by Mark Zuehlke
23 Lochie Fulton, interview by Ken MacLeod, Victoria, BC, 9 February 1998.
24 Martin, 4–5.
25 Cleveland interview.
26 Anthony Hopkins, Songs from the Front and Rear: Canadian Servicemen’s Songs of the Second World War (Edmonton, Hurtig Publishers, 1979), 135.
27 Charles Richardson, interview by John Gregory Thompson, London, ON, 30 October 2003.
28 Gerry Purchase and Owen Cooke, “A Rideau Canal Tragedy,” Canadian Military History, Winter 2002, 49–53.
29 Richardson interview.
30 Cleveland interview.
31 Whitsed, 3.
32 Col. C.P. Stacey, The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe, 1944–1945, vol. 3 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1960), 99–100.
33 Choat interview.
34 Bill Bury, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Hamilton, ON, 20 August 2003.
35 Larry Allen, “WWII Diary of L. Allen—The Story of a D-Day Soldier,” 1st Hussars Regimental Museum.
36 Seneco interview.
37 Conron, 51–52.
38 Seneco interview.
39 Conron, 52.
40 Seneco interview.
41 Ralph Burley, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Toronto, 12 August 2003.
12: MERRY HELL
1 Lochie Fulton, interview by Ken MacLeod, Victoria, BC, 9 February 1998.
2 J.H. Hamilton, “Normandy: 1944, Juno Beach,” Perspectives, Alex Kuppers, ed. (Royal Winnipeg Rifles Assoc. British Columbia Branch, 2003), 27.
3 Regina Rifles Regiment War Diary, June 1944, Intelligence Log Appendix, RG24, National Archives of Canada, Sheet 1.
4 Royal Winnipeg Rifles War Diary, June 1944, RG24, National Archives of Canada, 3.
5 Reginald Roy, Ready for the Fray: The History of the Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary’s), 1920 to 1955 (Vancouver: Evergreen Press, 1958), 212.
6 Ibid., 212–13.
7 Canadian Scottish Regiment 1st Battalion, Regiment War Diary, June 1944, Appendix C COY, 1 C. Scot R. 31 May to 6 June 44, RG24, National Archives of Canada, 1–2.
8 Roy, 213.
9 Maj. D.G. Crofton, “‘C’ Company—Landing on D-Day,” Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 1–2.
10 Ibid.
11 Fulton interview.
12 T. Robert Fowler, Valour on Juno Beach: The Canadian Awards for Gallantry, D-Day, June 6, 1944 (Burnstown, ON: General Store Publishing, 1994), 51.
13 A. Brandon Conron, A History of the First Hussars Regiment, 1856–1980 (n.p., 1981), 52–53.
14 Peter Simonds, Maple Leaf Up, Maple Leaf Down: The Story of the Canadians in the Second World War (New York: Island Press, 1946), 147.
15 Jake Miller, “D-Day—June 6, 1944,” Perspectives, 51.
16 Bruce Tascona and Eric Wells, Little Black Devils: A History of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles (Winnipeg: Frye Publishing, 1983), 146.
17 Jim Parks, “Recollections—Excerpts,” Perspectives, 132–33.
18 Jim Parks, interview by Ken MacLeod, Vancouver, November 1997.
19 Fowler, 48.
20 Stewart A.G. Mein, Up the Johns! The Story of the Royal Regina Rifles (North Battleford, SK: Turner-Warwick Publishers, 1992), 111.
21 “The Recollections of the Regina Rifles: N.W. Europe World War 2, June 6, 1944–May 8, 1945,” (n.p., n.d.), n.p.
22 Ronald Gendall Shawcross, interview by Mark C. Hill, 14, 19 June 1985, University of Victoria Special Collections.
23 Mein, 110–11.
24 Shawcross interview.
25 1st Hussars War Diary, June 1944, Appendix 8: Account written by Sgt. Gariépy, RG24, National Archives of Canada, 1.
26 Col. C.P. Stacey, The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe, 1944–1945, vol. 3 (Ottawa: The Queen’s Printer, 1960), 105.
27 Bill Bury, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Hamilton, ON, 20 August 2003.
28 Larry Allen, “WWII Diary of L. Allen—The Story of a D-Day Soldier,” 1st Hussars Regimental Museum.
29 Bury interview.
30 “Recollections of the Regina Rifles,” n.p.
31 Stacey, 105.
32 Mein, 111.
33 “Recollections of the Regina Rifles,” n.p.
34 Fowler, 45.
13: THE REAL THING
1 Gerry Cleveland, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Port Colbourne, ON, 4 November 2003.
2 Will R. Bird, North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment (Fredericton, NB: Brunswick Press, 1963), 206.
3 Cleveland interview.
4 Ibid.
5 Bird, 200–201.
6 Col. C.P. Stacey, The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe, 1944–1945, vol. 3 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1960), 70.
7 Reginald Roy, 1944: The Canadians in Normandy (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1984), 17.
8 Stacey, 70.
9 Charles Richardson, interview by John Gregory Thompson, London, ON, 30 October 2003.
10 Bird, 203.
11 Ibid., 204.
12 R.M. Hickey, The Scarlet Dawn (Campbellton, NB: Tribune Publishers, 1949), 194.
13 Ibid., 194–95.
14 T. Robert Fowler, Valour on Juno Beach: The Canadian Awards for Gallantry, D-Day, June 6, 1944 (Burnstown, ON: General Store Publishing, 1994), 32.
15 Joe Ryan, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Cobourg, ON, 6 November 2003.
16 Ibid.
17 Fowler, 26–27.
18 N.a., Vanguard: The Fort Garry Horse in the Second World War (Doetincham, Holland: Uitgevers–Maatschappij, C. Misset NV, n.d.), 132.
19 Fort Garry Horse War Diary, June 1944, Appendix No. 1, RG24, National Archives of Canada, 2.
20 G.W.L. Nicholson, The Gunners of Canada, vol. 2 (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972), 279–80.
21 Bird, 214.
22 Ibid., 218.
23 Jack Springer, interview by John Gregory Thompson, London, ON, 1 November 2003.
24 Bird, 218.
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid., 218–19.
27 North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment War Diary, June 1944, RG24, National Archives of Canada, 2.
28 Hickey, 196–97.
29 Fowler, 29–30.
30 Springer interview.
31 N.a., The Canadians at War, 1939/45, vol. 2 (Montreal: The Reader’s Digest Assoc. [Canada], 1969), 441–42.
32 Jean E. Portugal, We Were There: The Navy, the Army and the RCAF—A Record for Canada, vol. 4 (Shelburne, ON: The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 1998), 1636.
33 Bird, 217.
34 Bird, 211.
14: GO! GO! GO!
1 N.a., The Canadians at War, 1939/45, vol. 2 (Montreal: The Reader’s Digest Assoc. (Canada), 1969), 442.
2 Roy Whitsed, Canadians: A Battalion at War (Mississauga, ON: Burlington Books, 1996), 4.
3 Rolph Jackson, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Toronto, 2 September 2003.
4 Whitsed, 4–5.
5 Jackson interview.
6 Jean E. Portugal, We Were There: The Navy, the Army and the RCAF—A Record for Canada, vol. 2 (Shelburne, ON: The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 1998), 612.
7 T. Robert Fowler, Valour on Juno Beach: The Canadian Awards for Gallantry, D-Day, June 6, 1944 (Burnstown, ON: General Store Publishing, 1994), 38–39.
8 W.T. Barnard, The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, 1860–1960: One Hundred Years of Canada (Don Mills: Ontario Publishing Co., 1960), 195.
9 Whitsed, 5.
10 Canadians at War, 1939/45, 442.
11 Charles Martin, Battle Diary: From D-Day and Normandy to the Zuider Zee (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1994), 6–7.
12 Bill Bettridge, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Brampton, ON, 14 October 2003.
13 Martin, 8.
14 Bettridge interview.
15 Ibid.
16 Martin, 9–11.
17 Bettridge interview.
18 Martin, 11.
19 Dave Kingston, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Mississauga, ON,
10 September 2003.
20 Portugal, We Were There, vol. 3, 1430–31.
21 Jim McCullough, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Loretto, ON, 9 September 2003.
22 Jack Martin, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Scarborough, ON, 1 October 2003.
23 Kingston interview.
24 G.W.L. Nicholson, The Gunners of Canada, vol. 2 (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972), 279.
25 Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada War Diary, June 1944, RG24, National Archives of Canada, n.p.
26 Dave Fletcher, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Streetsville, ON, 2 September 2003.
27 McCullough interview.
28 Kingston interview.
15: NOTHING FOR SHAME
1 John A. Willes, Out of the Clouds: The History of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion (Port Perry, ON: Port Perry Printing, 1995), 83–84.
2 Brian Nolan, Airborne: The Heroic Story of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in the Second World War (Toronto: Lester Publishing Limited, 1995), 100–101.
3 Dan Hartigan, A Rising of Courage: Canada’s Paratroops in the Liberation of Normandy (Calgary: Drop Zone Publishers, 2000), 251.
4 Nolan, 100.
5 Willes, 77.
6 Hartigan, 154–155.
7 N.a., “Canadian Parachute Battalion in Normandy: Historical Sketch,” 25 September 1952, 145.4013(D4), Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 7.
8 Willes, 78.
9 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion War Diary, June 1944, RG24, National Archives of Canada, 4–5.
10 Napier Crookenden, Dropzone Normandy: The Story of the American and British Airborne Assault on D-Day 1944 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1976), 31.
11 Hartigan, 126.
12 Ibid., 117–18.
13 Ibid., 127–28.
14 Ibid., 129–30.
15 Willes, 80–81.
16 Hartigan, 130–31.
17 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion War Diary, 5.
18 Willes, 81.
19 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion War Diary, 2.
20 John R. Madden, recorded recollections, 1987, University of Victoria Special Collections.
21 Nolan, 98.
22 Madden recollections.
16: IN GOOD FETTLE
1 Walter Warlimont, “The Invasion,” Fighting the Invasion: The German Army at D-Day, David C. Isby, ed. (London: Greenhill Books, 2000), 92.
2 “Campaign in France, 1944: Answers by Gen. Blumentritt to questions submitted by Chester Wilmot,” University of Victoria Special Collections, 2.
3 Ibid.
4 Fritz Krämer, “1st SS Panzer Corps Moves Up to Counterattack,” Fighting the Invasion, David C. Isby, ed., 242.
5 “Campaign in France, 1944: Answers by Gen. Blumentritt,” 2.
6 Tony Foster, Meeting of Generals (Agincourt, ON: Methuen, 1986), 306.
7 Ibid., 2–3.
8 Royal Winnipeg Rifles War Diary, June 1944, RG24, National Archives of Canada, 3.
9 Ibid.
10 John (Jack) McLean, “Remembering D-Day,” Perspectives, Alex Kuppers, ed. (Royal Winnipeg Rifles Assoc. British Columbia Branch, 2003), 56–59.
11 Jack McLean, interview by Ken MacLeod, Vancouver, September 1997.
12 Georges Lecarpentier, interview by author, Courseulles-sur-Mer, 23 May 2003.
13 Maj. D.G. Crofton, “‘C’ Company—Landing on D-Day,” 145.2c4013(D4), Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 1–2.
14 Reginald Roy, Ready for the Fray: The History of the Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary’s), 1920 to 1955 (Vancouver: Evergreen Press, 1958), 221.
15 Crofton, 2.
16 Lt. Col. F.N. Cabeldu, “Battle Narrative of the Normandy Assault and First Counter-Attack,” 145.2c4013(D2), Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 2.
17 Roy, 215.
18 Ibid.
19 Jack Daubs, interview by John Gregory Thompson, London, ON, 9 October 2003.
20 Roy, 215.
21 Capt. P.F. Ramsay, “Battle Narrative: ‘B’ Coy, 1 C Scot R,” 145.2C4(D6), Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 1.
22 Ibid.
23 Cabeldu, 2.
24 Ramsay, 2.
25 Arthur Howard Plows, interview by Chris D. Main, 18, 31 August 1978, University of Victoria Special Collections.
26 Roy, 219–20.
27 Lt. Col. R.H. Webb, “12 Cdn Fd Regt. 23 June 44, Fd Arty in the Assault,” 23 June 1944, Reginald Roy Collection, University of Victoria Special Collections, 1.
28 A. Brandon Conron, A History of the First Hussars Regiment, 1856–1980 (n.p., 1981), 59.
29 Bill McCormick, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Gault, ON, 3 October 2003.
30 G.T. MacEwan, “D Day and the Counter-Attack on Putot-en-Bessin,” 145.C4013(D3), Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 4.
31 Daubs interview.
32 Cabeldu, 2.
33 Conron, 60.
34 MacEwan, 4.
35 Cabeldu, 2.
36 Royal Winnipeg Rifles War Diary, 4.
37 Regina Rifles Regiment, 1st Battalion War Diary, June 1944, RG24, vol. 15198, National Archives of Canada, n.p.
17: AN AWFUL SHAMBLES
1 Col. C.P. Stacey, The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe, 1944–1945, vol. 3 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1960), 109.
2 Le Régiment de la Chaudière War Diary, June 1944 (trans. Tony Poulin from RG24, National Archives of Canada), in possession of the author, n.p.
3 John Marteinson and Michael R. McNorgan, The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps: An Illustrated History (Toronto: Robin Brass Studio, 2000), 239.
4 W.T. Barnard, The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, 1860–1960: One Hundred Years of Canada (Don Mills: Ontario Publishing Co., 1960), 195.
5 Le Régiment de la Chaudière War Diary, n.p.
6 Jack Martin, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Scarborough, ON, 1 October 2003.
7 Ibid.
8 Le Régiment de la Chaudière War Diary, n.p.
9 Jean E. Portugal, We Were There: The Navy, the Army and the RCAF—A Record for Canada, vol. 4 (Shelburne, ON: The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 1998), 1898.
10 Martin interview.
11 Portugal, 1898.
12 G.W.L. Nicholson, The Gunners of Canada, vol. 2 (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972), 279.
13 14th Field Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery War Diary, June 1944, RG24, National Archives of Canada, 4.
14 Le Régiment de la Chaudière War Diary, n.p.
15 Canadian Operations in North-West Europe, June 1944: Extracts from Memoranda (Series 1), “Comments by Brig. K.G. Blackader, Commander 8 CDN INF BDE, as Given to Hist Offr, 24 June 44,” Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 5.
16 Terry Copp and Robert Vogel, Maple Leaf Route: Caen (Alma, ON: Maple Leaf Route, 1983), 56.
17 Ernest Côté, interview by Michael Boire, Ottawa, 14 November 2003.
18 A.J. Kerry and W.A. McDill, History of the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers, vol. 2 (Ottawa: The Military Engineers Assoc. of Canada, 1966), 266–68.
19 Copp and Vogel, 56.
20 Ross Munro, Gauntlet to Overlord: The Story of the Canadian Army (Toronto: Macmillan Co. of Canada, 1946), 64.
21 Peter Hinton, interview by Mark Hill, 22 July 1985, University of Victoria Special Collections.
22 Ibid.
23 Stacey, 101.
24 “The Royal Canadian Navy’s Part in the Invasion,” Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 100–101.
25 Ibid., 94–95.
26 Highland Light Infantry of Canada War Diary, June 1944, RG24, National Archives of Canada, 6.
27 Ibid., 7.
28 Copp and Vogel, 56–58.
29 14th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery War Diary, June 1944, RG24, National Archives of Canada, 3.
30 Portugal, 1883.
31 Canadian Operations in North-West Europe, Jun
e 1944, “Comments by Brig. K.G. Blackader,” 5.
32 T. Robert Fowler, Valour on Juno Beach: The Canadian Awards for Gallantry, D-Day, June 6, 1944 (Burnstown, ON: General Store Publishing, 1994), 59–60.
33 Fort Garry Horse War Diary, June 1944, Appendix 1, RG24, National Archives of Canada, 3.
34 14th Field Regiment, RCA War Diary, 4.
35 Bill McAndrew, Donald E. Graves, and Michael Whitby, Normandy 1944: The Canadian Summer (Montreal: éditions Art Global, 1994), 43.
36 Desmond W. Piers, “HMCSAlgonquin—Operation Neptune,” University of Victoria Special Collections, 5.
37 McAndrew et al., 43.
38 Piers, 5.
39 McAndrew et al., 46.
40 Le Régiment de la Chaudière War Diary, n.p.
41 Jacques Castonguay and Armand Ross, Le Régiment de la Chaudière (Lévis, PQ: n.p., 1983), 245.
18: A FAIRLY RUGGED DAY
1 Col. C.P. Stacey, The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe, 1944–1945, vol. 3 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1960), 111.
2 Will R. Bird, North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment (Fredericton, NB: Brunswick Press, 1963), 223.
3 Ibid., 213.
4 N.a., Vanguard: The Fort Garry Horse in the Second World War (Doetincham, Holland: Uitgevers–Maatschappij, C. Misset NV, n.d.), 133.
5 Jean E. Portugal, We Were There: The Navy, the Army and the RCAF—A Record for Canada, vol. 4 (Shelburne, ON: The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 1998), 1672–73.
6 Bird, 220.
7 Ibid., 221.
8 T. Robert Fowler, Valour on Juno Beach: The Canadian Awards for Gallantry, D-Day, June 6, 1944 (Burnstown, ON: General Store Publishing, 1994), 62.
9 Portugal, We Were There, vol. 3 (Shelburne, ON: The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 1998), 1444–45.
10 Vanguard, 133.
11 Portugal, vol. 3, 1443–44.
12 Ibid., 1444.
13 Reginald Roy, 1944: The Canadians in Normandy (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1984), 22.
14 Bird, 222.
15 Ibid., 222–23.
16 Ibid., 224–25.
17 Roy, 22.
18 Bird, 223.
19 Stacey, 650.
20 Bird, 232–33.
21 Ibid., 226–27.
19: BEGINNING OF THE END
1 Freiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg, “The 21st Panzer Division’s Situation (6 June 1944),” Fighting the Invasion: The German Army at D-Day, David C. Isby, ed. (London: Greenhill Books, 2000), 236.
2 Hans von Luck, Panzer Grenadier: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1989), 137–38.