|
The Second Canadian Infantry
Division
September 1939 - June 1945 |
Early Organization
The Canadian Active Service Force was initially
composed of two full divisions. The main fighting power of these divisions were
their infantry brigades - three brigades per division, each composed of three infantry
battalions (rifle) and one infanty battalion (Machine Gun). The divisions also
comprised units of the supporting corps, including:
Royal Canadian Artillery
Royal Canadian Engineers
Royal Canadian Corps of Signals
Royal Canadian Army Service Corps
Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps
Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps
Canadian Postal Corps
Canadian Provost Corps
During the Second World War, other corps were
created and their troops were also represented in each division, including the Royal
Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and Canadian Intelligence Corps.
The Second Division in 1939 was organized, like
the First Canadian Division, along regional lines.
Fourth
Canadian Infantry Brigade |
Ontario |
The Royal Regiment of Canada |
Toronto, Ontario |
The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry
(Wentworth Regiment) |
Hamilton, Ontario |
The Essex Scottish Regiment |
Windsor, Ontario |
The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (Machine Gun) |
Ottawa, Ontario |
Fifth
Canadian Infantry Brigade |
Quebec |
The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada |
Montreal, Quebec |
Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal |
Montreal, Quebec |
Le Regiment de Maisonneuve |
Montreal, Quebec |
Le Regiment de la Chaudiere (Mitrailleuses) |
Levis, Quebec |
Sixth
Canadian Infantry Brigade |
Prairie
Provinces |
The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada |
Winnipeg, Manitoba |
The South Saskatchewan Regiment |
Estevan, Saskatchewan |
The Calgary Highlanders |
Calgary, Alberta |
The Winnipeg Grenadiers (Machine Gun) |
Winnipeg, Manitoba |
While the First Canadian Division
was concentrated quickly and despatched to the United Kingdom in December 1939, it would
be over a year before the Second Canadian Division as a whole would be assembled in one
place; in that time many changes to the organization shown above would be made.
The first brigade concentrations were made in
May and June of 1940; until that time all units trained in their own garrisons. The
4th Brigade assembled at Camp Borden in Ontario, the 5th concentrated at Valcartier Camp
in Quebec, and the 6th at Camp Shilo in Manitoba.
The divisional artillery concentrated at Camp
Petawawa in Ontario and at Shilo.
The divisional structure was changed in early
1940, reducing the number of Machine Gun battalions per division to one rather than three.
The Camerons of Ottawa and Chaudieres were reassigned to the Third Canadian
Division, which was mobilized in May 1940 (with the Chaudieres converting to a rifle
battalion) and the Winnipeg Grenadiers were sent to Jamaica for garrison duty (after which
they returned to Canada and redeployed to Hong Kong).
During the reorganization, some divisional units
were detailed for garrison duty:
Second Canadian
Infantry Division
Garrison Duties |
Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada |
Newfoundland |
June 1940 |
11 August 1940 |
Royal Regiment of Canada |
Iceland |
16 June 1940 |
31 October 1940 |
Les Fusiliers Mont Royal |
Iceland |
July 1940 |
31 October 1940 |
The entire division had in fact
been earmarked, at least temporarily, for garrison duty until the intervention of Winston
Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain. The British Army in the United
Kingdom was still badly in need of equipment and short of men - at a time when the German
Air Force was embarking on the destruction of the Royal Air Force as a prelude to invasion
of Great Britain. Churchill wrote to Anthony Eden, after visiting the First Canadian
Division:
You shared my astonishment
yesterday at the statement made to us by General McNaughton (commanding Canadian troops in
the UK) that the whole of the 2nd Canadian Division was destined for Iceland. It
would surely be a very great mistake to allow these fine troops to be employed in so
distant a theatre. Apparently, the first three battalions have already gone
there. No one was told anything about this. We require the two Canadian
divisions to work as a corps as soon as possible...
The remaining units of the division were thus
sent to the United Kingdom. The temporary absence of the Fusiliers Mont Royal in
England in September allowed for the reassignment of the Calgary Highlanders to the 5th
Brigade. There was a shortage of French-speaking staff officers, and General
Odlum - who commanded the division - felt it desirable to give "French and English
speaking Canadians wider contacts" by mixing the brigades. By war's end, Canada
produced only a handful of French-speaking brigade commanders, all of whom were required
to command their brigades in English.
Commanders
May of 1940 brought the appointment of the first
General Officer Commanding. As the war progressed, the generals who commanded the
Second Division (and indeed, the Canadian Army as a whole) would be men with a background
in artillery. Of the seven generals given command of the Second Division from 1940
to 1945, four of them were from the artillery.
|
General Officer Commanding
Second Canadian Infantry Division |
|
Dates in Command |
Destination on Leaving
Appointment |
Major General V.W. Odlum, CB,
CMG, DSO, VD |
20 May 1940 - 6 Nov 1941 |
To Australia as High
Commissioner |
Major General J.H. Roberts, DSO,
MC |
Acting Commander
7 Nov 1941 - 5 Apr 1942 |
Confirmed in position 6
April 1942 |
Major General J.H. Roberts, DSO,
MC |
6 Apr 1942 - 12 Apr 1943 |
To command Canadian
Reinforcement Units in the United Kingdom |
Major General
H.D.G. Crerar, DSO |
23 Dec
1941 - 5 Apr 1942 |
(Never
actually commanded; appointed to temporary command of
I Cdn Corps 23 Dec 1941) |
Major General G.G. Simonds, CBE |
13 Apr 1943 - 28 Apr 1943 |
To command 1st Canadian
Division |
Major General E.L.M. Burns, OBE,
MC |
6 May 1943 - 10 Jan 1944 |
To command I Canadian
Corps |
Major General C. Foulkes, CBE |
11 Jan 1944 - 9 Nov 1944 |
To command I Canadian
Corps |
Major General
A.B. Matthews, CBE, DSO, ED |
10 Nov 1944 - 6 Oct 1945 |
Division disbanded |
|
Major General Victor Odlum was
a decorated veteran of the First World War and had previous to his appointment as GOC been
the Inspector General of the 2nd Division. By the end of 1941, Canada had begun the
process of replacing older soldiers like Odlum with younger men, as they became available
and trained. Many of the 1939 originals in the Calgary Highlanders were also
replaced as a matter of policy, including Lieutenant Colonel J. Fred Scott. |
|
Major General John Hamilton
"Ham" Roberts had won the Military Cross in the First World War as a
gunner, and was promoted rapidly after the fall of France. During the evacuation
from France in 1940, as commanding officer of 1 Canadian Field Regiment (RCHA) he used his
initiative to rescue his entire regiment of field guns from abandonment on the Continent,
and was quickly promoted to various staff and command positions before assuming divisional
command. He led the division at Dieppe, for which he was decorated with the
Distinguished Service Order, but in the spring of 1943, after poor showings in formation
level exercises by the 2nd Division, he was sent to command reinforcement units. |
|
Major General Henry Duncan Graham
"Harry" Crerar was also an artilleryman who had served in the
First World War. He would never actually command the Second Division despite being
named its commander in December of 1941. He would go on to command I Canadian Corps,
and in August 1944 landed in Normandy as commander of First Canadian Army, to whom the II
Canadian Corps and 2nd Canadian Division belonged. |
|
Major General Guy Granville Simonds
was born to a Major of the Royal Artillery in 1903, and upon graduation from Royal
Military College elected to join the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. After he left
the Second Division, he would serve in Italy and return to command II Canadian Corps in
Normandy, the formation to which the Second Canadian Division belonged. Simonds
would be regarded, by British officers, Canadian officers, and historians alike, as the
greatest commander Canada produced in the Second World War. |
|
Major General Edson Louis Millard
"Tommy" Burns was a veteran of the Great War who had served in signals
units, being decorated for bravery under fire. He was also a scholar, who was
published in both fiction and non-fiction. Between the wars, he served with the
Royal Canadian Engineers. In 1939 he assumed the first of a string of senior staff
positions, but was reduced from Brigadier to Colonel in 1941 when a letter to a married
woman in Montreal - with whom he was having an affair - was found to contain many frank
opinions of senior war leadership in Britain. He assumed an administrative post with
the new Canadian Armoured Corps, commanded a brigade in the 4th Division (which he helped
create), and eventually was given command of the 2nd Canadian Division. He would
leave the division to assume command of a corps in Italy where he oversaw some of Canada's
greatest military successes in that theatre - the Hitler Line and the Gothic Line. |
|
Major General Charles Foulkes was
a prewar Permanent Force officer, who became Brigadier, General Staff of First Canadian
Army, and assumed command of the Second Canadian Division in January 1944. He left
the division to take over I Canadian Corps from E.L.M. Burns, who - despite his tactical
successes in the field - was considered not to have the personality required of a corps
commander. Foulkes was a rarity among senior commanders in the Canadian Army in
World War Two in that his background was as an infantry officer. |
|
Major General Albert Bruce Matthews
was also a gunner, and moreover, had been a Militia officer before the war rather than a
full time Permanent Force officer. He commanded a battery of field guns in Toronto,
and after Mobilization held positions as battery and later field regiment commander.
In January 1943 he was named Commander Royal Artillery of the 1st Canadian Division
(Hamilton Roberts had held the exact same appointment earlier in the war). The CRA
commanded the divisional artillery (three field regiments, an anti-tank regiment and an
anti-aircraft regiment) and served as the GOC's artillery advisor in combat in Sicily and
Italy. He returned to the UK and became CCRA (Commander Corps Royal Artillery)
of II Canadian Corps - meaning he now commanded the artillery of not just one division,
but of all units in the corps (including the artillery of the Second Canadian Division
when II Canadian Corps Headquarters moved to Normandy in August 1944). |
When Charles Foulkes left for Italy to assume command of I Canadian Corps, Matthews
was selected to replace him. Commanders in NW Europe were dubious at first - fearing
that the perception would be that artillerymen were favouring each other for top
appointments - but Matthews brought a unique perspective to the job of division commander.
Canadian doctrine had evolved to be very much artillery based in any event, and the
division benefited from having a gunner in command. |
Changes in Organization
In 1941, the Toronto Scottish Regiment were
moved from the First Canadian Division to become the Machine Gun battalion of the Second
Division. As well, the 8th Reconaissance Regiment (14th
Canadian Hussars) was created from 2nd Division personnel and reinforcements from
Canada. They would become the "eyes" of the Division. In early
1941, the 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment also arrived in the United Kingdom and was
assigned to the Division.
The official Canadian Army historian, Charles
P. Stacey, wrote that "Equipping the 2nd Canadian Division, in the conditions
existing in England in 1940, had been a discouraging business." Artillery
pieces were ancient 75mm guns with steel tires. A lack of anti-aircraft guns (at the
height of the Battle of Britain) left Canadian units to fend for themselves with small
arms. By February 1941, enough Bren guns were issued for all the infantry units, and
by September enough 25-pounder howitzers were available for the artillery. Signals
equipment and transport were still lacking, and anti-tank guns were dangerously scarce. On
the whole, however, the division was felt to be a "better division" than the
First, especially in terms of discipline and staff work. A frequent point of comparison
was higher incidence of traffic accidents occuring in First Division.
Royal Visit
On 27 March 1941 came a Royal Visit,
described as a "tonic" to morale in the division. At right, His Majesty
King George VI, in military uniform at centre, is shown around the Calgary Highlanders'
area by Lieutenant Colonel J. Fred Scott, in helmet and respirator case to the
right. The man behind Scott is Major General Victor Odlum. Behind the
King can be seen Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, with back to the camera. The Calgary
Highlanders' War Diary related that: 5th Canadian Inf. Bde. proceeded to
HORNLEY COMMON and formed up in a concentration area to be inspected by their Majesties
King George and Queen Elizabeth. The King and Queen seemed to be very pleased with the
turn out of the Bttn. The Carriers demonstrated their ability to go into action quickly.
Each Company did a different type of training while the band marched up and down the road
to the skirl of the pipes. The officers and men of the unit feel highly honoured to have
been inspected by their Majesties. |
|
IdentificationGeneral Odlum expressed a desire
to revive the blue battle patches worn in World War One as early as September 1940 and
these patches were adopted in April 1941. These battle patches designated the various
battalions within the division through the use of coloured geometric shapes atop the blue
rectangular division patch; the same system that had been used in the Great War.
The Calgary Highlanders wore a red patch atop the division
patch, identifying them as members of the 5th Brigade. The triangle shape identified
them as the junior battalion in the brigade. Seniority was based on when the
Regiment from which the battalion had been drawn was formed.
|
|
|
The Division also adopted a gold maple leaf on
blue background as its vehicle insignia. Individual units came to be denoted by unit
signs wwhich were consistent from division to division. As junior infantry battalion
in the middle brigade of an infantry division, the Calgary Highlanders used the number 62
in white on a green coloured square. |
|
1941 - Continued Training
When the division was not engaged in coastal defence
duties or unit training, formation level training took the form of increasingly larger
exercises. Exercise WATERLOO conducted 14-16 June 1941 would be the largest in the United
Kingdom to date, with I Canadian Corps counter-attacking an imagined German sea and air
landing. Exercise BUMPER from 29 September to 3 October 1941 was larger than WATERLOO,
involving 250,000 men. These exercises tended to concentrate on traffic control,
communications and logistical concerns and were of little practical value to the infantry.
On 30 December 1941, the Calgary Highlanders introduced "Battle
Drill" to the Division. This new type of training emphasized small unit tactics as
well as "hardening" training through use of live ammunition, slaughterhouse
visits, and obstacle courses, and was adopted throughout the Army.
1942 - Zenith and Reconstruction
Several exercises in early 1942 under the new divisional
commander, General Roberts, included BEAVER II in February, BEAVER III in April and BEAVER
IV in May. These all aimed at gauging the the ability of the division to repel an
enemy invasion of Britain. Exercise TIGER from 19 to 30 May was slightly smaller
than BUMPER but was incredibly physically demanding. As a result of this exercise,
the 2nd Canadian Division was judged one of the four best divisions in the United Kingdom;
this reputation caused the division to be selected for Operation RUTTER.
RUTTER was a raid by two infantry brigades of the
French port of Dieppe, planned to capture the dock facilities as well as nearby radar
equipment and a German divisional headquarters, and withdraw the same day. Hard
training and exercises commenced on the Isle of Wight, but the raid, set for July, was
cancelled. Normal training resumed while RUTTER was secretly revived as JUBILEE. The
surprised men of the division went into action on 19 August 1942
While British Commando units landed on
the flanks, Second Division men landed on four beaches. The easternmost, Blue, presented
the most difficulties. Situated at the foot of a cliff, the Royal Regiment of Canada, with
a company of Black Watch, was held at bay by just two platoons of Germans. Of the men that
landed, few returned to England. The main beaches, White and
Red, lay in front of Dieppe itself. Small penetrations into town were made by the
attacking infantry but the majority of troops were pinned down on the beach, despite the
covering fire of several troops of the Calgary Tank Regiment. The Fusiliers
Mont-Royal were landed to reinforce to little effect. As at Blue Beach, casualties were
heavy.
At Green Beach to the west, the South Saskatchewan Regiment was
landed on the wrong side of the Scie River forcing an assault on the bridge there as well
as German emplacements on the hillside and in the town of Pourville. The
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders reinforced, but neither battalion was able to reach its
objective. Here, too, many men were left behind as prisoners after the withdrawal. |
Canadian troops move their wounded
comrades after the landings.
|
The Division After Dieppe 1942-1944
It would take a full year for the Second Division to
rebuild itself after Dieppe; all told some 50% of the participants had been killed,
wounded, or captured. The Division went from an enviable reputation as one of the
best trained divisions in the United Kingdom to practically having to start over again
from scratch.
In January 1944, Major General Charles Foulkes
- the first divisional commander not to have served in World War One - replaced
Burns. All traces of the First World War in terms of insignia, uniforms or equipment
had been replaced by this time, also. The First World War shoulder patches had
been done away with after Dieppe, and the First World War pattern Enfield rifles with
sword bayonet had also been replaced in 1943 with the new Number 4 Mark I rifle, as had
the Great War style box respirators (in favour of the new Light Respirator with integral
filter). |
|
In February 1944, all three brigade commanders
were replaced. Sweeping changes in command were coupled with large turnovers in personnel
in 1943; by early 1944 reorganization plans and continual training for no immediate
purpose all conspired to lower morale. Things began to change when Royal visits early in
the year heralded the coming invasion season. Second Division again received His
Majesty on 9 March 1944, as he made the rounds to say farewell to Allied formations
preparing to depart for France. By this time, 2nd Canadian Division numbered some
18,000 fully equipped men. The main Canadian
assault in Normandy was launched on 6 June by 3rd Canadian Division while the Second
Division waited in the wings. A period of 90 days was considered likely before the Allies
would have enough men ashore to be able to advance beyond the Seine River. The major city
of Caen was to be taken on D-Day itself.
Summer, 1944 - Normandy
When the 2nd Division landed in France at the end of the first week
of July, the beachhead had expanded little; patrol actions and defensive fighting against
German armoured units had been predominant and Caen had still not fallen. As the
Division assembled, the Third Division went ahead with Operation CHARNWOOD and finally
cleared a path to the city of Caen which fell by 9 July. The role of the Second Division
would be to push forward towards the Verrieres Ridge, dominating the road to Falaise, in
order to keep pressue on the Germans and drawing troops away from events further west.
Operations ATLANTIC and GOODWOOD were launched simultaneously in
July, the former a Canadian affair, the latter British. Some 35 square miles of
territory was seized by the Canadians, but Verrieres Ridge remained in German hands. The
2nd Division's role was a general advance south of the junction of the Odon and Orne
rivers, but by the 19th, in the face of fierce resistance as well as poor weather, the
division came to a halt. On the 20th, the 6th Brigade attacked the Verrieres Ridge with
the Essex Scottish under command; the South Saskatchewan Regiment reached its objectives
but was bloodily repulsed, as were the Essex who were counterattacked. The Fusiliers
Mont-Royal was similarly treated when two companies made a foothold on the ridge and few
survivors were left to report. On 21 July German attacks continued against the Essex. In
two days of fighting, the division lost some 300 men. A new attack by the Black Watch
re-established a small foothold on the lower slopes of the ridge.
On 22 July, Montgomery decided to attack full out rather than use
the operations at Verrieres as a feint, and Operation SPRING - devised by II Canadian
Corps - would be a three-phase operation with the same objectives as the unsuccessful
GOODWOOD. The attack would be launched simultaneously with American attacks far to
the west on 25 July. The 2nd Division's attack was made over open ground, with enemy
troops on the flank and in subterranean iron mines in which he took cover and from which
he infiltrated the Canadian rear. The 4th Brigade attacked on the left to some degree of
success, taking Verrieres itself but being rebuffed at Rocquancourt. The 5th Brigade on
the right suffered heavily, and the Black Watch, attacking with some 350 men to St. Andre,
was reduced to some 15 survivors; out of 324 recorded casualties, as many as 120 of were
fatalities. The attack continues to be the ongoing subject of bitter
controversy.adian Corps under command on the 31st.
21st Army Group decided now that the primary task on the Canadian
front would be pinning the enemy down while the main effort would shift away from the
great German strength opposite, to the British front east of the Orne. The start of
August saw the Canadians (now serving under their own Army headquarters) delivering local
attacks, but also saw German units - now realizing that no attack would come via Pas de
Calais, as they feared - moving across the Seine and into the battle area. Armoured units
opposite the Canadians were pulled out and redeployed to face the 3rd US Army. By 7
August only one German armoured formation remained on the Canadian front.
By this point, the British had made progress at the Vire and Orne
Rivers, and the Canadians were ordered forward to Falaise. On 7 August, Operation TOTALIZE
went forward, with heavy bomber support and the infantry using for the first time in
history fully tracked armoured personnel carriers. While the 3rd Canadian Division
attacked east of the Falaise road, the 2nd attacked to the west under cover of darkness.
The newly arrived German 89th Division fought hard but the defensive line that had held
out for two weeks was finally breached, and the heights of the Verrierres Ridge were
finally seized. The second phase saw two armoured divisions - including the newly arrived
4th Canadian - pass through. Stiff fighting brought the Canadians to a halt - by 11
August, eight miles had been gained, but eight still remained between the Canadians and
Falaise.
The German armour that moved away from the Canadian front
was used to launch a desperate counter-attack towards Mortain beginning on 6 August. The
attack ground to a halt within a day, and the Canadian advance on Falaise worried the
German Field Marshall in command, who was prohibited by Hitler personally from redeploying
his troops. The opportunity to encircle large parts of the German 7th Army now presented
itself, as US armour rolled towards Argentan from the south. The Canadian Army was ordered
south; while the armour made its preparations to move on the 14th, the 2nd Division busied
itself with prepatory attacks, crossing the Laize River at Bretteville and southward for
two days, recrossing the river at Clair Tizon and threatening the main German defensive
line along the Falaise Road.
German capture of Canadian battle plans allowed for
effective defences to be in place east of the road. Tractable was patterned after
Totalize, except that instead of using darkness for cover, artillery would provide smoke
screens and abandon a preliminary barrage in hopes of maintaining surprise. The Second
Division did not have a part to play in this operation, however divisional troops entered
Falaise on 16 August. By this time, the Germans had realized the trap was closing, and
long columns began fleeing through the gap, exposed to Allied artillery and air power. |
Second
Canadian Infantry Division
Order of Battle - 1944-1945 |
|
The Toronto Scottish Regiment (M.G.)
(Second Canadian Division Support Battalion)
|
|
Fourth
Canadian Infantry Brigade |
The
Royal Regiment of Canada
The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment)
The Essex Scottish Regiment |
|
Fifth
Canadian Infantry Brigade |
The
Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada
Le Régiment de Maisonneuve
The Calgary Highlanders |
|
Sixth
Canadian Infantry Brigade |
Les
Fusiliers Mont Royal
The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada
The South Saskatchewan Regiment |
Units of the supporting arms included:
|
|
4th Infantry
Brigade Ground Defence Platoon (Lorne Scots)
5th Infantry Brigade Ground Defence Platoon (Lorne Scots)
6th Infantry Brigade Ground Defence Platoon (Lorne Scots) |
|
8th Recce
Regiment (14th Canadian Hussars) |
|
Royal
Canadian Artillery |
Headquarters,
Second Divisional Artillery, RCA |
|
4th
Field Regiment |
2nd (Ottawa)
Field Battery
14th (Midland) Field Battery
26th (Lambton) Field Battery |
|
5th
Field Regiment |
5th (Westmount)
Field Battery
28th (Newcastle) Field Battery
73rd Field Battery |
|
6th
Field Regiment |
13th (Winnipeg)
Field Battery
21st Field Battery
91st Field Battery |
|
2nd
Anti-Tank Regiment |
18th Anti-Tank
Battery
20th Anti-Tank Battery
23rd Anti-Tank Battery
108th Anti-Tank Battery |
|
3rd
Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment |
16th Light
Anti-Aircraft Battery
17th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery
38th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery |
|
Corps
of Royal Canadian Engineers |
Headquarters
RCE
1st Field Park Company, RCE
2nd Field Company, RCE
7th Field Company, RCE
11th Field Company, RCE
One bridge platoon |
|
Royal
Canadian Corps of Signals |
Second
Infantry Divisional Signals, RCCS |
|
Royal
Canadian Army Service Corps |
Headquarters
RCASC
4th Infantry Brigade Company, RCASC
5th Infantry Brigade Company, RCASC
6th Infantry Brigade Company, RCASC
Second Infantry Divisional Troops Company, RCASC |
|
Royal
Canadian Army Medical Corps |
No. 10 Field Ambulance, RCAMC
No. 11 Field Ambulance, RCAMC
No. 18 Field Ambulance, RCAMC
13th Canadian Field Hygiene Section, RCAMC
4th Canadian Field Dressing Station
21st Canadian Field Dressing Station |
|
Royal
Canadian Ordnance Corps |
No.
2 Infantry Division Ordnance Field Park, RCOC |
|
Royal
Canadian Electrical and
Mechanical Engineers |
Headquarters
RCEME
4th Infantry Brigade Workshop, RCEME
5th Infantry Brigade Workshop, RCEME
6th Infantry Brigade Workshop, RCEME
One LAA workshop
Eleven light aid detachments. |
|
Canadian
Postal Corps |
One divisional postal unit. |
|
Canadian
Provost Corps |
One
provost company. |
|
Canadian
Intelligence Corps |
One
field security section. |
|
Second Division then moved on 21 August,
shifting eastward, into the valley of the Seine, where hard fighting in the Foret de la
Londe awaited the 4th and 6th Brigades. Fierce forest fighting lasted from the morning of
the 27th to the afternoon of the 29th against well equipped enemy troops present in
strength.
August had been a pivotal month. Not only had the German
7th Army been virtually destroyed, but Allied landings in the south of France were coupled
with the fall of Paris. The future looked bright, and as early as 20 August, all eyes
turned northwest to that familiar stretch of coast which would be forever linked with the
division. First Canadian Army was advised by an order on that day from 21st Army Group
"I am sure that the 2nd Canadian Division will attend to Dieppe satisfactorily."
Battle for the Ports - September-October 1944
The division's role was now to capture vitally needed enemy
ports, the first being Dieppe, where the Division was met with great joy. The
Division paused to remember the sacrifice of the Division in 1942 on 3 September. The next
day, Antwerp fell intact to the British - but the port was useless until the Scheldt
Estuary was cleared. While Allied troops battled south of the Scheldt, the
Second Division fought its way across the Belgian border, crossing the Albert Canal on 22
September (through a bridgehead opened by the Calgary Highlanders), then the
Antwerp-Turnhout Canal, and by October were in a position to move forward to the South
Beveland isthmus from where they could attack west and clear the north bank of the
Scheldt.
Resistance stiffened, reinforcements were in short supply,
and attacks had to be made over exposed terrain. A month of costly fighting saw the
Division battle its way onto the isthmus, and as far west as Walcheren Island. The
2nd Division had lost 3,650 men in 33 days of fighting.
Winter and Renewed Offensive - November 1944 -
March 1945
The Division moved to static positions in the Nijmegen
Salient early in November 1944 under a new divisional commander and passed the winter
quietly. Although rain, bitter cold and German flooding made December miserable,
scattered shelling and patrols were the only major activities.
Operation VERITABLE, dalayed by the Ardennes offensive; was
designed to bring the 21st Army Group to the west bank of the Rhine River; the last
natural obstacle protecting Germany. Plans were made to breach the three German defence
lines in turn: the outpost screen, then the Siegfried Line running through the Hochwald
Forest, then the Hochwald Layback covering the approach to Xanten.
On 8 February the 2nd Division advanced in the wake of the
largest artillery barrage to date, on the left of a four division front six miles wide,
with flooded terrain proving a greater obstacle than the Germans - but only at first. The
5th Brigade secured the triangle of ground dominating the Nijmegen-Cleve road, though
minefields caused many casualties. Six of the seven German battalions positioned up to
7000 yards ahead of the Siegfried Line had been shattered and 1300 prisoners taken. The
first phase had been completed in a day.
During the next phase, four other divisions pressed the
attack on the Siegfried Line and into the woods of the Reichswald. On 16 February 2nd
Division went into action against German troops along the Goch-Calcar road. Again on 19
February, APCs were employed in an attack against fresh German troops including the crack
Panzer Lehr division. By 21 February, the second phase was complete and British and
Canadian divisions were prepared for the final push against the last obstacle barring the
Canadians' path to the Rhine.
The Hochwald Gap lay between two national forests; the
Hochwald and the Walberger Wald to the south. On 27 February, 2nd Division launched its
attack into the former and secured a firm foothold in the face of intense defensive fires
and counter-attacks. On 1 March, renewed attacks went forth to clear the northen half of
the Hochwald. Here, Major Frederick Tilston - a staff officer of the Essex Scottish
Regiment who had tired of paperwork and volunteered for company command - was severly
wounded while leading his company, eventually losing an eye and both legs. Tilston was the
third and last Second Division soldier awarded the Victoria Cross. His efforts allowed the
brigade to maintain a firm base for further advances against the southern half of the
forest. By the morning of the 4th, the enemy was pulling back.
The final act of Blockbuster was be the assault on Xanten,
which lasted from the 8th of March to the 10th. As in Normandy, the British and Canadians
had been obliged to fight the best German units available, and terrain and weather
conspired to prevent any encircling movements or attempts to cut the enemy's retreat. The
Germans still knew how to retreat skillfully, and although Hitler's decision to fight west
of the Rhine ultimately cost him twenty divisions, there was no great haul of captured
enemy equipment. The Second Division suffered the heaviest casualties of all the
British and Canadian formations engaged in Blockbuster; from 26 Feb to 10 Mar some 300 men
were killed and more than 1100 wounded.
The Final Phase North of the Rhine - March-May 1945
But a path to the Rhine River had been cleared; the
division did not take part in the massive crossing operation, and crossed in peace in the
last week of March 1945. After briefly moving through German territory they were again on
Dutch soil, where Groningen loomed in their path. During the nine days preceding the
attack on the city itself, German resistance was mainly unskilled; defence positions were
not supported by guns and mortars, and co-ordinated withdrawals under cover of darkness
were abandoned. The city itself, still occupied by its 140,000 civilians, had many solid 4
story apartment buildings which could not be bombed or shelled without killing many
innocents. Most German units were willing to surrender quickly, however, die-hard Dutch SS
were obliged to fight to the end, knowing their countrymen would have little sympathy for
them if they surrendered. House to house fighting in the town raged from 13 to 16 April.
After Groningen, the division moved back to Germany,
opposite Bremen but still the Germans resisted. On the 23rd, an attack near Hanover by the
QOCH was met not only with fierce resistance, but a counter-attack "in traditional
Wehrmacht style." By 3 May advance units were in Oldenburg near the north
coast. The last days of the war were miserable, with steady rain and, worse, continual
losses in the infantry units to mortar fire. "Cease Fire" was declared on
5 May, with Victory in Europe Day declared 8 May. The war was over.
General Order 52/46 of October 1945 disbanded divisional
headquarters. By December, the Second Canadian Division was no more.
Sometimes referred to as the "hard-luck outfit"
of the Canadian Army, the Second Division nonetheless consistently performed the tasks
asked of it despite being noted for having the highest casualty rates in NW Europe. |