Picture of the day

[CV32]

Japanese carrier Hiryu in pretty rough shape on the morning of 5 June 1942

 

[shredder]

^^^ That would've buffed out, had she not been sunk later.......

 

[AP]

In 1940/41 the prestige of the British Army and senior officer corps was at a very low ebb. They had just suffered the greatest defeat in their history. The senior officers with a few exceptions were professionally, not to mention physically unfit, and this was admitted by Sir Alan Brooke, the Chief of Staff: "It is all desperately depressing, half our commanders are totally unfit for their appointments, and yet if I were to sack them I could find no better! They lack character, imagination, drive and powers of leadership."

Monty and others wanted to push out the older Canadian officers who had been in WWI and knew the part Canada had played, and who had screwed up where. They wanted younger men who did not have that experience and confidence in their own abilities, men who had not witnessed the debacles of both wars. Men who could be more easily controlled through their youth and desire to make their names.

IMO their goal in WWII as it had been in WWI was to get the men of the Dominions without having to get the formations, the generals or the politicians of the Dominions as well. By the end of WWI the Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders were the elites of the British Army, brought in to lead every major offensive. That was a humiliating reality they wished to avoid in WWII as much as possible, by submerging the Dominion men and formations in the "British" forces. Programs like the Canloan were basically an admission that they did not have enough men who were fit to be officers of their own army!

That of course was due to having wasted them, and the men who would have been their fathers, in WWI.

Instead of Sir Robert Borden who once took Lloyd George by the lapels of his jacket and told him that if Canadian soldiers were squandered again he would get no more of them, we had a little goof by the name of Mackenzie-King as our Prime Minister in WWII. A man who spent WWI hiding out in the USA working on "labour relations", or how to manipulate a workforce, for that arch-manipulator John. D. Rockefeller. When Mackenzie-King wasn't talking to his cats he was having seances to talk to his mother, and of course being a good little poodle and doing what London and Washington told him to do.

YES - no argument from me! The only thing I have difficulty with is the many books written about the great 'leaders' of WWII .... its funny but you ask a young Cpl, Sgt or Lt or a FOO - when they finally fight their way on to the objective ... and they looked to the right and to the left ... surprise ... only other scared faces of pte's and Cpls etc ... they never mention seeing Monty lying on the ground sharing out his ammo and waiting for the inevitable counter attack. Getting onto the objective takes leadership.....planning the 'grand' strategy -- not so much.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

Speaking of folks for whom the tactical realm was a very real thing, and not just an inconvenience to strategic thinking, here's an interesting story from, of all places, the Toronto Star:

Lester Brown, a Canadian Second World War veteran, had secrets he was keeping from his grandchildren and other close relatives. Brown, 92, a Chatham-area resident believed by his family and local historians to be the last surviving black Canadian soldier to fight in the bloody D-Day invasion of 1944, passed away last week at a hospital in Wallaceburg, Ont. For decades, all that grandchildren Tracey Brown, 42 and her cousin, Lamont, 41, knew as youngsters about their grandpa was that he was wounded in action in France.

“He was a man of few words and growing up we knew not to even ask about it (Brown’s war experiences),’’ Lamont Brown said in an interview Tuesday.

The grandchildren wanted more details, and pressed him. They needed to know, for the sake of family history. Finally, about five years ago, Lester opened up to his family and a news reporter and told the harrowing tale of getting ambushed by German forces a few days after he and the other soldiers in his company stormed Juno Beach at Normandy.

Rifleman Lester Brown had been drafted at 23 and later assigned to the Queen’s Own Rifles before being shipped to Europe in 1944. A few days after landing in Nazi-occupied France on June 6, he and his platoon were ordered to take Bretteville-sur-Laize. Seeing an Allied tank on the road, Brown and another soldier hurried towards it but came under fire by a German ambush. He managed to save himself but later found the other soldier dead, in a pool of blood from being shot in the head. Brown was wounded in the knee and took a bullet to the chin, which looked terrible at first but left only a facial scar.

“I was lucky, no doubt about it’’ he told a CTV News reporter in the 2009 interview.

After sharing the stories, Lester told his brother that he experienced nightmares and had trouble sleeping.

Black soldiers were accepted into the Canadian forces in the Second World War, and though there were still some vestiges of segregation, hundreds of Canadian black fighters served alongside their white counterparts. Brown said he was treated fairly by his officers and fellow soldiers.

When he returned home he married and had three children. He worked as a railway porter, and later graduated to a conductor for Canadian Pacific Railway.

Brown’s family and the Buxton Museum, in North Buxton, Ont. — which features tributes to the achievements of blacks who came to Canada after fleeing slavery in the U.S., and their descendants — says Lester Brown was the last surviving black Canadian veteran to have fought in the D-Day invasion. The Memory Project, and Veterans Affairs Canada said they couldn’t confirm whether Brown was the last survivor; a Veterans Affairs spokesperson said they don’t have race-based data from that conflict.

Tracey Brown says she understands why her grandfather would have been initially reticent about sharing the “death and gore’’ he witnessed in combat, but is glad for the family’s sake that the details came out in the end.

“He was a living history (lesson)’’ she says.

We don't hear much about Canada's black soldiers of WW2. It's an interesting topic.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

"Hi, honey, it's Karl. Fine, thanks, how are you? That's great. Listen, there's been a bit of a "thing" here at the office. No, no - I'm fine. Nothing to worry about. Just have to take care of some paperwork with some fellows from out of town. I'll be home a bit late, say maybe November of 1945. Best not hold supper for me..."

(Major K. Henninger (centre), a German Army signals officer, speaking on a telephone linkup between Canadian and German forces. Sergeant J. Stacy of 1st Canadian Corps Signals is at left foreground and Corporal John Henry Osborn is at far right. Wageningen, Netherlands, 5 May 1945.)

 

[Sharps '74]

Hey, that's exactly what we did in Germany! There had to be a land line to the Bundespost telephone service so that the Brigadier could talk directly to the Minister of National Defence.
We were forever playing 'catch up' as Brigade HQ moved with the tactical situation. Sometimes we never caught up and spent a lot of time trying to figure out just where in hell we were in relation to anyone else. That made us petty independent and we pretty well fed ourselves out of the "grub box", Schnell Imbiss kiosks, Gasthofs, etc.

Sleep was a joke, especially in an open top cable laying Jeep. You slept bolt upright in the rain with your poncho over your self and your SMG. By the time we caught up to BHQ, we were a pretty dishevelled lot, scruffy beards and the target of the SSM.

At the end of a three week exercise, we were like the walking dead, unable to unwind and sleep unless dead drunk. Anyway, that was our excuse.

 

[Ganderite]

)

What does the white armband mean? To a sniper, it might mean "Shoot me."

 

[CV32]

Pegasus Bridge on June 9, 1944

Lt Herbert Denham Botheridge, killed during the assault on Pegasus Bridge on 6 June 1944, and believed to be the first Allied soldier to be killed on D-Day

 

[albayo]

I was at that bridge a few years ago, and walked on the new one that replaced it.
Met the lady that owns the Café Gondree. I think her name was Arlette.

 

[37patt]

The white armband would be used to indicate the soldier was part of the truce that would have been in effect so the Germans could safely come over to discuss terms. The soldiers on both sides would respect the white armband or a white flag.

 

[Ganderite]

Thank you. Makes perfect sense.

 

[Gibbs505]

YES - no argument from me! The only thing I have difficulty with is the many books written about the great 'leaders' of WWII .... its funny but you ask a young Cpl, Sgt or Lt or a FOO - when they finally fight their way on to the objective ... and they looked to the right and to the left ... surprise ... only other scared faces of pte's and Cpls etc ... they never mention seeing Monty lying on the ground sharing out his ammo and waiting for the inevitable counter attack. Getting onto the objective takes leadership.....planning the 'grand' strategy -- not so much.

Do you really think that that is the job of a brigade or division commander? Let alone a Army commander?

 

[AP]

Do you really think that that is the job of a brigade or division commander? Let alone a Army commander?

Of course not. Because they are managers doing a planning function...not 'leaders' as they are usually depicted ...along with the multiple pics taken by their photo corp while wearing binoculars around their necks. Certainly there were examples of Senior Commanders who liked to be well forward with the troops......but in my opinion...leadership is displayed by the guys who physically get themselves and others on the objective...not those who put a large hand on a small map...and say 'here'! If you are satisfied with the stereo typical view of leadership....you have a lot of company. I have a different view.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

Seldom has someone looked so happy about having gas.

Pte C.L. Jewell of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, sporting a D-Day beard, Normandy, France, June 22, 1944 (Lieutenant Ken Bell)

 

[Ganderite]

Thank you. That makes sense.

 

[Gibbs505]

Of course not. Because they are managers doing a planning function...not 'leaders' as they are usually depicted ...along with the multiple pics taken by their photo corp while wearing binoculars around their necks. Certainly there were examples of Senior Commanders who liked to be well forward with the troops......but in my opinion...leadership is displayed by the guys who physically get themselves and others on the objective...not those who put a large hand on a small map...and say 'here'! If you are satisfied with the stereo typical view of leadership....you have a lot of company. I have a different view.

You are forgetting completely that those guys , the generals also did their time in the trenches. Monty was severely wounded and Wavell lost and eye. in ww2 Horrocks, was wounded and Kippenberger had both his feet blown off by a mine. These are just the ones I know of.
I think that your viewpoint, while true in a narrow perspective, is totally wrong in the wider perspective.

 

[Brno8x57]

Do you really think that that is the job of a brigade or division commander? Let alone a Army commander?

Of course not. Because they are managers doing a planning function...not 'leaders' as they are usually depicted ...along with the multiple pics taken by their photo corp while wearing binoculars around their necks. Certainly there were examples of Senior Commanders who liked to be well forward with the troops......but in my opinion...leadership is displayed by the guys who physically get themselves and others on the objective...not those who put a large hand on a small map...and say 'here'! If you are satisfied with the stereo typical view of leadership....you have a lot of company. I have a different view.

You are forgetting completely that those guys , the generals also did their time in the trenches. Monty was severely wounded and Wavell lost and eye. in ww2 Horrocks, was wounded and Kippenberger had both his feet blown off by a mine. These are just the ones I know of.
I think that your viewpoint, while true in a narrow perspective, is totally wrong in the wider perspective.

From the book mentioned in my earlier post, it was quite apparent that every Canadian general had strengths and weaknesses. Not all of their men reverred their leaders. There were lots of egos and lots of hurt feelings as generals got canned or shuffled aside.
That being said, the 2 names that were held in highest esteem in Granatstien's book were Guy Simonds and Bert Hoffmeister.
If I recall correctly, Hoffmeister was well respected by those under his command because he often showed up at or close to the sharp end to see for himself what was happening. Certainly a risk that many commanders would not take but one that made him a very effective leader and tactician.

 

[x westie]

Seldom has someone looked so happy about having gas.

Feel sorry for British and Canadian troops, who wore that hot heavy battledress in Normandy, the temperatures were very hot, up in the 80's, i wore battledress for parade, when i joined the Militia, in 1971, thankfully we wore Combats for exercises, battledress was hot and uncomfortable, standing on a parade square in the hot sun, but to be in combat, packing a infantrymans gear, running and digging in, in the heat, must have been horrible

 

[Gibbs505]

From the book mentioned in my earlier post, it was quite apparent that every Canadian general had strengths and weaknesses. Not all of their men reverred their leaders. There were lots of egos and lots of hurt feelings as generals got canned or shuffled aside.
That being said, the 2 names that were held in highest esteem in Granatstien's book were Guy Simonds and Bert Hoffmeister.
If I recall correctly, Hoffmeister was well respected by those under his command because he often showed up at or close to the sharp end to see for himself what was happening. Certainly a risk that many commanders would not take but one that made him a very effective leader and tactician.

I agree, all had strengths and weakness. Monty held Simmonds in high regard while he didn't like Crear (sp).
He was also very careful with the New Zealanders and Australians s in the desert.
An often-repeated story about General Bernard Freyberg, commander of New Zealand troops during the Second World War, underlines how Kiwis preferred friendliness to formality. A British general accompanying Freyberg through the New Zealand lines in the desert remarked ‘Not much saluting, is there.’ Freyberg replied, ‘Ah yes, but if you wave they’ll wave back.’

 

[bearhunter]

Feel sorry for British and Canadian troops, who wore that hot heavy battledress in Normandy, the temperatures were very hot, up in the 80's, i wore battledress for parade, when i joined the Militia, in 1971, thankfully we wore Combats for exercises, battledress was hot and uncomfortable, standing on a parade square in the hot sun, but to be in combat, packing a infantrymans gear, running and digging in, in the heat, must have been horrible

I agree but at night when they doubled as a sleeping bag they were often barely adequate.