Maj. H.C. Griffith

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Major Griff Griffith
22nd Armoured Regiment (Canadian Grenadier Guards)

At this time the tank man’s black beret became our official head-dress and “Griff” was determined that the Grenadiers would wear it properly. Each morning he would issue the command – “Check berets!” … It was a small thing but it established the discipline and concern for correctness that became the hallmark of the Guards. He knew that the time would come when the battle was on, and we were in a tight corner, when discipline would save the Regiment from disaster.

(Robert E. Osborne, Pax in Bello, 52)

Born in Quebec City on 3 September 1896, Henry Crawford Griffith was an accountant and First World War veteran. He had enlisted with the 60th Battalion and went to France as a sergeant before suffering a gunshot wound at the battle of Mont Sorrell in June 1916. He was commissioned in 1918 and returned to the field with the 87th Battalion. He joined the militia after the war, serving as adjutant with the Canadian Grenadier Guards.

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Lt-Col. M.F. Peiler

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Lieutenant-Colonel M.F. Peiler
22nd Armoured Regiment (Canadian Grenadier Guards)

In the days of the last war, we just didn’t know the amount of instruction necessary. The present method is way ahead of anything we ever knew. In those days it was just a case of getting into the air and finding the rest out for yourself.

(Toronto Star, 17 Nov 1940, 11)

Born in Montreal on 4 January 1897, Maurice Fisher Peiler was an engineer and First World War veteran. He joined the Canadian Officers’ Training Corps at McGill University in 1915. He took a commission with the Victoria Rifles and served as a signalling instructor in Canada until being seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. He was shot down by the Red Baron’s squadron over enemy line in May 1918 and taken prisoner. After the war he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force but soon transferred to the Canadian Grenadier Guards.

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Lt-Col. G.T. Baylay

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Lieutenant-Colonel G.T. Baylay
21st Armoured Regiment (The Governor General’s Foot Guards)

… a cheery soul of artistic temperament who, being gifted with magnificent good nature, quickly became one of the most popular men of the class. His famous drawings were the mainstay of the “artists fatigue” and of the class during many a dull lecture.

(RMC Review, 1936, 28)

Born in Peel, Ontario on 13 June 1913, George Taylor Baylay was a graduate of RMC where he had a reputation of an entertaining cartoonist. He joined the Governor General’s Foot Guards as a lieutenant on unit mobilization in 1940. He rose from platoon leader, intelligence officer to adjutant to squadron commander to second-in-command, serving throughout the Normandy campaign. He succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel E.M. Smith in September 1945, recurving a promotion to lieutenant-colonel himself soon thereafter.  

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Lt-Col. E.M. Smith

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Lieutenant-Colonel E.M. Smith
21st Armoured Regiment (The Governor General’s Foot Guards)

His unique personality and quick understanding of the problems of those under his command made him an outstanding figure in the life of the Regiment from the very beginning … the Governor General’s Foot Guards would enter the battles ahead with a commanding officer of great tactical ability and one who would always look after “his boys” and ensure that the Regiment would continue to add laurels to its already famous name.

(The Guard’s Star, 22 Sep 1945, 2)

Born in Ontario in 1904, Edward Marshall Smith served as a captain in the Regiment de Hull but transferred to the Governor General’s Foot Guards following mobilization in 1940. The regiment converted to armour in 1942 and he preceded the re-designated 21st Armoured Regiment to England for special training. When the Foot Guards deployed to France in July 1944, Smith commanded a tank squadron.

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Maj. H.F. Baker

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Major Harold F. Baker
21st Armoured Regiment (The Governor General’s Foot Guards)

The real sad thing was that I lost all my good friends back there and after working with them for nearly five years, it was tough.

(Baker to father, letter 1944)

Born on 10 November 1904 in Casselman, Ontario, Harold Foster Baker was a graduate of Queen’s University and car dealer. A prewar officer in the Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment, he transferred to the Governor General’s Foot Guards with a promotion to major following unit mobilization in 1940. Overseas, he became second-in-command of the re-designated 21st Armoured Regiment, which had embarked for the United Kingdom in September 1942.

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Lt-Col. M.J. Scott

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Lieutenant-Colonel M.J. Scott
21st Armoured Regiment (The Governor General’s Foot Guards)

I do want to say that my days with the Regiment were very happy and I am very grateful for the co-operation, the loyalty and the deep sense of duty shown at all times by all ranks. It is my desire to render any service at any time, within my power, to the Regiment and to those who have served with it.

 (Scott letter, war diary, 12 Oct 1944)

Born on 20 Nov 1902 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Murray Joseph Scott began his militia service with the Saint John Fusiliers and then joined the Canadian Grenadier Guards on moving to Montreal in 1933. He mobilized with that battalion as a major and company commander but in 1942 transferred to the Governor General’s Foot Guards as second-in-command under fellow Grenadier Lieutenant-Colonel H.W. Rick.

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Lt-Col. H.W. Rick

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Lieutenant-Colonel H.W. Rick
21st Armoured Regiment (The Governor General’s Foot Guards)

I know I have a tough job ahead of me, but if I receive the same measure of co-operation and loyal support in my new task as I have received here I shall be happy. History is now in the making. I shall do my best to contribute to it.

(Montreal Star, 2 Jan 1942, 2)

Born on 25 February 1897 in Montreal, Howard Wilfred Rick attended McGill University, where he joined the Canadian Officer Training Corps. He enlisted with the 148th Battalion in January 1916 and granted a commission the next year when he was seconded the Royal Flying Corps. After the First World War, he joined the Canadian Grenadier Guards and became second-in-command following mobilization in 1940. A broken back from a training accident forced him to relinquish this post but after a long recovery returned to duty as staff officer with Military District No. 4.

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Lt-Col. W.G. Wurtele

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Lieutenant-Colonel W.G. Wurtele
21st Armoured Regiment (The Governor General’s Foot Guards)

First of all he must make himself a psychologist with one end in view—The mutual trust and reliance between himself and his men, that he is worse than useless unless he develops. You need have no fear about your men, they will do their part if you do yours. You have the real job and you need have no illusions that you can fool your men.

 (Wurtele address, war diary, 6 Feb 1940)

Born on 27 October 1895 in Kingston, Ontario, William Godfrey Wurtele was a decorated First World War veteran and commanding officer of the Governor General’s Foot Guards since 1938. As a student at RMC, where his father was a professor, he enlisted in the 59th Battalion in February 1916. He served as a lieutenant with the Royal Canadian Regiment in France, where he was three-times wounded and twice gassed. By the end of the war, he had earned the Military Cross for “dashing leadership” in capturing an enemy battery.

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Lt-Col. R.M. Ross

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Lieutenant-Colonel Dick Ross
Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa

The Camerons were the best damned machine-gun battalion that ever worked on any front. The men were wonderful all the way through. Ottawa can be proud of every one of them.

(Quoted in Ottawa Journal, 12 Dec 1945, 2)

Born on 28 May 1909 in Montreal, Richard Montgomery Ross was a prewar member of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa. He rejoined the battalion with the outbreak of the Second World War and rose to major and served as “D” Company commander when the machine gun and mortar unit deployed on D-Day. “There was a tremendous amount of smoke, and everything in view seemed to be afire,” Ross recalled. “Shells were bursting around, but so terrific was our air support that there was very little ‘aimed’ fire.”

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Lt-Col. P.C. Klaehn

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Lieutenant-Colonel P.C. Klaehn
Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa

He brought to his task of Commanding Officer all devotion to duty and considerable knowledge as a Machine Gunner, which has resulted in the Unit under his command attaining a very high standard of training … This officer, over and above his normal military duties, has contributed all his spare time to the organization and development of sports within my division.

(O.B.E. citation, 2 Sep 1943)

Born in Valleyfield, Quebec on 10 September 1895 and raised in Saskatchewan, Percy Carl Klaehn was a sportsman, teacher, and First World War veteran. He had enlisted in the 6th Universities Company out of North Battleford in June 1916 and joined the PPCLI on a reinforcement draft by the end of the year. He earned a commission in 1918 and rejoined the PPCLI during the final phase of the war. With the outbreak of the next war in 1939, Klaehn joined the Saskatoon Light Infantry as a captain.

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