Brigadier Pat Bogert
West Nova Scotia Regiment
2nd Infantry Brigade

He always seemed to rise to the occasion when the going got tough, and set a wonderful example. He was an extremely brave man, and was invariably to be found somewhere up forward, personally leading the battalion, however stiff the climb or hard the marching. When he gave an order one always felt that his reasoning was sound and that he would not knowingly send you into an untenable position.

(Bill Thexton, quoted in John Gardam, Canadians in War and Peacekeeping, 10)

Born on 17 March 1908 in Toronto, Mortimer Patrick Bogert was an RMC graduate and Permanent Force officer since 1930. Still a lieutenant with the RCR shortly before the outbreak of the war, he rose quickly following mobilization and served as a general staff officer with the 1st Division. By late 1941 he was a lieutenant colonel attached as an observer with the British Army in Egypt and Libya. With this fighting experience from North Africa, he took command of the West Nova Scotia Regiment from July 1942 until January 1943, when temporarily assigned to staff of II Canadian Corps. By popular demand of his officers, he resumed command in June 1943.

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