Lieutenant-Colonel Fred Vokes
8th Reconnaissance Regiment (14th Hussars)
9th Armoured Regiment (British Columbia Dragoons)

I think in his last fight he must have been a little overzealous. But he always was a touraloo! type. He always had to be in the lead, where things were happening … As well he had a great belief in his own personal luck and tended to ignore the enemy’s shot and shell.

(Chris Vokes, My Story, 165)

Born in Ceylon on 29 September 1906, Frederick Alexander Vokes was the son of a British Army officer, an RMC graduate, and Permanent Force officer with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse. On the formation of the 2nd Canadian Division, in June 1940, Vokes became liaison officer for Major-General Victor Odlum before being given command of the 4th Canadian Reconnaissance Squadron in August. He was the young brother of Major-General Christopher Vokes.

In March 1941, Vokes was attached to the 8th Reconnaissance Regiment (14th Hussars) as second-in-command and by the end of the year had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the unit. An assessment in January 1944 described him as “a natural leader who has done will in comd of a Recce for some two years. Has good tactical sense. A potential bde comd, provided he receives staff training.”

The next month, Vokes finally received an appointment to a combat unit in Italy. At the end of February 1944, he succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel H.H. Angle in command of the 9th Armoured Regiment (British Columbia Dragoons). His older brother, Major-General Chris Vokes had served in the Italian theatre since the landings in Sicily and had commanded the 1st Canadian Division since October 1943.

Fred Vokes led the BC Dragoon tanks during their first major engagement at Melfa River on 24 May 1944. Known for his courage and aggressive tactics, he could also prove to be impatient and overambitious. When ordered to advance against the Gothic Line on 31 August 1944, Vokes pressed ahead, personally leading the squadrons without infantry support. Although the regiment achieved its objectives, over half of its fifty tanks were knocked out at the cost of fifty officers and troopers, including the commanding officer.

With his own command tank disabled, Vokes advanced on foot towards the objective as his squadrons consolidated the position. Shot down by a German sniper, he died of his wounds at a field ambulance that evening. Chris Vokes later reflected on the cause of his brother’s death:

And there was yet another circumstance: he was under strong pressure from his brigade headquarters to ‘get on with it,’ to burst through the Gothic Line if at all possible. This may have led to his chance-taking this time, the final chance he should have taken.