Lt-Col. R.H.F. Back

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Lieutenant-Colonel R.H.F. Back
6th Armoured (1st Hussars) Regiment
Back

We’re playing for keeps and we have to be a crack outfit. We know what those German panzers can do and we’ve been training ourselves accordingly. I’ve been to England. I’ve seen the Canadian troops in England and I would say this armored division won’t take second place to any of them.

(Ottawa Citizen, 24 Nov 1941, 24)

Born in London, Ontario on 27 May 1905, Ronald Henry Franklin Back was commissioned in the 1st Hussars in 1927 and promoted to major in 1938. After a six month attachment to the British Armoured Corps for training, he returned to Canada in March 1941. The next month he assumed command of the 6th Armoured Regiment, which had been redesignated from the 1st Hussars. He replaced Lieutenant-Colonel A.C. Spender on his promotion to command the 2nd Army Tank Brigade.

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Brig. A.C. Spencer

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Brigadier A.C. Spencer
1st Canadian Cavalry (1st Hussars) Regiment
2nd Army Tank Brigade
Spencer

This officer has made a noteworthy contribution in the development and administration of this large camp and particularly in training of Armoured Corps personnel. His services in all regards have been outstanding and he is worthy of high recognition.

(C.M.E. citation, 10 Jun 1944)

Born in London, Ontario on 19 November 1887, Alexander Charles Spencer was a mechanical engineer who had been commissioned in the 1st Hussars in 1911. In the Frist World War, he enlisted with the 7th Canadian Mounted Rifles as a lieutenant in March 1915 and served in the field with the Canadian Light Horse as paymaster and quartermaster. After the war he became a lieutenant-colonel in the Canadian Engineers and retired to the reserve list in 1937.

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Lt-Col. K.D. Landell

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Lieutenant-Colonel K.D. Landell
Royal Canadian Dragoons
Landell

These incidents are just two of many by which Lieutenant-Colonel Landell, by his inspiring and cheerful leadership, his example and his disregard for his own safety, has been largely responsible for the successful operation of his regiment. As a result the morale and performance of his troops have been of the highest standard for the whole of his ten months tenure of command.

(D.S.O. citation, 4 Apr 1945)

Born in Toronto on 2 November 1913, Keith Dalhousie Landell was a graduate of the University of Toronto and commissioned with the McGill Canadian Officer Training Corps. He mobilized with the Royal Canadian Dragoons and went overseas in 1941. By the time the unit deployed to Sicily in November 1943, had become second-in-command.

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Brig. J.D.B. Smith

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Brigadier Des Smith
Royal Canadian Dragoons
4th & 5th Armoured Brigades
DesSmith

As you all know, the majority of my soldering during this war has been spent with armour and when my appointment came through to comd 5 Cdn Armd Bde it was the happiest thing that had happened to me during this war … it has been my good fortune to be with the Bde when it went into action for the first time as a Bde. That first action, which has just been completed, is one of the finest battles that Cdn tps have fought in this war.

(J.D.B. Smith to 5th Armd Bde, 4 Jun 1944)

Born in Ottawa on 2 October 1911, James Desmond Blaise Smith, graduated from RMC in 1933 and took a commission with the Royal Canadian Dragoons. He served as a staff officer with 1st Canadian Division in 1940 and brigade major of 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade from May 1941 to February 1942, when he succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel W.E. Gillespie as commanding officer of the 1st Canadian Armoured Car Regiment (RCD).

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Lt-Col. W.E. Gillespie

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Lieutenant-Colonel W.E. Gillespie
Royal Canadian Dragoons
Gillespie

I knew the hero of my youth, Walter Gillespie, whom I had worshipped as a very young boy at Jackson’s Point, was now the second in command of the [RCD] …Thus I became an armoured car officer, because Walter Gillespie was the only senior officer I knew.

(J.A. Roberts, The Canadian Summer, 34-35)

Born in Toronto 10 Feb 1901 Toronto, Walter Edmund Gillespie was a Permanent Force officer and graduate of the Royal Military College. He became second-in-command of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, when it mobilized as 1st Canadian Armoured Car Regiment (RCD) in September 1940. He helped to secure the transfer to the unit of Lieutenant James Alan Roberts, who would go on to command 8th Infantry Brigade in Northwest Europe. Roberts predicted Gillespie would lead the RCD overseas.

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Lt-Col. E.L. Caldwell

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Lieutenant-Colonel E.L. Caldwell
Royal Canadian Dragoons
Caldwell

I’m afraid we follow a rather colorless routine here … to disseminate and inculcate sound administrative principles as laid down in official manuals and regulations, thereby ensuring uniformity of method in their application throughout the Canadian army … and for that matter throughout the Commonwealth forces.

(Victoria Daily Times, 25 Oct 1941, 9)

Born on 30 June 1886 in Massachusetts, Eugene Lloyd Caldwell was a long-time Royal Canadian Dragoon, and commanding officer of the regiment since 1936. He joined the Canadian militia in 1905, was commissioned with the Corps of Guides in 1908, joined the RCD in 1911 and embarked for France in 1915. He served throughout the First World War, earning a promotion to captain and a mention in despatches. He graduated from the staff college at Camberley in 1919.

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Lt-Col. A.K. Jordan

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Lieutenant-Colonel Kitch Jordan
Governor General’s Horse Guards
Jordan

Behind the footlights of the 1926 Cake-walk, Kitch set a new standard of pulchritude for chorus girls; since then his moustache has been second to none throughout the College. Born with a slide rule in one hand and a squash racquet in the other, he is a deadly shot with either of these weapons.

(RMC Yearbook, 1929, 34)

Born on 9 February 1908 in Meaford, Ontario, Alan Kitchener Jordan was an RMC graduate and mining company salesman in Toronto. He went overseas with the Governor General’s Horse Guards as a captain and served as second-in-command of the re-designated 3rd Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment in Italy. He succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Cumberland in June 1944 on his promotion to brigadier of the 5th Armoured Brigade.

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Brig. I.H. Cumberland

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Brigadier I.H. Cumberland
Governor General’s Horse Guards
5th Armoured Brigade
Cumberland

Swotty is one of those quiet unassuming lads who always seem to get there–where? oh, always near the top when exam results come out … It seems that Swotty was born with a rifle in his hands, for he is an excellent shot.

(RMC Yearbook, 1927, 34)

Born on 10 July 1906 in Port Hope, Ontario, Ian Hugh Cumberland (Wotherspoon) was an RMC graduate, businessman, and member of the Governor General’s Horse Guards since 1927. He had his name legally changed in the 1930s, dropping his father’s surname Wotherspoon. Following mobilization, he first served as adjutant with the GGHG and then second-in-command when the now redesignated 3rd Armoured Regiment when overseas in October 1941.

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Lt-Cols. R.P. Locke & H.M. Sharp

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Lieutenant-Colonel R.P. Locke
Locke
&
Lieutenant-Colonel H.M. Sharp
Governor General’s Horse Guards
SharpHM

We have lost a man of wide experience and sympathy, a good soldier and a man and have gained a worthy successor. There is one human touch to be noted: just as soon as the C.O., his 2 i/c and adjutant had passed the saluting base, Col. Locke half turned to Maj. Sharp and said “It’s all yours now, Buff” and from then on we were Buff Sharp’s command.

(GGHG war diary, 28 Sept 1941)

Born on September 2 November 1888 in Sarnia, Ontario, Russell Pierce Locke was a Toronto barrister commissioned with the Canadian Army Service Corps during the First World War. He served with the Fort Garry Horse in France just before the armistice. In April 1939, he took command of the Governor General’s Horse Guards, which mobilized as the 2nd Motorcycle Regiment in July 1940. By February 1941 it had been converted to the 3rd Armoured Regiment.

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Lt-Col. C. Petch

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Lieutenant-Colonel Charlie Petch
North Nova Scotia Highlanders
4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards

France was tough from D-Day for a couple of months. Tough as you know what. But it was not Italy. Italy was a different show. In France we had the armor and the transport and the men and power. We drove and conquered. But in Italy it was a case of bracing the enemy and then when he gave, driving through.

(Ottawa Citizen, 4 Oct 1945, 13)

Born on 18 December 1904 in Manchester, Lancashire, England, Charles Petch came to Canada with his family as an infant. He graduated with a degree in commerce from McGill University and worked as an investment banker while also a militia officer with The Black Watch. He transferred to the 8th Reconnaissance Regiment as second-in-command in 1941. Following a series of promotions and senior officer courses, he was appointed commanding officer of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders in September 1942.

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