Lieutenant-Colonel J.R. Roche
Régiment de Maisonneuve

To my personal knowledge he is a very intelligent, active and efficient officer. I would say that he probably had a good military knowledge on paper … I feel that after a short time he could be relied on to efficiently carry out orders given to him by a higher Commander, and to show good leadership in in his work. He is, of course, completely bi-lingual.

(Maj-Gen. Odlum to McNaughton, 5 Sept 1941)

Born in Ottawa on 18 June 1907, John Redmond Roche was a Montreal lawyer and superintendent of the Quebec provincial police. A graduate of the University of Montreal, he had headed the Cadet Officer Training Corps since 1938 and previously belonged to the Regiment de Chareauguay. He went overseas with the 1st Division general staff as deputy-assistant adjutant general in December 1939. He was briefly posted to France in May 1940 but returned to England “before things became hot.”

Continue reading →