Brigadier John F. Bingham
Royal Canadian Dragoons
12th (Three Rivers) Tank Regiment
2nd Armoured Brigade

The Regiment’s new C.O. is, very temporarily, Lt. Col. J.F. Bingham. A member of the general staff, he has come to serve out his mandatory one month in action, in order to qualify for promotion to brigadier.

(Charles Prieur, War Chronicles, 204)

Born in Winnipeg on 6 August 1911, John Francis Bingham was a fencer in youth and son of the former commanding officer of the Fort Garry Horse. Commissioned in the Lord Strathcona’s Horse in 1933, Bingham rose quickly after the outbreak of the Second World War from captain to lieutenant colonel. In June 1942, he became commanding officer of the Royal Canadian Dragoons (Armoured Car Regiment), which arrived at Sicily in November 1943 and entered the Italian theatre in January.

Continue reading →