Author: Matthew K Barrett

Lt-Col. A.J. Creighton

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Lieutenant-Colonel Jim Creighton
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
Creighton

Some of the boys who had been wounded before or during the attack on Oronta and who had not met Col. Creighton since he was a company commander were anxious to learn all about him. The Seaforths have been the most fortunate regiment in the matter of leadership. With the appointment of Col. Hoffmeister to the command of the brigade, we felt the loss of his personal leadership intimately.

(Maj. Roy Durand in The Province, 17 Jun 1944, 46)

Born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on 26 April 1903, Allen James Creighton graduated from RMC, served with the Canadian Engineers, and completed an engineering degree from McGill before settling in British Columbia in 1926. He was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Albro Creighton, who was killed in 1916 in command of the 1st Battalion. A lumberman and militia officer with the Seaforth Highlanders, Creighton went overseas with the regiment in December 1939.

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Lt-Col. J.D. Forin

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Lieutenant-Colonel J. Douglas Forin
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
Forin

The Germans we are fighting are young, husky and well-trained, obstinate in defence but like all Germans, a frightened, screaming, panic-filled lot when routed from their holes and forced into the open …

News in the world is good. Italy has gone—irrevocably. How this breed fancied themselves world conquerors is beyond explanation.

(Forin letter to parents, in Vancouver Sun, 24 Aug 1943, 13)

Born in Nelson, British Columbia on 11 October 1900, John Douglas Forin was a Vancouver lawyer and graduate of Queen’s University and Columbia. A prewar member of the Seaforth Highlanders, he became second-in-command in England and took over temporarily in August 1942 after Lieutenant-Colonel J.M.S. Tait went home medically unfit. He passed command over to Lieutenant-Colonel Bert Hoffmeister in October and reverted to second-in-command.

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Maj-Gen. B.M. Hoffmeister

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Major-General Bert Hoffmeister
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
2nd Infantry Brigade
5th Armoured Division
Hoffmeister

I’ll never forget one of my most embarrassing moments, having given my usual spiel, and having told them how important it was to keep right up close to the shell bursts, that the first shell bursts were all forward and there was absolutely no danger. In keeping up, you got to the German positions before they got their heads up, it reduced casualties and so on … when one round landed behind us. We were all flat on the ground, of course … but every soldier in that company looked around at me as if to say, “OK wise guy, what have you got to say about this?”

(Hoffmeister quoted in Delaney, The Soldiers’ General, 124)

Widely regarded as Canada’s most successful and respected general in the Second World War, Bertram Meryl Hoffmeister commanded a battalion, a brigade, and a division from the landings at Sicily, through the Italian campaign until the final battles in Northwest Europe. Born in Vancouver on 15 May 1907, he was a lumber sales manager and member of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada since 1927. He mobilized as a captain in September 1939 and three years later assumed command of the regiment he would lead into battle.

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Lt-Col. J.M.S. Tait

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Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Tait
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
Tait

His predecessor, Lieutenant-Colonel J.M.S. Tait, who reportedly liked to adorn himself with Patton-like pistol holsters, had been neither liked nor respected by the soldiers of the unit, the nickname “Hollywood” attesting to their cynicism regarding his abilities and sincerity.

(Delaney, The Soldier’s General, 43)

Born in Vancouver on 1 December 1903, John “Ian” Moore Spottiswood Tait was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel J.S. Tait who commanded the 29th Battalion in late 1916. As a child he attended school in England while his father was on the Western Front. He returned to Vancouver in the early 1920s and joined militia. He went overseas with the Seaforth Highlanders in December 1939, and took command two years later.

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Lt-Col. C.C. Ferrie

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Lieutenant-Colonel C.C. Ferrie
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
Ferrie

Our sergeants, as the Vimy Dinner night approached, looked for ways and means to put on their annual dinner. Rationing was in effect, as were strict regulations against the purchase of poultry and meats. They scurried around the countryside and located a farmer who would sell a young pig, at a price. It had to be very “hush, hush” … however, and could not be slaughtered on the premises.

The pig was collected in the vehicle. Then the fun began.

(Ferrie quoted in Roy, The Seaforth Highlanders, 79)

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 18 January 1895, Colin Campbell Ferrie enlisted with the 196th (Wester Universities) Battalion in April 1916, gained a commission one year later in England and joined the 72nd (Seaforth Highlanders) Battalion in France. He was wounded at Amiens on 11 August 1918 at the start of the Hundred Days campaign.

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Lt-Cols. Leslie & Stevenson

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Lieutenant-Colonel T.S. Leslie
Leslie
&
Lieutenant-Colonel J.B. Stevenson
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
Stevenson

Soldiering is not a life-long occupation for any man, and when the time comes for the Seaforths to go back to civil life, they are going to be fitter and better men for their time in the army, if anything we can do will make them so.

(Stevenson in Vancouver Sun, 10 Nov 1939, 13)

Born in Glasgow, Scotland on 16 November 1882, Thomas Soga Leslie had been commissioned with the 231st Battalion and joined the 72nd (Seaforth Highlanders) Battalion as a reinforcement officer in France in May 1917. He suffered a gunshot wound to the arm in September 1918. Twenty years later he became commanding officer of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. Too old for overseas service, he relinquished command on 1 September 1939 to another fellow First World War veteran, John Bryden Stevenson

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Maj. P.D. Crofton

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Major Pat Crofton
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
Crofton

Without Patty Crofton’s common sense, steady hand and constant good humour, I doubt if the Regiment would have survived. Through some incredible blundering or plain stupidity on the part of the staff, Patty remained a major and was not given his rightful rank of lieutenant colonel. Not once did Patty ever complain, but it annoyed me then and still does.

(C. Sydney Frost, Once a Patricia, 466)                                         

Born in Salt Spring, British Columbia on 20 January 1915, Patrick Donovan Crofton joined the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry as a lieutenant in August 1940 from the Canadian Scottish Regiment. Five years later he was one of the old veterans of the PPCLI. Despite being three-times wounded, he served from the landing at Sicily in July 1943 through the Italian campaign until the end of the war in Northwest Europe. When Lieutenant-Colonel R.P. Clark joined the Royal Winnipeg Rifles as part of the occupation of Germany in June 1945, Crofton took over the PPCLI.

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Lt-Col. R.P. Clark

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Lieutenant-Colonel Reg Clark
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
ClarkRP

His presence, and the example of his disregard for his own safety, were a source of great confidence and inspiration to all ranks of the battalion. By his courage, sound planning and firm leadership, Lieutenant-Colonel Clark ensured the success of his battalion’s attack and inspired it to hold firm in the teeth of this enemy bastion.

(D.S.O. citation, 7 Apr 1945)

Born on 28 March 1909 in Vancouver, Reginald Percival Clark was a broker, adjutant with the BC Regiment, and son of First World War battalion commander Brigadier General Robert Percy Clark (1872–1932). His three brothers and sister also volunteered on the outbreak of the Second World War. Reg joined the PPCLI and went overseas in December 1939. He was a company commander during the invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and second-in-command by December 1943.

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Lt-Col. D.H. Rosser

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Lieutenant-Colonel David Rosser
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
Rosser

News that LCol David Rosser was now commanding officer came as a surprise. Assuredly he was qualified from a staff point of view to take command, but he had had little battle experience … He had never commanded a Patricia company in action, which to me and all other experienced officers was the litmus test for a prospective Commanding Officer.

(C. Sydney Frost, Once a Patricia, 272)

Born on 6 Dec 1905 Swansea, Wales, David Hillard Rosser was a Royal Welch Guards officer who immigrated to Quebec in the 1930s. With the outbreak of the Second World War, he volunteered with the PPCLI just before sailing for England in December 1939. Two years later he returned to Canada for a junior war staff college course at RMC. Following staff postings overseas, and promotions to captain then major, Rosser rejoined the PPCLI in Italy in March 1944, becoming second-in-command two months later.

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Lt-Col. C.B. Ware

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Lieutenant-Colonel Cammie Ware
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
Ware

When you are a commanding officer, you are responsible for everything that happens in that Battalion and every man and so on … they are never out of your mind … You never get a night’s sleep … command entails everything … You’re responsible for every man in the Regiment … You’re responsible for every operation.

(Ware interview, quoted in Strickland, “Leading from the Front”)

Born 9 August 1913 in London, Ontario, Cameron Bethel Ware was son of a Canadian Army colonel and joined the PPCLI after graduation from RMC in 1935. Having been attached to the British Army for training just prior to the Second World War, he left England until Canada declared war only to return to England in October 1939. After completing infantry courses, Ware transferred back to the regiment in 1940 as a company commander. He became second-in-command of the PPCLI in February 1942.

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