Military History Commons^™

Enemy Reaction To Overlord: Allied Intelligence Assessment, 6 May 1944, Bill Williams

Canadian Military History

Editor’s Note: In the months leading up to Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, Allied planners invested heavily in their attempts to learn about German dispositions. Much has been written about the “failure” of the Allies to detect the German 352nd Division which nearly doomed the American landings at Omaha. However, this was only one small piece of the intelligence picture. Ultra decrypts based on German wireless messages provided Allied planners with details of the German Order of Battle in France though the exact location of battalions, regiments and divisions was not always certain. Brigadier Bill Williams, General Montgomery’s senior …

Uncle Bill’S Service In Bomber Command, 1942–1944, Roger Sarty

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Report On The Bombing Of Our Own Troops During Operation “Tractable”: 14 August 1944, Arthur T. Harris

Canadian Military History

Editor’s Note: Operation “Tractable“ was the second major Canadian operation in Normandy designed to break through the German defensive perimeter to reach Falaise. Like its predecessor, Operation “Totalize,“ “Tractable“ was to employ heavy bombers to augment the firepower available to the troops. The use of heavy bombers in a tactical role was a relatively new tasking for the strategic force and required precise targetting to destroy and disrupt enemy positions. The strategic bomber force, British and American, had made significant contributions to the land battle in Normandy, but there had been mistakes, most notably during Operation “Cobra” when the American …

The Long Wait (Part Ii): A Personal Account Of Infantry Training In Britain, June 1942–June 1943, Harold Macdonald, M.A. Macdonald

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Great War Legacy: A Drum From The 20th Battalion, Eric Fernberg

Canadian Military History

During the First World War the Canadian Expeditionary Force recruited a total of 260 battalions for overseas service. Yet the four Divisions of the Canadian Corps maintained only 48 battalions at the front. The vast majority of the battalions sent to England were either broken up to supply reinforcements for units already at the front or reconstituted for duties such as forestry or pioneer work. But all these battalions went through the process of recruiting, training, and working up in Canada before going overseas, thereby developing their own unit personality, traditions, and esprit de corps. These were all lost …

The Balance Sheet: The Costs And The Gains Of The Bombing Campaign, David L. Bashow

Canadian Military History

Critics of the bomber offensive frequently argue that the material and human cost of the campaign far overshadowed the gains, and that the resources dedicated to it could have been more effectively utilized elsewhere. They have argued that the combat manpower could have been better used in the other fighting services, especially the army, and industry could have been used to produce more weapons for these fighting services. However, proponents of this line of thought assume that the weight of effort expended on the bombing campaign was inordinately high. Richard Overy maintains that it was actually rather modest. “Measured against …

The Halifax And Lancaster In Canadian Service, Stephen J. Harris

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Area Bombing By Day: Bomber Command And The Daylight Offensive, 1944–1945, Laurie Peloquin

Canadian Military History

This article will examine an important but neglected phase of the Allied strategic bomber offensive in the Second World War. Given the very rich literature on the bombing war it is surprising to discover that litle attention has been paid to the daylight attacks undertaken by Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command in the fall and winter of 1944–1945. Nowhere in the existing literature is there a systematic analysis of this period of operations when the RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) carried out 153 daylight raids between 27 August 1944 and 24 April 1945. Two primary issues will …

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Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

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Canadian Military History

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Canadian Military History

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The 1998 Canadian Battle Of Normandy Foundation Study Tour

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

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Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

The 1999 Canadian Battle Of Normandy Foundation Study Tour

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

The Toronto Scottish Machine Gun Battalion In Normandy (July–August 1944), Colonel Johnson

Canadian Military History

As given by Colonel Johnson, Commanding Officer to Captain Engler near Bourgtheroulde, 29 August 1944

Parachute Engineers In Combat, Ortona 1943: A German Perspective, Carl Bayerlein, Alex Macquarrie, Dean Oliver

Canadian Military History

In late 1943, Allied forces were fighting their way up the Italian peninsula. It was tough going. Broken terrain hindered the advance and well-armed, well-led German defenders fought for nearly every river corssing, hill, and village. On 6 December, Canadian troops, operating on the far right of the Allied line, began to cross the Moro River on the Adriatic coast, battling north through a series of small towns, farms, and ravines. First Canadian Infantry Division under Major-General Chris Vokes, pushing up the coastal highway, met bitter resistance at “The Gully,” a natural feature just north of the Moro. After being …

Le Régiment De Maisonneuve: A Profile Based On Personnel Records, Terry Copp, Christine Hamelin

Canadian Military History

The Régiment de Maisonneuve provided one of the 36 infantry battalions which served in the Canadian army during the campaign in Northwest Europe. It was one of four French-Canadian battalions raised in the province of Quebec during the first months of the war. Originally the Department of National Defence had intended to create a French-Canadian brigade but when it was decided that the Royal 22eme Régiment had to be included in 1st Division the plan for a French language brigade was abandoned. The Maisonneuves were ultimately linked with the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), an English-speaking Montreal battalion, and the …

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Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

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Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

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Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Per Ardua Ad Astra: A Concicise Guide To Canadian Personnel Records And Rcaf Service Information Of The Second World War, Timothy Dubé

Canadian Military History

The motto of the Royal Canadian Air Force—per ardua ad astra—through adversity to the stars—might also serve as an apt expression when beginning research on individual Canadian airmen or airwomen of the Second World War. Without a guiding-hand, the first-time researcher is likely to experience some considerable “adversity” before locating their “stars.”

This note introduces the key records and published sources for documenting those individuals who served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War, as well as directions for locating the records of those Canadians who served in related air elements during the conflict. …

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Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

The 2000 Canadian Battle Of Normandy Foundation Study Tour

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

The Battle Of The Windmill Revisited: As Recounted By Lieutenant Andrew Agnew, 93rd Highland Regiment Of Foot, 8 December 1838, Andrew Agnew, Scott Mclean

Canadian Military History

The failure of William Lyon McKenzie, Louis Joseph Papineau, and other like-minded reformers to bring about meaningful change in the political, economic, and social structure of Upper and Lower Canada in 1837 did not end the greater possibility of rebellion, and in fact a greater threat came in 1838, with widespread filibustering along the American border. On 11 November 1838, a force of about 400 men set out from New York State for Prescott, Upper Canada, its goal being the capture of Fort Wellington and the severance of communications between Upper and Lower Canada. The force, led by Nils von …

“The Pipes Play On”: Canadian Pipers At War, 1914–1918: An Inspired Tradition, Tim Stewart

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

“I Regret To Inform You…“: Next-Of-Kin Notification And Official Condolences—The Case Of Flight Lieutenant George J. Chequer, Rcaf, Serge Durflinger

Canadian Military History

During the Second World War public memorialization and private bereavement complemented one another in lamenting the loss of 42,000 Canadians on active service. The visible symbols of the nation’s wartime grief included casualty lists and obituaries published in newspapers, religious services conducted to ease the grief of surviving relatives and friends, and various public commemorative ceremonies. Less frequently seen in public is the official and private correspondence received by Canadian families upon the deaths of their loved ones on active service.

Equipment Of The Canadian Infantrymen, 1939–1982: A Material/Historical Assessment, Andrew Iarocci

Canadian Military History

The history of Canada’s soldiers in the twentieth century tends to incorporate a few recurrent themes. One of these is the changing nature of the soldier’s experience of war, from the Boer War through to the Second World War and beyond. Another is the gradual transition of Canadian military forces from British to American spheres of influence, a theme that has become particularly relevant since 1939. This article will explore these two themes from a material history perspective, an approach that is generally absent from the broader historiography. The focus will be the transformations in the Canadian infantry soldier’s personal …

On The Beach And In The Bag: The Fate Of Dieppe Casualties Left Behind, Charles G. Roland

Canadian Military History

When the last Allied ships drew away from the beaches of Dieppe on 19 August 1942, they left behind over 2,700 of the 4,963 Canadians who had embarked on the raid: 807 men were dead, including four Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps [RCAMC] medical orderlies, and 1,946 (including four Canadian Medical Officers (MOs), a chaplain, and at least 11 RCAMC medical orderlies and 48 accredited stretcher-bearers) were abandoned to German captivity on the beaches and environs.¹ As Lord Lovat wrote decades after the event, “the raid was an exceedingly bitter experience, learnt the hard way.”²

It is to …

Viking Force: Canada’S Unknown Commandos, George Kerr

Canadian Military History

Most people interested in Canadian military history know about hte elite first Special Battalion, formed in July 1942 as the Canadian element of the largely American First Sepcial Service Force.¹ Few, however, have ever heard of Viking Force, Canada’s first attempt at creating an elite Commando unit in the Second World War. Viking Force does not appear in any Canadian Army Order of Battle, and did not even last long enough for its members to put on the unit’s horned-helmet shoulder patch, yet it played an important role in the sad story of the Dieppe fiasco. Acknowledgment of that …

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Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.