Dieppe

Lt-Col. D. Ménard

/ Matthew K Barrett / Leave a comment

Lieutenant-Colonel Dollard Ménard
Fusiliers Mont-Royal
Régiment de Hull
13th Infantry Brigade
Menard

We couldn’t walk back, we couldn’t get forward, we couldn’t go in the sides, so were dead, really. We were condemned … In war there are no winners. Wars have produced nothing but misery. I hate war.

(Ménard quoted In Montreal Gazette, 3 Nov 1979, 4)

Born on 7 March 1913 in Quebec, Dollard Ménard graduated from RMC in 1932 and took a commissioned in the Royal 22nd Regiment. On exchange with the British Army during the Waziristan campaign in 1939, he returned to Canada for the formation of the 2nd Division. While attached to 8th Brigade headquarters overseas, he replaced Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Grenier of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal in April 1942. On taking over, Ménard worked to improve unit discipline and training which had suffered under his predecessor. Four months, he led the battalion into action during the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942.

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Brig. W.W. Southam

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Brigadier Bill Southam
48th Highlanders of Canada
6th Infantry Brigade
Southam

His voice was exceedingly cheerful throughout … There wasn’t a quiver in it and occasionally he would make some wisecrack. He was the same old boy through it all. We kept in contact with the brigadier all the time and between 1 and 2 o’clock he sent a message saying he could see some troops surrounded and out of ammunition down the beach and they were surrendering.

(Quoted in The Province, 24 Aug 1942, 22)

Born in Toronto on 11 September 1901, William Wallace Southam was a graduate of RMC and grandson of prominent Canadian newspaper publisher William Southam. He joined the family business as vice-president and managing director. Having belonged to the 48th Highlanders since 1922, he became second-in-command of the 1st Battalion on mobilization in September 1939. He participated in the aborted Second British Expeditionary Force to France, which ended in the battalion making a desperate escape by train in June 1940.

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