Canadian Army formations serving with British Divisions in North West Europe, 1944-1945

Canadian Units Serving With British Divisions in North West Europe, 1944-1945                            

The 1st Canadian Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment (79th British Armoured Division), was formed in October 1944 at Tilburg in the Netherlands.  It had the original 1st Canadian Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron as its core. It was the only Canadian regiment to be both formed and disbanded overseas. The regiment's purpose was to serve as a specialized armoured unit equipped with modified tanks used to carry infantry safely to their objectives. Major-General Sir Percy C. S. Hobart commanded the 79th Armoured Division, the primary British tank force in Normandy. His division was composed of the First Tank Brigade, Thirtieth Armoured Brigade, and First Assault Brigade, composed of Royal Engineer units. The First Canadian Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment was attached.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3607881)

Sherman ARV, Normandy, France, July 1944.

1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, assigned to the British 3rd Parachute Brigade, which was itself assigned to the British 6th Airborne Division.

The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Canadian Army formed in July 1942 during the Second World War; it served in North West Europe, Landing in Normandy during Operation Tonga, in conjunction with the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944 and in the airborne assault crossing of the River Rhine, Operation Varsity, in March 1945. After the end of hostilities in Europe, the battalion was returned to Canada where it was disbanded on 30 September 1945.

By the end of the war the battalion had gained a remarkable reputation: they never failed to complete a mission, and they never gave up an objective once taken. They are the only Canadians to participate in the Battle of the Bulge and had advanced deeper than any other Canadian unit into enemy territory.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3191613)

Mass drop from Douglas 'Dakota' aircraft of personnel of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, 6 February 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3526696)

H.M. King George VI meeting Major D.J. Wilkins, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, Salisbury Plain, England, 19 May 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3526680)

Paratroopers of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion preparing for a patrol, Bande, Belgium, 15 January 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3302181)

Brigadier S. James L. Hill (right), Commander of the 3rd Parachute Brigade, briefs officers of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, Carter Barracks, Bulford, England, 6 December 1943.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3586536)

Three paratroopers of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, Carter Barracks, Bulford, England, 13 February 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3612617)

Personnel of the 1st Canada Parachute Battalion getting ready to leave Carter Barracks for their D-Day transit camp

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3405879)

Paratroopers of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in a transit camp staging area prior to D-Day, England, ca. 1-5 June 1944

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3227289)

Brigadier J. Hill, DSC and Bar, MC, commander of the 3rd Parachute Brigade of the 1 Canadian Parachute Battalion, seeking a place to set up Brigade Headquarters, 24 March 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3524486)

Personnel of the 8th Royal Scots in a Dingo scout car, linking up with personnel of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion after crossing the Rhine River, Bergerfarth, Germany, 25 Mar 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3225425)

Lines of troops and transport of the No. 1 Canadian Parachute Battalion line the streets waiting for a bridge to be built, 4 April 1945.

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1st Canadian Parachute Battalion (6th British Airborne Division)

The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Canadian Army formed in July 1942 during the Second World War; it served in North West Europe, Landing in Normandy during Operation Tonga, in conjunction with the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944 and in the airborne assault crossing of the River Rhine, Operation Varsity, in March 1945. After the end of hostilities in Europe, the battalion was returned to Canada where it was disbanded on 30 September 1945.

By the end of the war the battalion had gained a remarkable reputation: they never failed to complete a mission, and they never gave up an objective once taken. They are the only Canadians to participate in the Battle of the Bulge and had advanced deeper than any other Canadian unit into enemy territory. Despite being a Canadian Army formation, it was assigned to the British 3rd Parachute Brigade, a British Army formation, which was itself assigned to the British 6th Airborne Division.

On the evening on 5 June 1944 the battalion was transported to France in fifty aircraft. Each man carried a knife, toggle rope, escape kit with French currency, and two 24-hour ration packs in addition to their normal equipment, in all totaling 70 pounds. The battalion landed one hour in advance of the rest of the brigade in order to secure the Drop zone (DZ). Thereafter they were ordered to destroy road bridges over the river Dives and its tributaries at Varaville, then neutralize strongpoints at the crossroads. In addition, the Canadians were to protect the left (southern) flank of the 9th Battalion, Parachute Regiment during that unit's attack on the Merville Battery, afterwards seizing a position astride the Le Mesnil crossroads, a vital position at the centre of the ridge.

The Battalion landed between 0100 and 0130 hours on June 6, becoming the first Canadian unit on the ground in France. For different reasons, including adverse weather conditions and poor visibility, the soldiers were scattered, at times quite far from the planned drop zone. By mid-day, and in spite of German resistance, the men of the battalion had achieved all their objectives; the bridges on the Dives and Divette in Varaville and Robehomme were cut, the left flank of the 9th Parachute Battalion at Merville was secure, and the crossroads at Le Mesnil was taken. In the following days, the Canadians were later involved in ground operations to strengthen the bridgehead and support the advance of Allied troops towards the Seine River.

On 23 August 1944 Lieutenant Colonel Bradbrooke was appointed to the General Staff at Canadian Military Headquarters in London with Major Eadie taking temporary control of the battalion. Three days later, on 26 August 1944, the 6th Airborne Division was pulled from the line in Normandy. 27 officers and 516 men from the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion took part in the Battle of Normandy and the unit suffered 367 casualties. Of those casualties, 5 officers and 76 men were killed or died of wounds. The unit had to be re-organized and retrained in order to regain its strength and combat-readiness. The Battle of Normandy had brought a major change to the way the war was fought. Airborne troops needed new training to prepare for an offensive role, including street fighting and capturing enemy positions. On 6 September the Battalion left Normandy and returned to the Bulford training camp in the United Kingdom. While there, Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Nicklin became battalion commander.

In December 1944, the Battalion was again sent to mainland Europe. On Christmas Day they sailed for Belgium, to counter the German offensive in the Ardennes what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. On 2 January 1945, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was again committed to ground operations on the continent, arriving at the front during the last days of the Battle of the Bulge. They were positioned to patrol during both day and night and defend against any enemy attempts to infiltrate their area. The Battalion also took part in a general advance, taking them through the towns of Aye, Marche, Roy and Bande. The capture of Bande marked the end of the fight for the Bulge and the Battalion's participation in the operation.

The Battalion was next moved into the Netherlands in preparation for the crossing of the River Rhine. They were active in carrying out patrols and raids and to establish bridge heads where and when suitable. Despite the heavy shelling of the Canadian positions, there were very few casualties considering the length of time they were there and the strength of the enemy positions. During this time, the Battalion maintained an active defence as well as considerable patrol activity until its return to the United Kingdom on 23 February 1945. On 7 March 1945, the Battalion returned from leave to start training for what would be the last major airborne operation of the war, Operation Varsity, the crossing of the Rhine.

The 17th U.S. Airborne and 6th British Airborne divisions were tasked to capture Wesel across the Rhine River, to be completed as a combined paratrooper and glider operation conducted in daylight. The 3rd Parachute Brigade was tasked to clear the drop zone (DZ) and establish a defensive position road at the west end of the DZ, and, to seize the Schnappenburg feature astride the main road running north and south of this feature.

1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was ordered to seize and hold the central area on the western edge of the woods, where there was a main road running north from the Wesel to Emmerich, and to a number of houses. It was believed this area was held by German paratroopers. "C" Company would clear the northern part of the woods near the junction of the roads to Rees and Emmerich. Once this area was secure, "A" Company would advance through the position and seize the houses located near the DZ. "B" Company would clear the South-Western part of the woods and secure the battalion's flank.[5] Despite some of the paratroopers being dropped some distance from their landing zone, the battalion managed to secure its objectives quickly. The battalion lost its commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Nicklin, who was killed during the initial jump on 24 March 1945. Following the death of Nicklin, the last unit commander was Lieutenant Colonel G. Frazer Eadie until the battalion's disbandment.

The outcome of this operation was the defeat of the German I Parachute Corps in a day and a half. In the following 37 days, the battalion advanced 459 kilometres (285 mi) as part of the British 6th Airborne Division, encountering the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 15 April 1945 and taking the city of Wismar on 2 May 1945 to prevent the Soviets from advancing too far west. It was at Wismar that the battalion met up with the Red Army (the only Canadian army unit to do so during hostilities, other than a Canadian Film and Photo Unit detachment). Germany surrendered unconditionally on 8 May and the battalion returned to England. Private L.H. Johnson and Sergeant D.R. Fairborn of the 1st Canadian

The battalion sailed for Canada on SS Île de France on 31 May 1945, and arrived in Halifax on 21 June. They were the first unit of the Canadian Army to be repatriated and on 30 September the battalion was officially disbanded.

First Special Service Force

The 1st Special Service Force was an elite American–Canadian commando unit in the Second World War, under the command of the United States Fifth Army. The unit was organized in 1942 and trained at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana in the United States. The Force served in the Aleutian Islands, and fought in Italy.  On 14 August 1944, the 1st SSF landed on the islands of Port Cros and Île du Levant during Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. They fought the small Battle of Port Cros in which they captured the five forts on the islands from the German Army. Nine men were killed in action or died of wounds received in combat. On 22 August it was attached to the 1st Airborne Task Force, a provisional Seventh Army airborne division, and later made part of the Task Force. On 7 September it moved with the 1st Airborne Task Force to defensive positions on the Franco-Italian border. During the war the 1,800-man unit accounted for some 12,000 German casualties, captured some 7,000 prisoners, and sustained an attrition rate of over 600%.  The 1st SSF was disbanded 5 December 1944 in a field near Villeneuve-Loubet, on the extreme southeast Mediterranean coast of France. Villeneuve-Loubet holds a special place in the history of the force, not only because the unit was broken up there, but also because it is one of the villages that the 1st SSF had the hardest time capturing in southern France, on 26 August 1944. The day the unit was disbanded, the American commander held a parade honoring the unit. To end the ceremony, the Canadian elements were dismissed by being honoured by the American troops with a Pass in Review, eyes right, officers salute. After the unit's break up, the Canadians were sent to other Canadian units (most of them became replacements for the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion). Some American members were sent to airborne divisions as replacements, others to Ranger Battalions, and still others formed the 474th Infantry Regiment.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3191549)

Lieutenant-Colonel J.F.R. Akehurst, Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion, First Special Service Force, examines Sergeant Tommy Prince's Military Medal, which was awarded for "distinguished and gallant service" at Anzio. Buckingham Palace, London, England, 12 February 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 378973)

Forcemen of 5-2, First Special Service Force, with an M41 Johnson light machine gun, Anzio beachhead, Italy, ca. 20-27 April 1944.

CANLOAN Officers

The CANLOAN program (or the Canada Loan program) was a scheme created in 1944 to loan officers from the Canadian Army to serve in British Army units. The program initial aims were to help supplement the undermanned British Army officer corps, and provide alternate avenues for Canadian Army officers to see active service. The program initially called for 1,500 junior officers to serve in the CANLOAN program, although that number was later reduced to 625 in April 1944. In total, 673 officers from the CANLOAN program served with British Army units during the Second World War.

The majority of the officers in the program were loaned to British regiments that fought in the North West Europe campaign of 1944–45. 100 officers serving with British airborne forces during the Normandy landings. A number of CANLOAN officers also served with British Army and British Indian Army units in the Italian, Mediterranean and Middle East, and the Southeast Asian theatre. In total, 673 officers from the Canadian Army, including 623 infantry officers and 50 ordnance officers served with the British Army under the CANLOAN program.  A number of military decorations were awarded to CANLOAN officers, with CANLOAN officers accruing 41 Miliotary Crosses (MC) (one with bar), one Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and one Order of the British Empire (OBE) serving with a British regiment

The CANLOAN program sustained a high casualty rate of 69 per cent; with 128 officers killed in action or died of wounds from combat, 310 officers wounded in action, and 27 officers were captured. Several officers that sustained wounds returned to active duty with new regiments through the British Army's reinforcement stream. The majority of the deaths sustained by CANLOAN occurred during Operation Overlord, with 75 officers killed by the end of August 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3231889)

CANLOAN officers serving with the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment (British Army), London, England, ca. October 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3589297)

Captain Ashton Kerr, a Canadian CANLOAN medical officer who served with the British 1st Airborne Division (British Army), ca. 12-16 September 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3378945)

Lieutenant G.P. Comper (left), a paratroop officer who fought at Arnhem, talking with Major-General E.G. Weeks at the first annual reunion of CANLOAN officers, Royal Empire Society, London, England, 14 April 1945.

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Special Operations Executive (SOE)

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British Second World War organization. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organizations. Its purpose was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe (and later, also in occupied Southeast Asia) against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements.

Few people were aware of SOE's existence. Those who were part of it or liaised with it were sometimes referred to as the "Baker Street Irregulars", after the location of its London headquarters. It was also known as "Churchill's Secret Army" or the "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare". Its various branches, and sometimes the organization as a whole, were concealed for security purposes behind names such as the "Joint Technical Board" or the "Inter-Service Research Bureau", or fictitious branches of the Air Ministry, Admiralty or War Office.

SOE operated in all territories occupied or attacked by the Axis forces, except where demarcation lines were agreed upon with Britain's principal Allies (the United States and the Soviet Union). It also made use of neutral territory on occasion or made plans and preparations in case neutral countries were attacked by the Axis. The organization directly employed or controlled more than 13,000 people, about 3,200 of whom were women. After the war, the organization was officially dissolved on 15 January 1946.

New York City also had a branch office of the SOE, formally titled British Security Coordination, and headed by the Canadian businessman Sir William Stephenson. This office, located at Room 3603, 630 Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, coordinated the work of SOE, SIS and MI5 with the American FBI and Office of Strategic Services.  Before the United States joined the war, the head of the newly formed Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI), William J. Donovan, had received technical information from SOE and had arranged for some members of his organisation to undergo training at a camp run by SOE in Oshawa in Canada.

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(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3599776)

Seven repatriated parachute-qualified Canadian officers, who took part in Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.) missions prior to and following D-Day, on a troopship arriving at Halifax, Nova Scotia.  In the front row, left to right: Lieutenant Joseph Earnest Fournier, Lieutenant Paul-Emile Thibeault, Captain Henri Adelard Benoit.  Rear row, left to right: Major Paul Emile Labelle, Captain Leonard Jacques Taschereau, Captain L. Guy Artois, Captain Jean-Paul Archambault.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3586981)

Captain Lionel Guy D'Artois, who served with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, the First Special Service Force and with the Special Operations Executive (British Army), with Mrs. D'Artois, London, England, ca. 1944-1945.