Lt-Col. W.W.D. Darling

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Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Darling
4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards
Darling

Little can be said about the C.O. that would do justice to a great leader, a wonderful Colonel. Certainly his departure leaves a gaping wound in our hearts, that nothing can ever heal. The C.O. had been with this Regt ever since its conception, and had come up through the various ranks until he became the Commanding Officer, and led this Regiment in all of its battles as an Infantry Unit.

(PLDG war diary, 8 Dec 1944)

Born on 19 April 1906 in Toronto, Warren William Gibson Darling was the son of the former commanding officer of the 48th Highlanders and joined the regiment himself in 1929. He went overseas in December 1939 and participated in the regiment’s short-lived deployment to France in June 1940. Darling helped to commandeer the French train which allowed the Canadians to escape German encirclement and return back to England.

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Lt-Col. F.D. Adams

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Lieutenant-Colonel Fred Adams
4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards
AdamsFD

The manner in which Lt.-Col. Adams handled his Regiment in this very difficult operation is worthy of the highest praise and had a large share in the success achieved by the operations of 22 and 23 May when the defences were breached and further advance made possible.

(D.S.O. citation, 20 Jul 1944)

Born on 16 June 1907 in Calgary, Fred Dean Adams belonged to the Calgary (Tank) Regiment before the war, transferred to the Calgary Highlanders on mobilization then the Edmonton Regiment, and became second-in-command of the 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards in January 1941. He succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Foster of the re-designated 4th Reconnaissance Battalion on his appointment to general staff of the 1st Canadian Division in August 1942.

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Maj-Gen. H.W. Foster

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Major-General Harry Foster
4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards
Highland Light Infantry of Canada
13th & 7th Infantry Brigades
4th & 1st Canadian Divisions
Foster

He was just as guilty of murder as I was at the time … or any other senior officer in the field during a battle. The difference between us was that I was on the winning side. That makes a big difference.

— Gen. Foster on Kurt Meyer

(Quoted in Tony Foster, Meeting of Generals, 1988)

Born on 2 April 1904 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Harry Wickwire Foster left Royal Military College the in 1924 to take a commission with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse. His father, Major-General Gilbert Lafayette Foster, had been director of medical services for the Canadian army during the First World War. With the outbreak of Second World War in September 1939, Foster was appointed brigade major of the 1st Canadian Brigade in England.

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Lt-Col. W.H. Buchanan

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Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Buchanan
Lanark and Renfrew Scottish
BuchananWH

Give them our best wishes and tell them that this famous old Regiment has been revived again in a new blaze of glory and every time we look at the new shoulder flash we will think of the wonderful example of courage they showed. Everybody has heard of the Lanark and Renfrews now and are greatly interested in the new flash because of the way the boys put it right on the map of the world again.”

(Buchanan quoted by Padre C.M. MacLean, 15 Jan 1945)

In July 1944, Allied military leaders in Italy had decided to add a new infantry brigade to the 5th Armoured Division in addition to the 11th Infantry Brigade. The 1st Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment converted from artillery to infantry as part of the newly formed 12th Infantry Brigade under Major-General Dan Spry. At the end of August 1944, Major William Herbert Buchanan transferred from the Seaforth Highlanders to become second-in-command to Lieutenant-Colonel W.C. Dick, the officer assigned to reorganize the anti-aircraft unit. Born on 5 August 1913 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Buchanan was a fireman who had originally joined the Calgary Highlanders.

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Lt-Col. W.C. Dick

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Lieutenant-Colonel W.C. Dick
Lanark and Renfrew Scottish
Dick

By his untiring efforts he obtained the necessary extra officers from infantry units throughout the Corps, personally selected all key personnel from the reinforcement unit and arranged special training for the unit’s reinforcements … The organization and training of a Battalion in forty-one days, in addition to services previously mentioned, adequately demonstrate qualities which are deserving of the highest recognition.

 (O.B.E. citation, 28 Apr 1945)

In July 1944, Allied military leaders in Italy decided that the 5th Armoured Division required additional infantry regiments beyond the 11th Infantry Brigade. As the Allies had achieved air superiority, the 1st Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was converted from artillery to infantry as part of the newly formed 12th Infantry Brigade. On 20 July, Lieutenant-Colonel William Clement Dick arrived as replacement for Lieutenant-Colonel F.J. Thorne. Born on 10 December 1912 in Toronto, Dick had fought at Dieppe and briefly served as brigade major for the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade in Italy.

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Lt-Col. G.C. Corbould

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Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon Corbould
Westminster Regiment
Corbould

Lt.-Col. Corbould was chief umpire for the army-air force scheme … “Someone has to run a show like this,” Lt.-Col. Corbould remarked dourly. “Otherwise it becomes just another game of cowboys and Indians, with people running around shouting ‘Bang! You’re dead!.’”

(Edmonton Journal, 15 Feb 1958, 23)

Born on 2 June 1909 in New Westminster, British Columbia, Gordon Charleson Corbould became the fourth generation of his family to hold the rank of colonel in the Canadian Army. A member of the militia since 1927, he went overseas as a lieutenant with the Westminster Regiment in 1941. He later transferred to the Irish Regiment as second-in-command under fellow British Columbian Lieutenant-Colonel R.C. Clark.

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Lt-Col. R.L. Tindall

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Lieutenant-Colonel R.L. Tindall
The Perth Regiment
Westminster Regiment

Considering this officer’s age, I do not believe that he would be able to command a motor battalion successfully under the conditions of intense and prolonged strain involved in mobile operations of an armd formation.

(Confidential report by Maj-Gen. E.L.M. Burns, 5 Feb 1944)

Born on 28 September 1899 in Lennoxville Quebec, Ralph Lockhart Tindall had enlisted as a sixteen-year-old in April 1917 and transferred to the Boy’s Battalion once overseas. By 1918, he had joined the Royal Air Force and was appointed flight cadet a month before the armistice. Back in civilian life, he took out a patent on an early automobile turn signal device and started work for the Imperial Tobacco Company in Montreal in 1932. Commissioned with the Royal Canadian Hussars since 1932, he became second-in-command of the Perth Regiment after mobilization in 1940.

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Lt-Col. Loat & Brig. Sager

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Lieutenant-Colonel C.J. Loat
&
Brigadier John Sager
Westminster Regiment
4th Infantry Brigade
Sager

Known as “Brick” to his friends and intimates and affectionately as “Little Joe” by all the men of the Westminsters during the period of his command, he was a good athlete and was fond of athletics and it was through his energic leadership that his regiment became outstanding the Canadian Army for their athletic prowess.

(Chilliwack Progress, 26 May 1943, 10)

Born on 29 May 1898 in Stirling, Ontario, John Earl Sager moved to British Columbia in 1909 and worked as a teacher at the Vancouver technical high school. At the end of the First World War, he had belonged to the officer training corps at the University of British Columbia and joined the Westminster Regiment in 1923. Second-in-command before the war, he succeeded the aging Lieutenant-Colonel C.J. Loat in January 1940. Standing five-foot-five, Sager was known in the unit as “Little Joe.”

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Lt-Col. F.A. Vokes

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Lieutenant-Colonel Fred Vokes
8th Reconnaissance Regiment (14th Hussars)
9th Armoured Regiment (British Columbia Dragoons)
VokesF

I think in his last fight he must have been a little overzealous. But he always was a touraloo! type. He always had to be in the lead, where things were happening … As well he had a great belief in his own personal luck and tended to ignore the enemy’s shot and shell.

(Chris Vokes, My Story, 165)

Born in Ceylon on 29 September 1906, Frederick Alexander Vokes was the son of a British Army officer, an RMC graduate, and Permanent Force officer with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse. On the formation of the 2nd Canadian Division, in June 1940, Vokes became liaison officer for Major-General Victor Odlum before being given command of the 4th Canadian Reconnaissance Squadron in August. He was the young brother of Major-General Christopher Vokes.

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Lt-Col. H.H. Angle

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Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Angle
9th Armoured Regiment (British Columbia Dragoons)
Angle

During these operations the regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Angle destroyed: one Panther tank, was instrumental in destroying another, three self-propelled guns, four mountain field guns, seven anti-tank guns, four mortars, three trailers with mortars equipment, captured or killed one hundred and seventy-give Germans, and captured sixty horses and equipment with a lost of only two of his own tanks and six personnel wounded.

(D.S.O. citation, 2 Feb 1945)

Born on 31 March 1906 in Heytgsbury, England, Harold Herbert Angle moved in 1923 to Kelowna, British Columbia where he worked as a fruit farmer. A prewar militia officer with the BC Dragoons, he was among the first to volunteer in September 1939 and went overseas as second-in-command of the redesignated 9th Armoured Regiment in November 1941. Following duties as brigade major he returned to the regiment in April 1943 to replace Major A.P. Ardagh in succession of Lieutenant-Colonel W.C. Murphy.

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