of Cassino (Cassino: Lamberti Editore, 1989), 5–7.
11 David Hapgood and David Richardson, Monte Cassino (New York: Congdon & Weed, 1984), 211.
12 Green, 5–6.
13 Morris, 281.
14 Hapgood and Richardson, 42–46.
15 Morris, 7.
16 Green, 5.
17 Ibid., 57.
18 Ibid.
19 Morris, 295.
20 Ibid., 299.
21 Field Marshal Harold Alexander, “The Allied Armies in Italy,” National Archives of Canada, n.d., 1.
22 Morris, 16.
23 Ibid., 1.
24 G.W.L. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy: 1939–1945, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1956), 388.
25 Ibid., 463.
26 Ibid., 463–65.
27 Alexander, 4–5.
28 Colonel C.P. Stacey, “Report No. 179 Historical Section Canadian Military Headquarters: Canadian Operations in the Liri Valley, May–June 1944,” 12–13.
29 Fred Majdalany, The Battle of Cassino (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1957), 253–54.
30 Ibid., 253.
31 Morris, 318.
32 Kesselring, 191–92.
33 Ibid., 199–200.
34 Morris, 315.
35 Ibid., 319.
CHAPTER 2 / THE UNWANTED
CANADIANS
1 G.W.L. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy: 1943–1945, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1956), 341–48.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Daniel G. Dancocks, The D-Day Dodgers: The Canadians in Italy, 1943–1945. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1991), 18–19.
5 J.A. Granatstein, The Generals: The Canadian Army’s Senior Commanders in the Second World War (Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, 1993), 102–3.
6 Ibid., 157–58.
7 Dominick Graham, The Price of Command: A Biography of General Guy Simonds (Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, 1993), 60–62.
8 Ibid., 109–10.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid., 110–12.
11 Nigel Hamilton, Master of the Battlefield: Monty’s War Years, 1942–1944 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983), 150.
12 Ibid., 177.
13 Richard S. Malone, A Portrait of War: 1939–1943 (Don Mills, ON: Collins Publishers, 1983), 196–97.
14 Ibid., 197–98.
15 Ibid., 214–15.
16 Ibid., 215.
17 Dancocks, 208.
18 Dan Nikiforuk, interview by author, Sidney, BC: 27 Dec. 2000.
19 W.B. Fraser, Always a Strathcona (Calgary: Comprint Publishing, 1976), 148.
20 Nicholson, 357–59.
21 Crerar Papers, MG30 E157, vol. 7, 958C. 001 (D180), National Archives of Canada, 10 Dec. 1943.
22 Malone, 199–200.
23 Crerar Papers, 17 Dec. 1943.
24 Ibid., 21 Dec. 1943.
25 Hamilton, 476.
26 Vokes Papers, Royal Military College of Canada Massey Library, “The Adriatic Front — Winter 1944, n.p.
27 Ibid., 9.
28 Granatstein, 107.
29 Nicholson, 355.
30 Ibid., 357.
31 Ibid., 363.
32 Ibid., 364.
CHAPTER 3 / BAPTISM OF FIRE
1 Stanley Scislowski, Not All of Us Were Brave (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1997), 104.
2 Ibid., 109.
3 Strome Galloway, interview by author, Ottawa, ON, 6 May 2000.
4 Vokes Papers, Royal Military College of Canada Massey Library, “The Adriatic Front — Winter 1944,” n.p.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Major General George Kitching, Mud and Green Fields: The Memoirs of Major General George Kitching (Langley, BC: Battleline Books, 1985), 186–87.
8 Ibid., 183.
9 Scislowski, 112–13.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid., 113–14.
12 G.W.L. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy: 1943–1945, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1956), 367.
13 Ibid.
14 Donald Creighton, interview by author, Vancouver, BC: 4 Oct. 2000.
15 Nicholson, 367.
16 Scislowski, 114–15.
17 Ibid., 114–16.
18 Nicholson, 371.
19 Ibid., 368–69.
20 Scislowski, 117.
21 Kitching, 187.
22 Charles Prieur, “Chronicles of The Three-Rivers Regiment (Tank) at War: Period 1939–1945” (unpub. MS, n.d., possession of the author), 144.
23 Scislowski, 118–19.
24 Nicholson, 369–70.
25 Alex Morrison and Ted Slaney, The Breed of Manly Men: The History of the Cape Breton Highlanders (Toronto: The Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, 1994), 144–45.
26 Kitching, 188–89.
27 Nicholson, 370–71.
28 Prieur, 146.
29 Galloway interview.
30 Scislowski, 130–31.
31 Vokes, n.p.
32 Captain J.W. Spurr, “Report No. 111B Historical Section Canadian Military Headquarters: Situation of the Canadian Military Forces Overseas, Spring 1944,” Department of National Defence, n.d., n.p.
33 Nicholson, 375–79.
34 Daniel G. Dancocks, The D-Day Dodgers: The Canadians in Italy, 1943–1945 (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1991), 213.
35 Vokes, n.p.
36 Don Smith, correspondence with author, 15 Aug. 2000.
37 Strome Galloway, Sicily to the Siegfried Line: Being Some Random Memories and a Diary of 1944–1945 (Kitchener, ON: Arnold Press, n.d.), 11–12.
CHAPTER 4 / FRUSTRATED AMBITIONS
1 G.W.L. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy: 1943–1945, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1956), 380.
2 Chris Vokes, Vokes: My Story (Ottawa: Gallery, 1985), 147.
3 Daniel G. Dancocks, The D-Day Dodgers: The Canadians in Italy, 1943–1945 (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1991), 212.
4 Vokes, Vokes: My Story, 147.
5 Vokes Papers, Royal Military College of Canada Massey Library, “The Adriatic Front — Winter 1944,” n.p.
6 Nicholson, 378 ff.
7 Vokes papers, n.p.
8 Strome Galloway, Sicily to the Siegfried Line: Being Some Random Memories and a Diary of 1944–1945 (Kitchener, ON: Arnold Press, n.d.), 13.
9 Captain J.W. Spurr, “Report No. 111B Historical Section Canadian Military Headquarters: Situation of the Canadian Military Forces Overseas, Spring 1944,” Department of National Defence, n.d., n.p.
10 Ibid.
11 Bert Hoffmeister, interview by B. Greenhous and W. McAndrew transcript, Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, n.d., 78–79.
12 Spurr, n.p.
13 Strome Galloway, interview by author, Ottawa, 6 May 2000.
14 G.W. Stephen Brodsky, God’s Dodger (Sidney, BC: Elysium Publishing, 1993), 203.
15 Galloway interview.
16 Ibid.
17 Lieutenant General E.L.M. Burns, General Mud: Memoirs of Two World Wars (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1970), 133.
18 Ibid., ix–x.
1
9 J.A. Granatstein, The Generals: The Canadian Army’s Senior Commanders in the Second World War (Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, 1993), 118–26.
20 Ibid., 132.
21 Dominick Graham and Shelford Bidwell, Tug of War: The Battle for Italy, 1943–1945 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986), 254.
22 Ibid.
23 Bert Hoffmeister, interview by Greenhous and McAndrew transcript, 76.
24 Vokes papers, n.p.
25 Ibid.
26 Galloway interview.
27 Burns, 135–36.
28 Bert Hoffmeister, interview by Greenhous and McAndrew, 80.
29 Ibid., 79.
30 Ibid., 81–82.
CHAPTER 5 / DECEPTIONS
1 Colonel C.P. Stacey, “Report No. 179 Historical Section Canadian Military Headquarters: Canadian Operations in the Liri Valley,” Department of National Defence, n.d., 15.
2 G.W.L. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy: 1943–1945, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1956), 392.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Albert Kesselring, The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Kesselring, Lynton Hudson (trans.) (London: William Kimber, 1953), 198.
6 Field Marshal Harold Alexander, “The Allied Armies in Italy,” vol. 3. National Archives of Canada, n.d., 9.
7 Ralph Bennett, Ultra and Mediterranean Strategy: 1944–1945 (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1989), 276.
8 Stacey, 16.
9 Ibid., 15–16.
10 Alexander, 9.
11 Patrick D. Harrison, interview with author, Sidney, BC, 23 Aug. 2000.
12 Kim Beattie, Dileas: History of the 48th Highlanders of Canada: 1929–1956 (Toronto: 48th Highlanders of Canada, 1957), 518.
13 Jim Quinn, “Gari River and the Gustav Line & Hitler Lines,” Onward II: The Informal History of the Calgary Regiment, 14th Canadian Armoured Regiment, Dick and Jessie Maltby (eds.) (Vancouver: 50 / 14 Veterans’ Association, 1989), n.p.
14 Harrison interview.
15 Major G.D. Mitchell, RCHA — Right of the Line: An Anecdotal History of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery from 1871 (Ottawa: RCHA History Committee, 1986), 123.
16 Victor Bulger, correspondence with author, 6 Oct. 2000.
17 Ibid.
18 Brigadier E.A. McCusker, “Medical History of the War: 1 Canadian Corps, 1 April 1944–30 June 1944.” RG24, Vol. 10779, National Archives of Canada, 9.
19 Bulger correspondence.
20 Harrison interview.
21 Alexander, 9.
22 Stacey, 19–20.
23 Ibid., 21.
24 Nicholson, 399.
25 W.G.F. Jackson, Alexander of Tunis: As Military Commander (London: B.T. Batsford, 1971, 282–83.
26 Martin Blumenson, Mark Clark: The Last of the Great World War II Commanders (New York: Congdon & Weed, 1984), 201–2.
27 Tony Foster, Meeting of Generals (Agincourt, ON: Methuen Publications, 1986), 418.
28 J.A. Granatstein, The Generals: The Canadian Army’s Senior Commanders in the Second World War (Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, 1993), 133.
29 Lt. Gen. E.L.M. Burns, General Mud: Memoirs of Two World Wars (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1970), 142–43.
30 1 Canadian Corps War Diary, May 1944, 1, National Archives of Canada.
31 1 Canadian Corps War Diary, May 1944, Appendix 1, Page 1, National Archives of Canada.
32 Tony Poulin, correspondence with author, 8 Sept. 2000.
33 Dan Nikiforuk, interview by author, Sidney, BC, 27 Dec. 2000.
34 1 Canadian Corps War Diary, May 1944, Appendix 1, p. 1.
35 Ibid.
36 Terry Copp and William McAndrew, Battle Exhaustion (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1990), 77–78.
37 Vokes Papers, Royal Military College of Canada Massey Library, “The Adriatic Front — Winter 1944,” n.p.
CHAPTER 6 / A JUST AND RIGHTEOUS CAUSE
1 Colonel C.P. Stacey, “Report No. 158 Historical Section Canadian Military Headquarters: Operations of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in Italy: May 1944 to February 1945 — Part I, The Gustav and Hitler Lines,” Department of National Defence, n.d., 7.
2 John Ellis, Cassino: The Hollow Victory: The Battle for Rome, January–June 1944 (London: Andre Deutsch, 1984), 67–68.
3 G.W.L. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy: 1943–1945, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1956), 395.
4 Ellis, 68–69.
5 Nicholson, 396.
6 Ellis, 68–69.
7 Three Rivers Regiment (12 CAR) War Diary, May 1944, Sheet No. 24, National Archives of Canada.
8 Ibid., Sheets No. 25–26.
9 Ibid., Sheet No. 26.
10 Stacey, 7–10.
11 Gwilym Jones, To the Green Fields Beyond: A Soldier’s Story (Burnstown, ON: General Store Publishing, 1993), 80.
12 Ibid.
13 Three Rivers Regiment (12 CAR) War Diary, Sheets No. 28–29.
14 Ibid., Sheet No. 29.
15 Dominick Graham and Shelford Bidwell, Tug of War: The Battle for Italy, 1943–1945 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986), 258–59.
16 Colonel C.P. Stacey, “Report No. 179 Historical Section Canadian Military Headquarters: Canadian Operations in the Liri Valley,” Department of National Defence, 25 July 1947, 23.
17 Ellis, 280.
18 Ralph Bennett, Ultra and Mediterranean Strategy: 1944–1945 (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1989), 277.
19 Ellis, 279–80.
20 Bennett, 277–78.
21 Ellis, 282 ff.
22 Ibid., 280.
23 Bennett, 277 ff.
24 Ellis, 281.
25 Ibid.
26 Nicholson, 393.
27 Graham and Bidwell, 265.
28 Nicholson, 398–99.
29 G.S. Branch HQ I Canadian Corps War Diary, May 1944, Appendix A, Intelligence Summary No. 52, National Archives of Canada, n.p.
30 Stephen E. Ambrose, D–Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), 35.
31 Fritz Illi, interview by Major Michael Boire, Sinsheim, Germany, 19 Feb. 1999.
32 John Ellis, Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War (London: Andre Deutsch, 1990), 325.
33 Graham and Bidwell, 269.
34 Ellis, 294.
35 Victor Bulger, correspondence with author, 6 Oct. 2000.
36 Major G.D. Mitchell, RCHA — Right of the Line: An Anecdotal History of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery from 1871 (Ottawa: RCHA History Committee, 1986), 124.
37 Bulger correspondence.
38 Peter Stursberg, CBC Radio broadcast, 11 May 1944, CBC Radio Archives.
39 Strome Galloway, interview by author, Ottawa, 6 May 2000.
40 Patrick Harrison, interview by author, Sidney, BC, 23 Aug. 2000.
41 Bulger correspondence.
42 Mitchell, 124.
43 Peter Stursberg, CBC Radio broadcast, 13 May 1944, CBC Radio Archives.
CHAPTER 7 / AN UNHOLY BALLS-UP
1 John Ellis, Cassino: The Hollow Victory: The Battle for Rome, January–June 1944 (London: Andre Deutsch, 1984), 293–97.
2 Dominick Graham and Shelford Bidwell, Tug of War: The Battle for Italy, 1943–1945 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986), 275.
3 G.W.L. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy: 1943–1945, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1956), 402.
4 Ellis, 293.
5 Fred Majdalany, The Battle of Cassino (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1957), 77.
6 Ellis, 296–98.
7 Fred Ritchie, correspondence with author, Oct. 2000.
8 Ibid.
9 Colonel C.P. Stacey, “Report No. 158 Historical Section Canadian Military Headquarters: Operations of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in Italy: May 1944 to February 1945 — Part I, The Gustav and Hitler Lines,” Department of National Defence, n.d., 10.
10 Cyril Neroutsos, “Background to the Kingsmill Bridge,” Onward II: The Informal History of the Calgary Regiment, 14th Canadian Armoured Regiment, Dick and Jessie Maltby
(eds.) (Vancouver: 50 / 14 Veterans’ Association, 1989), n.p.
11 Tony Kingsmill, correspondence with author, 22 Jan. 2001.
12 Ibid.
13 Neroutsos, n.p.
14 Ian Seymour, “A Bridge Too Soon — For the Germans, That Is,” Onward II: The Informal History of the Calgary Regiment, 14th Canadian Armoured Regiment, Dick and Jessie Maltby (eds.) (Vancouver: 50 / 14 Veterans’ Association, 1989), n.p.
15 Kingsmill correspondence with author.
16 Tony Kingsmill, telephone interview with author, 26 Jan. 2001.
17 Kingsmill correspondence.
18 Stan Kanik, interview by author, Sidney, BC, 9 Aug. 2000.
19 Seymour, Onward II, n.p.
20 Stacey, 12.
21 Seymour, Onward II, n.p.
22 Ibid.
23 Gwilym Jones, To the Green Fields Beyond: A Soldier’s Story (Burnstown, ON: General Store Publishing, 1993), 83.
24 11th Canadian Armoured Regiment War Diary, May 1944, National Archives of Canada, 4.
25 Al Cawsey, “The Gary River and Beyond,” Onward II: The Informal History of the Calgary Regiment, 14th Canadian Armoured Regiment, Dick and Jessie Maltby (eds.) (Vancouver: 50 / 14 Veterans’ Association, 1989), n.p.
26 11th Canadian Armoured Regiment War Diary.
27 Cawsey, n.p.
28 Kanik interview.
29 Jim Quinn, “Gari River and the Gustav & Hitler Lines,” Onward II: The Informal History of the Calgary Regiment, 14th Canadian Armoured Regiment, Dick and Jessie Maltby (eds.) (Vancouver: 50 / 14 Veterans’ Association, 1989), n.p.
30 Ian Seymour, “A Bridge Too Soon,” Esprit de Corps, n.d., 56.
31 Seymour, Onward II, n.p.
32 Kingsmill correspondence.
33 Seymour, Onward II, n.p.
34 Quinn, Onward II, n.p.
35 Graham and Bidwell, 278.
36 Eric Morris, Circles of Hell: The War in Italy, 1943–1945 (New York: Crown Publishers Inc., 1993), 322.
37 Ibid., 216.
38 Major G.D. Mitchell, RCHA — Right of the Line: An Anecdotal History of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery from 1871 (Ottawa: RCHA History Committee, 1986), 124–25.
39 Ibid., 323.
40 Ibid.
41 Graham and Bidwell, 281.
CHAPTER 8 / A MOST SATISFACTORY DAY
1 G.W.L. Nicholson, Canadians in Italy: 1943–1945, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1956), 404.