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

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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