Lieutenant-Colonel Curt Greenleaf
22nd Armoured Regiment (Canadian Grenadier Guards)

The more Mr. Colonel drank, the redder, the braver and the more insolent he became. After 30 or 40 minutes Greenleaf was raining “machine gun fire” on the neighbouring tables. “Ta-ta-ta-ta—I hate you—Ta-ta-ta-ta—We’ll shoot you all, we’ll destroy you,” Mr. Colonel howled across the hall, squeezing the imaginary trigger.

(Izvestia quoted in “Current Digest of the Soviet Press,” 1965, 21)

Born in Montreal in 1916, Curtis Alden Greenleaf gave up a new job as a banker when he joined the Canadian Grenadier Guards in September 1939. He secured a commission when the unit mobilized for active service in June 1940. He went overseas with an advance party in May 1942 and became adjutant a year later. He was the only original officer to serve throughout the Northwest Europe campaign and earned the Military Cross for “personal courage and unshakable determination.” When Major E.A.C. Amy took over from the wounded Lieutenant-Colonel H.A. Smith in February 1945, Greenleaf rose to second-in-command.  

After VE-Day, Amy was recalled to Canada, and Greenleaf became the final wartime commanding officer of the Grenadier Guards. The unit newspaper, The ‘52 Natural, reported: “‘It couldn’t have been better,’ that’s great, he started with us, fought all the wat through and its no more than right he should be the one to take us home,’ ‘fine show,’ a fighting leader from a fighting Regt.’ Such were the comments heard on all sides and in all ranks.”

Greenleaf led the regiment home to Montreal in January 1946. Making a career in the army, from 1956 to 1958, he served as commanding officer of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse. After membership on the Vietnam truce commission, he was assigned as a military attaché for the Canadian embassy in Moscow. There he became the target of a diplomatic controversy and Soviet propaganda.

In April 1965, the Soviet government newspaper Izvestia accused a drunken Greenleaf of “hooliganism” for causing an embarrassing scene at restaurant in Tambov, Russia. One Russian claimed that “Mr. Colonel,” “showed a brilliant knowledge of the dictionary of swear words. Clearly the colonel had special training in the subject.” The incident was likely part of a KGB effort to harass Canadian officials. External Affairs called the accusation a lie in retaliation for the earlier expulsion of some Soviet diplomats from Canada for spying.

Back in Canada, Greenleaf became a strong proponent of the proposed integration and unification of the armed forces. He felt an infusion of “Canadianism” would help build an esprit de corps. He retired from the army in 1968 to Durham, Grey County, Ontario, where he spoke about his experiences in the Soviet Union. “Canada is the envy of the world,” he remarked in one address. “This way of life that we enjoy must be defended. It is a time for awareness not timidity.

He contested the riding of Grey South for the Liberals in the 1971 provincial election but was easily defeated by Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Eric Winkler. “Colonel Greenleaf ran a negative campaign, and the results prove it,” Winkler complained “… it was a deceitful campaign and became personal against me.”

Greenleaf next worked for a Toronto law firm until 1986. He died in Durham on 5 December 1994.