Lieutenant-Colonel H.R. Schell
11th (Ontario) Tank Regiment

This, the Tank Corps, are a unit that we expect will yet prove the deciding factor in the present conflict. The English have surpassed themselves in the molding of these tanks; they ate the work of many hands and many brains. We, the crews and operators, hope soon to have the opportunity of showing Germany how easily their once supposed invulnerable Panzer divisions can be routed and ruined. Most of use are very proud to have as our weapons the foremost allied tanks invented. They are the real thing and once in motion in actual battle, will prove a deadly stubborn foe.

(anonymous 11th Tank solider, Feb 1942)

Born in Oshawa, Ontario on 1 December 1912, Herbert Robson Schell was son of the city’s former mayor. He was one of a dozen officers to attend tank tactics training in England in late 1940. He served as second-in-command under Lieutenant-Colonel Murray Johnston during the long period of training in England from November 1942 until deployment with the 1st Army Tank Brigade after the invasion of Sicily in July 1943.

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