Second World War

Lt-Col. H.S. Gamblin

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Lieutenant-Colonel H.S. Gamblin
5th Armoured Regiment (8th Princess Louise’s Hussars)
Gamblin

I was 17 years old at the time of my enlistment and therefore had to have the consent of my parents, which they reluctantly gave … I had discovered that anyone under the age of 18 would not be accepted for overseas duty. Therefore when the time came for my enlistment in the 4th Overseas Siege Battery, I gave my age as 18 and had no trouble about it.

(Gamblin interview, “Memories of WWI,” c. 1980)

Born on 21 December 1897 in Cody’s, New Brunswick, Harold Seymour Gamblin was a farmer, First World War veteran, and commanding officer of the 8th Princess Louise’s (New Brunswick) Hussars since 1938. He had served as a gunner and sergeant with an artillery battery in France until August 1918 when he was wounded by a shell explosion. After the war, he worked for the Soldier’s Settlement board and joined the militia.

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Lt-Col. J.M. McAvity

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Lieutenant-Colonel Jim McAvity
2nd Armoured Regiment (Lord Strathcona’s Horse)
McAvity

Throughout these operations and previously in the Italian theatre throughout the breaking of the Gothic Line in August 1944, the crossing of the River Conca, up to Coriano Ridge and the battles of the Po Plain the outstanding ability, enthusiasm and drive of this officer was undoubtedly of very great bearing on the successful completion of these operations.

(D.S.O. citation, 8 May 1945)

Born on 20 November 1909 in Montreal, James Malcolm McAvity was a tennis player and businessman. A graduate of RMC in 1931, he joined the army in 1940 and was one of a dozen officers to attend tank tactics training in England. He personally bought 18,000 acres of land for the Meaford tank range near Camp Borden. He went overseas with the Halifax Rifles in June 1943 and transferred to the Lord Strathcona’s Horse in August.

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Lt-Col. P.G. Griffin

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Lieutenant-Colonel Pat Grffin
2nd Armoured Regiment (Lord Strathcona’s Horse)
Griffin

Many orders may mean the sacrifice of life to gain an ultimate important objective such orders will not be given by the comd without a great deal of consideration and when given they must be obey instantly and implicitly.

(P.G. Griffin, LdSH War Diary, 28 Apr 1944)

Born in County Down, Ireland, on 8 March 1893, Philip (Patrick) George Griffin was an advertising manager in Toronto and a First World War veteran. He had joined the Royal Canadian Dragoons in 1913 and earned a commission with the Canadian Machine Gun Brigade at Vimy Ridge. He served the Lord Strathcona’s Horse until retirement in 1929 for health reasons. Ten years later he joined his old regiment as a captain and went overseas as second-in-command in November 1941.

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Brig. N.A. Gianelli

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Brigadier Norman Gianelli
2nd Armoured Regiment (Lord Strathcona’s Horse)
Gianelli

I resent very much his using the title brigadier. He has it on his door. I don’t know whether he uses it to make people think they are coming up before someone high and mighty, but as far as I’m concerned, a brigadier is only a lance-jack general.

(Councilman David Post in Toronto Star, 17 Feb 1955, 26)

Born in Toronto on 29 January 1895, Norman Angelo Gianelli was a First World War veteran and professional army officer. Commissioned with the 8th Canadian Mounted Rifles in February 1915, he went overseas for training and instructional duties. While on a tour of the front with an artillery battery in May 1916, he was wounded and shell shocked. On return to Canada in 1917, he served as assistant adjutant-general in Ottawa, and joined the Permanent Force in 1920. Serving for twenty years with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse, he succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel F.M.W. Harvey in July 1940.

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Lt-Col. F.M.W. Harvey

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Lieutenant-Colonel Fred Harvey
Lord Strathcona’s Horse
Harvey

At this critical moment, when the enemy showed no intention whatever of retiring, and fire was still intense, Lt. Harvey, who was in command of the leading troops, ran forward well ahead of his men and dashed at the trench, skillfully manned, jumped the wire, shot the machine-gunner and captured the gun. His most courageous act undoubtedly had a decisive effect on the success of the operation.

(V.C. citation, 8 Jun 1917)

Born in Athboy, County Meath Ireland, on 1 September 1888, Frederick Maurice Watson Harvey worked as a rancher and surveyor after immigrating to Alberta at the age of twenty. In February 1915, he enlisted with the 13th Canadian Mounted Infantry before being commissioned over a year later. Overseas he transferred to the Lord Strathcona’s Horse in France as a lieutenant in November 1916. Initially awarded Distinguished Service Order for actions on 27 March 1917, his heroism was soon determined to merit the Victoria Cross.

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Lt-Col. S. McKinnon

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Lieutenant-Colonel Syl McKinnon
Cape Breton Highlanders
McKinnon

Major McKinnon caught the enemy force by surprise and completely overran their positions, thus clearing the centre line and enabling the advance to continue. Major MacKinnon’s powers of leadership have won high praise from his commanders and his personal courage has many times inspired his men to succeed in the most difficult of tasks.

(D.S.O. citation, 1944)

Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia on 22 October 1918, Sylvester McKinnon received a commission in Canada and went overseas as a reinforcement officer in 1943. He transferred to Cape Breton Highlanders, serving throughout the Italian and Northwest Europe campaigns. In June 1945, he succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel R.B. Somerville, who had becoming acting command of the 11th Infantry Brigade. After two Montreal colonels had commanded the Highlanders in battle it was fitting that a native Cape Bretoner would lead the troops home to Nova Scotia in January 1946.

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Lt-Col. R.B. Somerville

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Lieutenant-Colonel Boyd Somerville
Cape Breton Highlanders
Somerville

It was a joy to work under Boyd, and it didn’t matter to him if I was “under command” or “in support.” As an old soldier you can appreciate the difference. He never, ever gave me a direct order; it was always, “Tim, what can you do for me?” when he needed help.

(Tim Ellis quoted in Alex Morrison, The Breed of Manly Men, 213)

Born in Montreal on 19 June 1910, Robert Boyd Somerville was the long-serving second-in-command of the Cape Breton Highlanders (CBH) in England and Italy. The troops nicknamed him Pete the after the unshaven cartoon character “hobo with a gentleman’s instincts.” A former stockbroker and businessman, Somerville went overseas on active service with the Royal Highlanders of Canada before being transferred to the CBH under the command of fellow Black Watch officer Lieutenant-Colonel Jim Weir.

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Lt-Col. J.B. Weir

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Lieutenant-Colonel Jim Weir
Cape Breton Highlanders
Weir

“There are, however, places where a man can get fixed up,” the colonel went on, “legitimate places. And those of you who have disobeyed regs, know what I’m referring to–whorehouses, old fashioned whorehouses. Which leads to why you’ve been kept out of the towns. There’s a lot of old-fashioned VD around and the army is trying to make sure all of you don’t get dosed. I know, some of you will. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

(Quoted in Fred Cederberg, The Long Road Home, 70)

Born in Montreal on 10 April 1906, James Buchanan Weir was a stockbroker and member of the Royal Highlanders of Canada (The Black Watch) since 1926. He resigned as vice president of the Canadian Commodity Exchange in November 1939 to enlist for active service and went overseas as a major. In the United Kingdom, he was one of several Black Watch officers transferred to the Cape Breton Highlanders (CBH). Despite their shared highlander traditions, the Nova Scotia battalion did not view the Montreal replacements at all favourably.

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Lt-Cols. R.T. Chisholm & E.H. Small

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Lieutenant-Colonel R.T. Chisholm
ChisholmRT
&
Lieutenant-Colonel E.H. Small
Cape Breton Highlanders
Small

A veteran of the First World War who had been commissioned from the ranks, he was well-liked by all, but, at the same time, many of the soldiers had come to realize that they needed a CO who would provide increased discipline and rigorous training.

(Alex Morrison, A Breed of Manly Men, 77)

Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia on 29 October 1891, Roderick Theodore Chisholm was a customs officer, First World War veteran, and commanding officer of the Cape Breton Highlanders since 1937. In November 1940, just prior to mobilization for active service, he handed over command to fellow veteran Edgar Harold Small. Born in Halifax on 16 June 1893, Small had enlisted in the 17th Battalion as a private in September 1915, served with the 85th Battalion in France as a sergeant, and earned a commission in September 1917. He was invalided a year later from a gunshot wound.

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Lt-Col. G.C.A. Macartney

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Lieutenant-Colonel G.C.A. Macartney
Irish Regiment of Canada
Macartney

It is rather disconcerting, in the middle of the 20th century, to sit down with a Canadian and hear about Indian raids. Yet G.C.A. Macartney, a one-time Hudson’s Bay Company trader at Yellowknife, N.W.T., who left Canada’s north because it was “too cold,” is one of the few white men who works and lives in an area where Indians still loose volleys of arrows at invaders.

(Montreal Star, 22 Feb 1955, 12)

Born in India on 21 August 1919, George Charles Antony Macartney came to Canada from England in 1938. Two years later he enlisted in the Irish Regiment in Toronto as a private and gained a commission before going overseas. He earned the Distinguished Service Order at the Gothic Line and rose to second-in-command when the unit redeployed to Northwest Europe. In June 1945, he succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Leige Payne, who had volunteered for the Pacific theatre, and led the regiment home to Toronto by the end of the year.

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