Lieutenant-Colonel S.V. Radley-Walters
27th Armoured (Sherbrooke Fusilier) Regiment

You’ve got to be seen; you can’t hang back. You’ve got to be with the men … we had some that hung back and you could tell by the resistance that came, not necessarily resistance, but no enthusiasm at all from the men. And they wanted to see their leader with them doing the things that they [were] doing and so on, and they [wanted] him up in front.

(Quoted in Radley-Walters interview, 6 Dec 2006)

Born on 11 January 1920 in Gaspé, Quebec, Sydney Valpy Radley-Walters was one of the most decorated Canadian tank commanders and the Allies’ leading tank ace of aces in Northwest Europe. He was commissioned with the Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment after gradating from Bishop ‘s College in 1940. By the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944, Radley-Walters, nicknamed “Rad,” commanded a squadron of Shermans. At the end of the campaign, he had knocked out eighteen German tanks as well as many more enemy vehicles, earning him the Military Cross and D.S.O.

According to his M.C. citation, on 8 July 1944, during the liberation of Caen, “This officer, in the face of heavy enemy fire displayed outstanding tactical ability, initiative, and determination. His tks undoubtedly influenced the success of the battle and his leadership and courage set an excellent example to all ranks.” After almost three months of nearly continuous action, Rad began to feel invincible, recalling his confidence that “the Germans had their guns crooked. I really believed that there wasn’t a gun on the German side that could knock us out.”

His over-eagerness for combat represented another manifestation of battle fatigue, and he soon received a rest. He returned to command his squadron in the liberation of the Low Countries and the final drive into Germany. When Lieutenant-Colonel F.T. Jenner left for Canada in July 1945, command of the Sherbrookes passed to Radley-Walters, who would led the regiment home in January 1946.

He remained in the postwar army, serving on peacekeeping missions in Cyprus and Egypt. With important postings Royal Canadian Armoured Corps and NATO, he retired as a brigadier general in 1974.

Radley-Walters died in Kingston on 21 April 2015.

Further reading:

Craig Leslie Mantle, “The Leadership of S.V. Radley-Walters,” Canadian Military Journal, vol. 10, no. 1 (2009): http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vol10/no1/09-mantle%20zaporzan-eng.asp