Second World War

Maj-Gen. H.N. Ganong

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Major-General Hardy Ganong
Carleton and York Regiment
3rd Infantry Brigade
8th & 6th Divisions
GanongHN

Gen. Ganong is the proud owner of about 30 pipes, all of which are presentation pieces marking milestones on his eventful military career. His batman, who has served with him since the outbreak of the present war, know each of them by the first name of the donor. The General refers to them in the same way … But getting back to the matter of the General’s first cigarette. He will smoke it, he has promised, in the Allied officers’ mess in Tokyo!

(Vancouver Sun, 16 Oct 1943, 6)

Born in St. Stephen, New Brunswick on 18 April 1890, Hardy Nelson Ganong was a manufacturer, curler, and First World War veteran. He went to France in November 1916 as a reinforcement junior officer with the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles. Wounded in March 1917, he returned to the field eight months later and served until the end of the war. A member of the militia since 1909, he became commanding officer of the Carleton and York Regiment in 1938 and mobilized with the battalion the next year.

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Maj. H.M. Eisenhauer

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Major Harry Eisenhauer
West Nova Scotia Regiment
Eisenhauer

‘Tis true they say I died as heroes go,
I scorned to bow to shot and shell,
But boldly led on against the foe
And leading thus I fell.
Death comes swiftly for the brave.
This brush with glory
Meant the grave for me.

(Eisenhauer, “Visit from an Old Friend,” 1989)

Born on 9 July 1920 in Lower La Have, Nova Scotia, Harry MacDonald Eisenhauer was a Dalhousie University student when selected for officer training in 1940. He went overseas as a reinforcement officer and was attached to the West Nova Scotia Regiment. By the end of the war, when he led the regiment home as commanding officer, he was one of only a handful of originals still with the unit who had landed at Sicily on 10 July 1943.

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Maj. W.W. Mair

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Major W. Winston Mair
West Nova Scotia Regiment
Mair

Every Canadian must find his or her own answer to this problem of modern life. But we do have a responsibility to ensure that the answer does not lie behind a closed door—closed because we failed to think and act courageously and well … We also know that our outdoor heritage could slip away from us, while we ponder our choice of action in the name of progress.

(Winston Mair, North Bay Nugget, 10 Apr 1964, 3)

Born on 26 July 1914 in Battleford, Saskatchewan, William Winston Mair was an environmentalist and civil servant following service in the Second World War. Commissioned in August 1940, he joined the Saskatoon Light Infantry overseas and participated in the Spitzbergen Raid in Norway a year later. He served with the unit at the rank of major in the Italian theatre.

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Lt-Col. J.A. Nesbitt

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Lieutenant-Colonel J. Aird Nesbitt
West Nova Scotia Regiment
Nesbitt

“Monty runs his army, as I see it, on three main points—(1) Confidence—in each other and in our ability to beat the Hun. (2) Ruthless efficiency—you can deliver the goods or you get fired quickly. (3) Cheerfulness—everyone does his job cheerfully.

(Quoted in Jarymowycz, History of the Black Watch, 34)

Born in Westmount, Quebec in March 1907, James Aird Nesbitt was a McGill graduate and owner of Ogilvy’s Department Store in Montreal. Commissioned with the Royal Highlanders of Canada (The Black Watch), he went overseas in 1941 and transferred to the Cape Breton Highlanders (CBH), which deployed to the Italian theatre with the 11th Infantry Brigade in November 1943. “I went from private to brigadier-general in the army,” he later reflected on his military service. “And if anybody had told me during the 1930s that I would cross the golf course at Cannes with a tommy, I would have told them they were crazy.”

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Lt-Col. F.E. Hiltz

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Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Hiltz
West Nova Scotia Regiment
Hiltz

Maj. Frank Hiltz, a Nova Scotian … He had been running a variety of training programs at B Echelon and relieving the CO at times. Throughout those months he was among those left out of battle holding himself in readiness to take charge should the CO be disabled.

(Wilmot, Through the Hitler Line, 96)

Born in Halifax, on 9 July 1915, Frank E. Hiltz was the long serving second-in-command of the West Nova Scotia Regiment. He had joined shortly after Lieutenant-Colonel R.S.E. Waterman succeeded to command in December 1943. Hiltz took charge temporarily when Waterman was relieved in September 1944, but he would not officially assume command of the regiment until the removal of Lieutenant-Colonel A.L. Saunders in December 1944.

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Lt-Col. A.L. Saunders

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Lieutenant-Colonel Allan Saunders
West Nova Scotia Regiment
Saunders

Is conscientious and hard working … As [commander] he lacked confidence in himself and has apparently been unable to inspired his coy comds in carrying out their tasks. Under stress is pessimistic and indecisive and both these characteristics are communicated to his subordinates. He is not firm in assessing and dealing with shortcomings of his subordinates. Consider Saunders does not have required personality or qualities of leadership to comd inf bn in action.

(Adverse confidential report, Jan 1945)

Born on 24 April 1903 in Waterford, Ontario, Allan Livingston Saunders was a steel company general manager and militia officer with the York Rangers. He went overseas as captain in 1940, returned to take a course at RMC, and qualified as a general staff officer. While serving with the 1st Canadian Division in Italy, in September 1944, he was appointed the new commanding officer of the West Nova Scotia Regiment.

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Lt-Col. R.S.E. Waterman

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Lieutenant-Colonel Ronnie Waterman
West Nova Scotia Regiment
Waterman

A professional soldier of the Canadian permanent force, tough, colourful, jealous for the honour of his Regiment in battle or out of it, not always loved but always acknowledged a first-rate leader of men, he was destined to see the West Novas through some of their toughest battles and greatest glories and to make the Regiment famous throughout the Canadian Army.

(Raddall, West Novas: A History, 169)

Born in London, England on 25 November 1904, Roland Stephen Edward Waterman was a non-commissioned officer with twelve years in the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. Nicknamed “Ronnie the Rat,” according to C. Sydney Frost of the PPCLI, “Everyone was scared of him, not only because of his abrupt and intimidating manner but because he knew his stuff and was a highly professional soldier.” Commissioned in September 1939, Waterman was reassigned from the PPCLI to the West Nova Scotia Regiment in June 1943, shortly before the invasion of Sicily.

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Brig. M.P. Bogert

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Brigadier Pat Bogert
West Nova Scotia Regiment
2nd Infantry Brigade
Bogart

He always seemed to rise to the occasion when the going got tough, and set a wonderful example. He was an extremely brave man, and was invariably to be found somewhere up forward, personally leading the battalion, however stiff the climb or hard the marching. When he gave an order one always felt that his reasoning was sound and that he would not knowingly send you into an untenable position.

(Bill Thexton, quoted in John Gardam, Canadians in War and Peacekeeping, 10)

Born on 17 March 1908 in Toronto, Mortimer Patrick Bogert was an RMC graduate and Permanent Force officer since 1930. Still a lieutenant with the RCR shortly before the outbreak of the war, he rose quickly following mobilization and served as a general staff officer with the 1st Division. By late 1941 he was a lieutenant colonel attached as an observer with the British Army in Egypt and Libya. With this fighting experience from North Africa, he took command of the West Nova Scotia Regiment from July 1942 until January 1943, when temporarily assigned to staff of II Canadian Corps. By popular demand of his officers, he resumed command in June 1943.

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Lt-Col. R.D. King

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Lieutenant-Colonel R.D. King
West Nova Scotia Regiment
KingRD

There is no doubt that Col. King’s devotion to duty, both in the necessary administrative work prior to the operation and in the performance of his duties during the operation, contributed very considerably to the success of our attack on Dieppe.

(D.S.O. citation, 14 Sept 1942)

Born in Halifax on 29 April 1897, Robert Douglas King was drafted under the Military Service Act in June 1918 but would be discharged at the end of the year before going overseas. He however remained in the militia and would be commissioned in the Princess Louise Fusiliers. In 1940 he was appointed deputy assistant quartermaster general. While attached to 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, he earned the Distinguished Service Order for his “contribution to the success” of the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942, an operation not generally known as a success.

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Lt-Col. A.A. Ernst

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Lieutenant-Colonel A.A. Ernst
West Nova Scotia Regiment
Ernst

He has a pleasant rather earnest manner, common sense and a firm character. His appreciation of ground is good and he can give clear verbal orders. His tactical knowledge of his own rm is good and that of other arms is up to the average of his rank.

He expresses himself clearly and sensibly in discussions. Although 46 years old he is fit and wiry and is fit to command.

(Commandant, Senior Officers’ School, 1941)

Born in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia on 12 July 1895, Arnold Albert Ernst was an accountant and a First World War non-commissioned veteran. He served for a year with the RCR as a private until he was severely wounded at Vimy Ridge. A bullet had passed through both lungs and he coughed blood for several days. He ended the war as a sergeant and rejoined the militia ten years later as a commissioned officer. On mobilization in September 1939, he transferred from the Halifax Rifles to go overseas as Major in the West Nova Scotia Regiment.

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