Second World War

Lt-Col. D.K. Tow

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Lieutenant-Colonel D.K. Tow
Toronto Scottish Regiment
Tow

New occupant of the general manager’s office at 75-year-old Toronto General Trusts Corp. is Donald Koser Tow, 50. His corner office faces on two other Toronto institutions whose roots also extend well back into the nineteenth century–the Toronto Stock Exchange to the west, the Toronto Telegram to he south.

(National Post, 12 Apr 1958, 6)

Born in Toronto on 4 July 1907, Donald Koser Tow held a commerce degree from the University of Toronto and worked for the Canada Trust Company in Windsor and Toronto. He had belonged to both the Essex Scottish Regiment and the Toronto Scottish Regiment. The went overseas with the latter in December 1939 and then became as deputy assistant adjutant-general with Canadian Military Headquarters.

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Brig. G.S.N. Gostling

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Brigadier Guy Gostling Roy
Toronto Scottish Regiment
10th & 6th Infantry Brigade

We must look to the future. Already we have hovercraft which travel over land and water riding on a cushion of air; rocket harness for individual propulsion of foot soldiers over obstacles; reconnaissance “scopes” that see targets in the darkness; improved management and control techniques.

 All these things call for modernization of the armed forces set-up. Canada with its small armed forces is in an ideal position to do thus.

 (quoted in Toronto Star, 8 March 1967, 6)

Born on 13 August 1901 in Dorset, England, Guy Standish Noakes Gostling was a Toronto corporate executive, University of Toronto graduate, and in his youth a champion wrestler and tennis player. He moved to Canada in 1922, and worked in Winnipeg, where he joined the Grenadier regiment. He mobilized with the Royal Regiment of Canada in Toronto, serving overseas in Iceland and England.

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Lt-Col. W.G.T. Roach

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Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon T. Roach
Toronto Scottish Regiment
Roach

He immediately in complete darkness reorganised the remnants into a half battery and had the wounded evacuated and was ready to start by zero [hour]. Throughout the operations following he displayed great gallantry in handling his guns at all times, setting a splendid example to all ranks.” Roach was wounded a month later.

(M.C. citation, 1918)

Born in Toronto on 30 December 1896, Willard Gordon Thomas Roach had volunteered with the 95th Battalion in 1915, been commissioned with the 216th Battalion in 1916, reinforced the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles in France in 1917, and earned the M.C. at the Drocourt-Queant Line in 1918 after enemy  bombardment on the assembly area before the attack.

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Lt-Col. J.H. Christie

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Lieutenant-Colonel J.H. Christie
Toronto Scottish Regiment
Christie

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during a raid in the enemy’s trenches. He handled the covering party with marked ability, and was largely responsible for the success of the raid. Later, he assisted in bringing in a wounded man under very heavy fire.

(M.C. citation, 1917)

Born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia on 23 June 1892, John Herbert Christie worked for a Toronto investment firm and served in the First World War. He had reverted from lieutenant to sergeant to go overseas, earned another commission with the 73rd Battalion (The Black Watch), and received the Military Cross for heroism at Vimy Ridge.

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Lt-Col. C.C. Thompson

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Lieutenant-Colonel C.C. Thompson
Toronto Scottish Regiment
ThompsonCC

This might be the wrong time or place to mention it, but Chris Thompson is a bachelor, the only unmarried commander in the Toronto area. It’s not the wrong time to mention that he now passes up a pension from the last war to risk his neck in this one. He thinks this one will be fun, too.

(Toronto Star, 24 October 1939, 4)

Born on 7 March 1894 in Toronto, Christopher Craig Thompson was a University of Toronto graduate, bond broker, First World War veteran, and commanding officer of the Toronto Scottish since February 1939. He served as a lieutenant with the 124th Battalion and was wounded at Passchendaele. “If they ever offer prizes for military Jack-of-all-trades,” the Toronto Star wrote on the outbreak of war in 1939, “Chris Thompson … ought to win one.” Continue reading →

Lt-Col. C.F.L. Roy

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Lieutenant-Colonel Laurent Roy
Fusiliers Mont-Royal
Roy

Our second in command Major C. F. L. Roy was found in the skin of a merchant selling a typewriter to two war correspondents. Now we know he is the man to occupy the position of Mess President for the officers mess. Tow we can buy two new typewriters for our secretary.

(War diary, 25 May 1945)

Born on 30 December 1915 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Charles Francis Laurent Roy worked for the Canada Starch company and graduated from the Joliette Seminary. Since 1935 he had been a commissioned officer in the Régiment de Joliette, which mobilized in 1942 for home service as part of the Atlantic Command in New Brunswick and Newfoundland. In January 1945, the regiment went overseas to England where it was broken-up for reinforcements. Roy as attached to the Fusiliers Mont-Royal as second-in-command during the final phase of the Northwest Europe campaign.

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Lt-Col. J.A. Dextraze

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Lieutenant-Colonel Jimmy Dextraze
Fusiliers Mont-Royal
Dextraze

I love my province. I love my country. I don’t see Canada without the province of Quebec—or without Alberta or British Columbia. I went to combat to keep my freedom, to keep all we have as a country. As a Quebecois I also fought for Quebec when I went to combat … It sounds corny talking this way, you know, but maybe I’m a corny man. I’m a down-to-earth fellow.

(Quoted in Montreal Gazette, 14 Apr 1980, 10)

Born on 15 August 1919 in Montreal, Jacques Alfred Dextraze worked for a rubber company when he volunteered with the Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal in 1940. By 1942, he had been recommended for a commission and completed officer training at Brockville. He went overseas with a reinforcement draft after the losses the Fusiliers had suffered at Dieppe. By the time the battalion deployed to France in early July 1944, Dextraze had been promoted to major and “D” company commander. For “personal daring and determination,” leading his company in a hand-to-hand fight on 1 August, he earned the D.S.O.

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Lt-Col. P. Sauvé

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Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Sauvé
Fusiliers Mont-Royal
Sauve

I realize that my absence may cause certain inconveniences. But as the war wears its way to the end—and it is the general conviction it will be this year—we much all of us realize the enormous task which awaits the government after the war.

(Montreal Gazette, 29 Jul Oct 1944, 9)

Born on 23 March 1907 in Saint-Benoît, Quebec, Joseph-Mignault-Paul Sauvé was a Université de Montréal graduate, lawyer, member of the Quebec Legislative Assembly since 1930. He represented Deux-Montagnes, succeeding his father, the former Quebec Conservative Party leader and senator. Defeated in 1935, he returned the next year as part of the newly formed Union Nationale Party of Maurice Duplessis and served as assembly president. Re-elected in the November 1939 election and speculated to be a potential new leader of the party, he instead would turn to military duties with Fusiliers Mont-Royal.

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Lt-Col. H-N. Langlois

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Lieutenant-Colonel H-N. Langlois
Fusiliers Mont-Royal
Langlois

In his speech Lt-Col J.G. Gauvreau mentioned the long and hard career of Lt-Col H.N. Langlois, ED, 23 years with the unit, who worked his way up from the rank of Pte to Lt-Col commanding Les Fusiliers Mont Royal.

(War diary, 18 Feb 1944)

Born in Connecticut in 1905, Henri-Noël Langlois had joined Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal as a private in 1921. He would be soon commissioned and served as adjutant after mobilization for active service in September 1939. He returned to Canada to take a staff officer course at RMC and rejoined the Fusillers after the Dieppe Raid as second-in-command under commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Guy Gauvreau.

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Brig. J.G. Gauvreau

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Brigadier Guy Gauvreau
Fusiliers Mont-Royal
6th Infantry Brigade
Gauvreau

Nous vengerons enfin tous nos amis qui sont restés sur lese plages de Dieppe. La tache sera dure parfois mais soyez tous assurés que vos efforts ne seront pas sans recompenses.

Les nouvelles de tous les fronts sont bonne, l’avenir s’annonce plus encourageante que jamais; seulement, il faut tous y mettre la main si l’on veut voir la fin de cette guerre.

(Gauvreau, “Ordre du Jour,” war diary, 8 Jul 1944)

Born on 12 May 1915 in Montreal, Joseph Guy Gauvreau was road secretary for the Montreal Royals, the professional baseball club partly owned by his father and vice-president Colonel Romeo Gauvreau. He graduated from McGill University in June 1939 and mobilized as a lieutenant with Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal a few months later. He served in Iceland and in England as aide-de-camp to general Bernard Montgomery. Having missed the Dieppe Raid, he was recalled from home leave in September 1942 to take over the battalion from Lieutenant-Colonel Dollard Ménard who had been five-times wounded in the battle.

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