Brigadier Fred Clift
South Saskatchewan Regiment
6th Infantry Brigade

It is believed that his wounds are not grave, but deep regret was expressed by every soldier who knew him, because Clift is not merely a master of organization but also a great fair-minded fellow who is a born leader.

(J.M.A. Cook, Star-Phoenix, 14 Oct 1944, 5)

Born on 17 May 1908 in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Frederick Alexander Clift was a school teacher and commissioned officer with the Saskatoon Light Infantry since 1936. After a year overseas, he returned to Canada be a machine gun instructor. He rejoined the SLI as second-in-command but was then appointed commanding officer of the South Saskatchewan Regiment in October 1942. “Col. Clift proved to be no exception to the list of outstanding C.O.s the regiment had been favoured with,” the regimental history declared. “He firmly believed that a battalion was only as good as its officers and for this reason the officers trained even harder than the men.”

Rebuilt after the losses at Dieppe two years earlier, the battalion arrived back to France in July 1944. Disappointed to not led the troops in their first battle together, Clift instead temporarily filled in as acting 4th Brigade commander after Sherwood Lett was wounded on 18 July. For his week’s absence, the SSR would be commanded by a series of three majors—the first was killed and the second broke down. Clift resumed command of the battalion on 25 July and suffered a shrapnel wound on 8 August.

Nicknamed “Lucky,” Clift was dubbed “the bravest man in the Canadian Army” by his men. When his carrier was ambushed, he “seized a Bren gun and turned it on the Germans, clearing them all out.” He then earned the D.S.O. for leading rifle in hand the attack on Falaise on 16 August. Ten days later, Clift learned he had been promoted to brigadier of the 6th Infantry Brigade, succeeding Brigadier Hugh Young. Proving he was not always “Lucky,” he was wounded in action within just two days and replaced by Brigadier J.G. Gauvreau.

Of his time in command in during the Normandy campaign, he observed what “impressed me most as a C.O., aside from the fighting qualities of our chaps, was the way in which our unit was looked after administratively … I never once had to look back over my shoulder and give anyone Hell. The staff were always there when we needed them and people chased me to find out what was required.” Clift returned to Canada where he was assigned to the Pacific Command.

Making his professional career the army, he served as commander of the 25th Canadian Brigade in the Far East in 1954, following the ceasefire of the Korean War. He retired from the army in 1962.

Clift died on 15 February 2000 in Goderich, Ontario.