Lieutenant-Colonel T.C. Lewis
32nd Reconnaissance Regiment (RMR)
7th Reconnaissance Regiment (17th Hussars)

Colonel Lewis was absolutely outstanding as a commander, and, had he lived, would have undoubtedly have proved one of Canada’s foremost military leaders … His name will always have a high place in the annals of both Regiments which he commanded, as well as in the hearts of all who served with him.

(Gen. C.B. Price, Montreal Star, 7 Nov 1944, 3)

Born in Montreal on 9 February 1911, Thomas Cripps Lewis was a Sun Life insurance statistician and junior officer in the Royal Montreal Regiment (RMR). He had joined in 1925, rose to regimental sergeant major and was commissioned a lieutenant before it embarked for the United Kingdom with the 1st Division in December 1939. When he returned to Canada for instructional purposes at RMC, he had risen to the rank of major. He returned overseas in May 1943 and took command of the RMR, now redesignated from a machine gun battalion to the 32nd Reconnaissance Regiment.

Before the RMR converted to infantry as First Army Headquarters Defence Company, Lewis transferred to the 7th Reconnaissance Regiment (17th Hussars) as the new commanding officer. He succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel V.W. Hugman in March 1944. Of his transfer from RMR to the Hussars, Lewis wrote:

The men of the old R.M.R. will always retain their interest in the parent Regt. We were together too long to forget it … my personal attitude has to be that everyone under my command is heart and soul with this Unit. A man can only serve one Regt. at a time—I am encouraging my converts to lay aside their affiliation and think of themselves as Hussars not R.M.R.

Lewis nevertheless still felt a good deal of frustration and resentment over the breaking up of the Royal Montreal Regiment:

My new Regiment is a very fine one, with an excellent Spirit, which is always half the battle and by the time I have finished with it, it will be the very best in the country. Whenever I think of the R.M.R. these days my blood boils to think what a good regt. it was. It was ten times better than anything I have bumped into yet. However, being in a new job always makes me feel full of new ideas and enthusiasms—I am as happy as can be—or, would be if the R.M.R. would get out of my hair.

Having led the 7th Reconnaissance Regiment to France shortly after D-Day, Lewis earned the D.S.O. for fearless leadership during the Falaise operations on 14 August 1944:

Seeing this situation, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Cripps Lewis, proceeded ahead of his troops to reconnoitre a crossing; having located one, and though under enemy fire, he personally directed the troops over the River … While so doing he was singled out by an 88mm gun; and though shells were falling around his lightly armoured vehicle, [Lewis] continued transmitting until he was certain the information had been received.

Later that day, he “had a Universal Carrier shot out from under him. With remarkable coolness he quickly obtained another vehicle and continued to relay vital information. The citation concluded that his “dash and great coolness undoubtedly had a marked influence in spurring his regiment to seize and hold initial ground ahead of the tanks and Infantry, thus ensuring the complete success of the operation.”

In October 1944, Lewis became acting brigadier of the 8th Infantry Brigade. He left headquarters on the morning of 17 October never to be heard from again. The next day the Hussar’s war diary recorded: “In the morning, the body of Lt-Col. T.C. Lewis, DSO was found by C Coy, Regiment de la Chaudiere. All personal effects had been taken away as well as his boots.” His driver explained that their jeep had come under enemy fire and Lewis was killed by shrapnel. The driver was taken prisoner but left behind when the Germans withdrew.

Major C.A. Baerman took command of the Hussars and arranged for the burial of Lewis’s body.