The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, a brief history

(Author Photo)

(New Brunswick Military History Museum Collection)

The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3225211)

Members of the North Shore Regiment, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, marching up to Alligator amphibious armoured fighting vehicles, in preparation for the amphibious operations on in the Netherlands, 8 Feb 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3524898)

Infantrymen of The North Shore Regiment lifting mines on the approach to a destroyed bridge, Zutphen, Netherlands, 7 April 1945.

Operational History

The Great War

Details of the 73rd Northumberland Regiment were called out on active service on 6 August 1914 for local protective duty.

(Author Photo)

(New Brunswick Military History Museum Collection)

The 132nd Battalion (North Shore), CEF was authorized on 22 December 1915 and embarked for Great Britain on 26 October 1916.  There it provided reinforcements for the Canadian Corps until 28 January 1917, when its personnel were absorbed by the 13th Reserve Battalion, CEF.  The battalion was subsequently disbanded on 21 May 1917.

(Author Photo)

(New Brunswick Military History Museum Collection)

The 165th Battalion (Acadiens), CEF was authorized on 22 December 1915 and embarked for Great Britain on 28 March 1917.  On 7 April 1917, its personnel were absorbed by the 13th Reserve Battalion, CEF to provide reinforcements for the Canadian Corps.  The battalion was subsequently disbanded on 15 April 1918.

(Author Photo)

(Fredericton Region Museum Collection)

28th Field Battery was raised at Fredericton March 31st 1915 under command of Major R. Crocker with four officers and 143 other ranks assigned to the 7th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Divisional Artillery. The battery sailed for England on 9 August 1915 but it was not until 19 January 1916 that the 27th Battery sailed for France when the 5th and 7th Brigades finally arrived in France to join the 2nd Divisional Artillery. The Battery provided field artillery support as part of the 7th Brigade, CFA, CEF in France and Flanders until 19 March 1917. On 24 March 1917 on the reorganization of the Divisional Artillery the 28th Battery was disbanded with one two gun section being absorbed into the 15th Battery and the second to the 16th Battery. The 28th Battery CFA was disbanded under General Order 191 of 1 November 1920.

The present day North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army, and is part of the 5th Canadian Division’s 37 Canadian Brigade Group.  The regiment is headquartered in Bathurst, New Brunswick with sub-units located at Newcastle and Campbellton.

Second World War

Details of The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment were called out on service on 26 August 1939 and then placed on active service on 1 September 1939 as The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, CASF (Details), for local protection duties.  The details called out on active service were subsequently disbanded on 31 December 1940.

The regiment mobilized The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, CASF for active service on 24 May 1940.  It was redesignated as the 1st Battalion, The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, CASF on 7 November 1940.  During the Second World War, the regiment was first stationed in Woodstock, New Brunswick and then Sussex, New Brunswick.   It embarked for Great Britain on 18 July 1941.  When it shipped overseas, it was initially stationed in Liverpool, after that it moved to Scotland near the castle of the Duke of Argyll.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3724330)

North Shore Regiment being inspected by Lieutenant-Colonel G.S. Currie, Deputy Minister of Defence (Army) in England, 17 Apr 1944.  The soldiers are wearing a new model of helmet and high-ankle invasion boots (eliminating the need for puttees) issued prior to the D-Day landings.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3724327)

North Shore New Brunswick Regiment, Major G.E. Lockwood and Lieutenant-General K. Stuart, 17 Apr 1944.

On D-Day, 6 June 1944, the Regiment landed on JUNO Beach in Normandy, France, as part of the 8th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, and it continued to fight in North-West Europe until the end of the war.  The overseas battalion disbanded on 15 January 1946.

(DND Photos)

The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment landed in the first wave on Juno Beach, 6 June 1944.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo MIKAN No. 3724325)

North Shore NB Regiment in Normandy, 8-9 June 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3724322)

North Shore NB Regiment soldier cleaning his kit in Normandy, 8-9 June 1944.

The Channel Ports, September 1944

Following their success in Normandy, the Allied armies continued to push the Germans north. Historian C. P. Stacey wrote that on August 26, General Montgomery assigned the Canadians the task of capturing all ports and destroying all German forces along the French coast of the English Channel. These ports had to be captured to open up more supply lines to the advancing Allied troops.

(Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1975-117-26 / Lysiak / CC-BY-SA 3.0 Photo)

Fieseler Fi 103, V-1, FZG 76 flying bomb, being wheeled into position by its German launch crew, c1944.

The task included eliminating the new German V1 and V2 rocket bases that were now firing daily into the south of England. On August 29 the NS(NB)R crossed the river Seine and advanced northwest towards the English Channel. Two of the Canadian objectives, Boulogne, and Calais, were extremely well-fortified ports that formed part of the German Atlantic Wall. Boulogne fell after a week-long battle with the NS(NB)R capturing the surrounding defense positions at Trésorerie, Wimille, and Wimereux. The cost was nineteen NS(NB)R soldiers killed in action and many wounded.

The regiment now headed further north to Calais. For four years, the German cross-channel guns near Calais, had fired shells, (some up to 2000 lbs), at the channel freighters and into the streets of Dover and Folkstone on the English coast. The narrow channel, 21 miles wide, was still very active transporting coal and other items from the north of England to the south.

On 25 September, The North Shore Regiment, supported by armoured units, was given the objective of capturing three large, 405 mm, canons fortified at Sangatte on a high point of land to the west of Calais. Repeated heavy bombings had failed to eliminate these bunkers. The approaches to the guns were uphill, devoid of cover, heavily mined, and protected by rows of barbed wire. Additional German defense positions were located on the hillside. Despite the challenges, on September 25, flail tanks attacked from the west. They climbed through the minefields and were followed by flame-throwing Crocodiles and Congas that hurled explosive-filled hoses at the German hillside defenses. Fortunately, while these fortified gun positions were capable of a lengthy and costly battle, the remaining defences had been abandoned by the Germans in their recent quick retreat from France. As a result, German morale was low. The guns were captured on September 26 and on September 30, Calais surrendered to the Canadians.

Details regarding the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment during the capture of the defenses at Boulogne and Calais can be found in the chapter The Channel Ports/Les Ports De La Manche, from the books One Hundred Years and Cent Ans by Bruce Morton.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3199947)

North Shore Regiment soldiers advancing on German cross-Channel gun position, 26 September 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3229663)

Private F.J. Coakley of The North Shore Regiment sitting on a captured German coastal artillery gun, Boulogne, France, 21 September 1944.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3199949)

Lieutenant M.G. Aubut and Private C.D. Walker of The North Shore Regiment examining a German cross-Channel gun, Sangatte, France, 26 September 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3199948)

Officers with German cross-Channel gun. (Left to right): Lieut. H.A. Staples, Maj. O.L. Corbett (both of the North Shore Regiment), Lieut. J. Wareing, Royal Armoured Corps. 26 September 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3199951)

Personnel of the North Shore Regiment examining a German cross-Channel gun, 26 September 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3199946)

North Shore Regiment moving forward in Normandy, 26 September 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3199944)

Corporal Eldon (Bob) Roberts (left) of The North Shore Regiment searching a seven-foot-three-inch German soldier, Sangatte, France, 26 September 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo MIKAN No. 3230680)

Captain W.A. Teed (foreground) of the North Shore Regiment, Embarkation Staff Officer of the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade, talking with Captain C.J. Aendry, commanding officer of an Alligator amphibious vehicle, near Terneuzen, Netherlands, 13 October 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo MIKAN No. 3205130)

Comrades carry wounded member of North Shores down dyke after being evacuated by alligator, Scheldt pocket embarkation point, west of Terneuzen, Netherlands, 13 October 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo MIKAN No. 3205132)

Wounded infantrymen of The North Shore Regiment being carried ashore from a Terrapin amphibious vehicle of the 79th Assault Squadron, Royal Engineers (R.E.) (British Army), west of Terneuzen, Netherlands, 13 October 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo MIKAN No. 3720932)

Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) visiting wounded Private R.J. Savoy of the North Shore Regiment, 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo MIKAN No. 3205135)

Buffaloes and North Shore Regiment, ambulance jeep and jeeps go across as 8th Brigade embarks for bridgehead, 11 October 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo MIKAN No. 3205136)

North Shore Regiment pass alligators for over water attack as 8th Brigade embarks for bridgehead, 11 October 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo MIKAN No. 3239986)

Major Fred Moar (later LCol), on the far left with Infantrymen of the North Shore Regiment boarding an Alligator amphibious vehicle during Operation VERITABLE (the invasion of Germany), near Nijmegen, Netherlands, 8 February 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo MIKAN No. 3525752)

Infantrymen of the North Shore Regiment climbing onto an Alligator amphibious tracked vehicle during Operation VERITABLE near Nijmegen, Netherlands, 8 February 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo MIKAN No. 3225210)

Members of the North Shore Regiment, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on board an Alligator amphibious tracked vehicle waiting to move off from start line, 8 February 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo MIKAN No. 3225211)

Members of the North Shore Regiment, 3rd Canadian Infantry Dision, marching up to amphibious tanks (alligators) in preparation for the amphibious operations on the Western Front, 8 February 1945.

The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment Camp Flag.

Major R. Myles Hickey, MC

One of the things about New Brunswick military history is that it is intricately tied to most of our family history. As a boy on farm in Carleton County I can remember listening to a veteran of the Second World War talking to my grandfather, a First World War veteran, about his experiences in Normandy. The man had served with the North Shore Regiment, and he was talking about the Hitler Youth boys he had fought and the hard fact that they wouldn’t surrender even when the adults had, and had to be mown down with machine gun fire. My grandfather said he was still suffering from a form of shell-shock. These days we call it post-traumatic stress. It has always been around us, even in peacetime.

When my father, RCAF Warrant Officer Aage C. Skaarup was posted to CFB Chatham, New Brunswick where he serviced the equipment that was used to start up the McDonnell CF-101B Voodoos, my mother Beatrice introduced me to another veteran soldier who had been in Normandy. He was a former chaplain who had also served with the North Shore Regiment, and at that time in 1973 was living in a hospital in the town of Chatham. The first thing I noticed as I entered his small room was a Military Cross hanging on his mirror, a fairly rare medal of bravery. I am not catholic, so calling him a father didn’t seem right. I therefore asked if I could address him as Padre or Major (Raymond Myles) Hickey and he was very pleased with that.

I had read a great deal about the war, and had many questions for him. He kindly spoke at great length about his experiences and the pride he had in having served with the men of the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment. He loaned me a book he had written called “The Scarlet Dawn”, which gave me much more information to add to my list of questions. His stories covered his wartime experiences from the time he did his basic training in Woodstock to his trip to England by ship and what happened when he landed in Normandy on D-Day with the first wave going into the German storm of fire. He pulled wounded men from the water as bullets splashed around him, he gave the last rites to those who weren’t going to survive, and he tended to all around him in spite of the danger. The Military Cross hanging on his mirror was well deserved, but for him, the appreciation of the men he served with was far more important.

Marc Milner wrote that the moment the men stepped off the Landing Craft the casualties mounted quickly.  "The task of helping the wounded and removing the dead belonged to others.  In the case of the North Shore, this fell to Lieutenant John L. Heaslip and his stretcher bearers of the 22nd Canadian Field Ambulance, the stretcher bearers of the platoons, and to Padre Myles Hickey and Captain J.A. Patterson, the battalion's doctor.Heaslip, Hickey and Patterson were all decorated for their actions on the beach, as was one of Heaslip's men." In Padre Hickey's words, "It was a hard job to get the wounded onto stretchers and to carry them to the shelter of the wall.  I will never forget the courage of the stretcher bearers and first aid men that morning."

Padre Hickey gave the last rites in combat for the first time (on D-Day) to the soldier who was at his side as they stepped off the LCA.  He dragged the fatally wounded young man to shore and anointed him.  Padre Hickey spent most of the next two hours pulling the dead and wounded to safety and helping Captain Patterson and the stretcher bearers.  He wrote after the war, "I like to think that a German sniper had me in his telescopic sights, but when he saw my collar and and red cross arm band that I was a chaplain, he stayed his finger."  His survival was a close run thing, at one point Padre Hickey was reported dead when a shell landed amid the three wounded men he had just reached.  The three wounded soldiers died, the Padre survived unhurt.  Later, while following two stretcher bearers over the wall to retrieve several wounded, all of those ahead of him including the wounded were killed in the blast from a landmine one of them stepped on.  The Padre and Major Daughney were blown clear, but managed to collect themselves and carry on.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3205215)

First prisoner of war caught on the Carpiquet front brought back by Capt. M.A. Cardinal, 4 July 1944.

From the book "D-Day to Carpiquet, The North Shore Regiment and Liberation in Europe" by Marc Milner, New Brunswick Military Heritage Series, co-published by the New Brunswick Military History Project, 2007, p. 60.

Later, during the battles around Carpiquet, Padre Hickey reported, "I saw reinforcements come up to us in the evening, and I would bury them the following morning."  370 Canadians were killed or wounded in that one battle, 270 of them from the North Shore Regiment.

(Harm Kuijper Photo)

Chaplain jeep crossing the Zutphen bridge in the Netherlands, possibly Major R. Myles Hickey.

Major Hickey stayed with his men through the horrific battles in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and on into Germany where the war ended for the Regiment. He came back to the village of Jacquet River, New Brunswick where he had been born in 1905, and where he had been ordained as a Catholic priest in 1933. He had served as a curate in Bathurst, for four years until he was appointed to the teaching staff at St. Thomas University in Chatham. When the Second World War began and Canada followed Britain in declaring war on Germany in September 1939, Father Hickey enlisted in the Canadian Army to serve as the Chaplain for the North Shore Regiment, a task he managed for six hard years. His military citation for his award includes this tribute, "His understanding and leadership of men, his keen sense of humor, and his spirit of self-sacrifice, which won him the Military Cross for bravery under enemy fire on D-Day, made him beloved and respected by all who knew him."[1]

After the war, Reverend Hickey served as the Pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas church in Campbellton, Nova Scotia. His book The Scarlet Dawn was published in 1949. He became a Monsignor and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by his alma mater, but what he valued far more in his recollections to me was his time served with the men of the North Shore Regiment. Padre Hickey died in Carpiquet, France, where, with other veterans of the North Shore Regiment, he was on a Normandy Battlefield Pilgrimage primarily to attend the 13 September 1987 dedication at Carpiquet of a monument honouring members of the Regiment who lost their lives there in July 1944. After the ceremony and the dinner he retired to his room where he died through the night.

New Brunswick’s history is often our family history, and it has been my experience that we often learn far more by word of mouth about what it was really like to have been in the service by those who were there before us. If you have been given the gift of hearing these kinds of stories first hand, write them down and share them, for if you don’t, the memories can be lost for good. The invasion of Northwest Europe which is commemorated in the D-Day landings on this day, 6 June 1944, changed the world. Those who took part in it deserve to be remembered.

For those of you who would like to read a much more detailed account of Major Hickey’s service, please have a look at Melynda Jarratt’s webpage at www.CanadianWarBrides.com.

[1] Reverend Raymond Myles Hickey, The Scarlet Dawn, Tribune Publishers Limited, Campbelton, Nova Scotia, 1950.

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