WW2 Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment Reunion.
- Thread starter JP
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maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Radley Walters is alive but deaf as a post. He is split up with his wife of many years, although they both live in the same retirement home in Kingston. He was written up in a recent Canadian Military Journal or Canadian Defence Quarterly (glossy history and doctrine magazine). The pair of writers interviewed him and several SFR veterans on the topic of combat leadership.
The two-part article examined how the son of an Anglican church minister from Gaspe was exposed to the military while at Bishop's University and then to his early service career. The second one concentrated on his wartime combat style. If Rad was a good officer, his 'men' still deeply respect him even in their 80's. He could be standoffish, but also personable and approachable.
And now to CGN - some very lucky member of this forum owns Rad's 9mm Browning with the papers!
The two-part article examined how the son of an Anglican church minister from Gaspe was exposed to the military while at Bishop's University and then to his early service career. The second one concentrated on his wartime combat style. If Rad was a good officer, his 'men' still deeply respect him even in their 80's. He could be standoffish, but also personable and approachable.
And now to CGN - some very lucky member of this forum owns Rad's 9mm Browning with the papers!
Cavalry: from the Mediaeval French and thus English: horseman (chevallerie)
Fusilier: from French "fusil" or "musket". The French Army still has no rifles, but they do have one awful pile of "muskets" (by definition smoothbores) which are rifled! Originally infantry, but the guys in Sherbrooke gave them a new definition, I think.
Dragoons: mounted infantry: rode horses to the battle, fought on foot. Sometimes used for heavy cavalry, though, as it is one of those more-or-less amorphous terms.
Light Infantry: carried less weight into battle, smaller packs, moved at a trot and were expected to be everywhere at the same time.
Rifles: riflemen were armed specifically with RIFLES. They moved at Riflemen's Pace, half walk, half trot, carried light packs and were regarded much as Special Forces are regarded today. A Rifleman in the Peninsular War actually made a 1-shot kill at nearly half a mile. Rifle was a .60" muzzleloading flintlock Baker.
Hussars: another type of heavy cavalry. The term originally was Polish. The original Polish Hussars wore big wooden wings on the backs of their uniforms, just to let folks know who was coming. Rough, tough and nasty.
That's a start, anyway. I can't remember any more right off the bat.
Any others, guys?
Fusilier: from French "fusil" or "musket". The French Army still has no rifles, but they do have one awful pile of "muskets" (by definition smoothbores) which are rifled! Originally infantry, but the guys in Sherbrooke gave them a new definition, I think.
Dragoons: mounted infantry: rode horses to the battle, fought on foot. Sometimes used for heavy cavalry, though, as it is one of those more-or-less amorphous terms.
Light Infantry: carried less weight into battle, smaller packs, moved at a trot and were expected to be everywhere at the same time.
Rifles: riflemen were armed specifically with RIFLES. They moved at Riflemen's Pace, half walk, half trot, carried light packs and were regarded much as Special Forces are regarded today. A Rifleman in the Peninsular War actually made a 1-shot kill at nearly half a mile. Rifle was a .60" muzzleloading flintlock Baker.
Hussars: another type of heavy cavalry. The term originally was Polish. The original Polish Hussars wore big wooden wings on the backs of their uniforms, just to let folks know who was coming. Rough, tough and nasty.
That's a start, anyway. I can't remember any more right off the bat.
Any others, guys?
" but the guys in Sherbrooke gave them a new definition, I think."
The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment was originally an Infantry Regiment formed by joining men from the Sherbrooke Regiment and the Fusiliers de Sherbrooke in 1940. It became an Armored Regiment while in training in Nova Scotia, before shipping off to England.
The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment was originally an Infantry Regiment formed by joining men from the Sherbrooke Regiment and the Fusiliers de Sherbrooke in 1940. It became an Armored Regiment while in training in Nova Scotia, before shipping off to England.
A Regiment with a combat record like theirs can call itself any damn thing it wants to... and do it with honour.
If these men were Japanese, they would be regarded as Living National Treasures.
Where have we gone wrong?
If these men were Japanese, they would be regarded as Living National Treasures.
Where have we gone wrong?
The Cdn Army, like the Brits, re-incarnated a number of former infantry regiments as armoured regiments because the early bias was to armour as a result of the German Blitzkreig and the fighting in North Africa. In Canada's case the Sherbrooke Fusiliers, the GGFG, the CGG, the Ontario Regiment and the BCR were examples of this. The Brits even produced the Guards Armoured Division where the various foot guards regiments were converted to armour for the duration of WW2. It did'n't really matter a lot as everybody had to be trained up from scratch on mobilization.
When the fighting in Italy began things changed as the mountains and close terrain favoured the defender and called more for infantry than armour. The armoured divisions, with a brigade of tanks and a brigade of infantry, had a hard time of it as they were chronically short of infantry. This led to armoured units being broken up and tanks being expended on a large scale to fight break-in battles against prepared positions which were more suitable for infantry assault. In Canada's case we even created a scratch infantry brigade to compensate for the lack of infantry in the 5th Cdn Armoured Div. The infantry-armour imbalance continued in Normandy where the Brits broke up various armoured formations and re-badged people as infantry. There were a lot of heavy tank losses in Normandy as a result of armoured formations being used to attack prepared positions. Operation Goodwood, where the Brits had three armoured divisions decimated in the hope of achieving a break-through, was a good illustration of this.
The Germans were much better than us at using flexible infantry/armour battle groups. In later years we finally got the message and task organization of infantry/armour combat teams and battle groups with engineer and artillery support became the normal mode. When I attended the US Army Command and Staff College we were preparing to meet the Soviet hordes in western Europe and spent some time examining how the Germans had used their infantry/armour battle groups and long range anti-tank guns in connection with a network of mutually supporting fortified villages to blunt our efforts in Normandy.
When the fighting in Italy began things changed as the mountains and close terrain favoured the defender and called more for infantry than armour. The armoured divisions, with a brigade of tanks and a brigade of infantry, had a hard time of it as they were chronically short of infantry. This led to armoured units being broken up and tanks being expended on a large scale to fight break-in battles against prepared positions which were more suitable for infantry assault. In Canada's case we even created a scratch infantry brigade to compensate for the lack of infantry in the 5th Cdn Armoured Div. The infantry-armour imbalance continued in Normandy where the Brits broke up various armoured formations and re-badged people as infantry. There were a lot of heavy tank losses in Normandy as a result of armoured formations being used to attack prepared positions. Operation Goodwood, where the Brits had three armoured divisions decimated in the hope of achieving a break-through, was a good illustration of this.
The Germans were much better than us at using flexible infantry/armour battle groups. In later years we finally got the message and task organization of infantry/armour combat teams and battle groups with engineer and artillery support became the normal mode. When I attended the US Army Command and Staff College we were preparing to meet the Soviet hordes in western Europe and spent some time examining how the Germans had used their infantry/armour battle groups and long range anti-tank guns in connection with a network of mutually supporting fortified villages to blunt our efforts in Normandy.
JP: thanks for the info on how the Regiment came to be Armoured.
As PURPLE points out, a lot of strange things have happened and, very likely, even stranger things will happen in the future.
I learned a long time ago never to question anything the Army does. It always has a reason, even if it might not be one that we would understand.
The fact that Bomb still exists, and that we know about it now, I think gives most of us 32 tons of good reasons to stop in Sherbrooke next time we are in your part of the world. I really wonder why things such as this are not more publicised? We're not ALL Greenpeacers and peace-freaks, thank Gawd!
As PURPLE points out, a lot of strange things have happened and, very likely, even stranger things will happen in the future.
I learned a long time ago never to question anything the Army does. It always has a reason, even if it might not be one that we would understand.
The fact that Bomb still exists, and that we know about it now, I think gives most of us 32 tons of good reasons to stop in Sherbrooke next time we are in your part of the world. I really wonder why things such as this are not more publicised? We're not ALL Greenpeacers and peace-freaks, thank Gawd!
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
One genre of military history that I've always enjoyed is biographies. There is a book on the shelf with a trashy name, Panzer Commander, or something bullish, written by an Austrian WWI veteran who rose in WWII to command a division that swept up the Baltic Coast towards Leningrad, described the Eastern Front defensive lines in a way I hadn't thought of before, and ended up commanding a beseiged city in Pomerania. Half of the book was based on Allied intelligence debriefings.
We learned from Rommel.
Rommel learned from Guderian.
Guderian admits in his book that he learned it from Maj/Gen J.F.C. Fuller and Capt. Basil H. Liddell-Hart.
Fuller is the man who wrote the basic plan for the Blitzkrieg... in 1918. He was turfed from the British Army for not keeping his mouth shut.
Basil Liddell-Hart is the man who was turfed from the British Army ostensibly for medical reasons, but actually because he wouldn't keep his mouth shut.
THEIR newspaper stories, articles and books taught Guderian, Rommel, de Gaulle and Patton how to do the job.
OUR SIDE learned their lessons the HARD way.... but at least they learned. For that we are thankful.
Rommel learned from Guderian.
Guderian admits in his book that he learned it from Maj/Gen J.F.C. Fuller and Capt. Basil H. Liddell-Hart.
Fuller is the man who wrote the basic plan for the Blitzkrieg... in 1918. He was turfed from the British Army for not keeping his mouth shut.
Basil Liddell-Hart is the man who was turfed from the British Army ostensibly for medical reasons, but actually because he wouldn't keep his mouth shut.
THEIR newspaper stories, articles and books taught Guderian, Rommel, de Gaulle and Patton how to do the job.
OUR SIDE learned their lessons the HARD way.... but at least they learned. For that we are thankful.
Interesting, as I have driven through Sherbrooke a few times but never noticed a tank. And yes, I do agree that "The Bomb" should be brought back to "runner" status, and driven around town every once in awhile ...
Certainly NOT be kept in the elements as she has been for decades ...
Assuming that ammunition could be sourced, it would be quite interesting to see her clear her throat one last time and have the event recorded by modern photographic methods and equipment.
Certainly NOT be kept in the elements as she has been for decades ...
Assuming that ammunition could be sourced, it would be quite interesting to see her clear her throat one last time and have the event recorded by modern photographic methods and equipment.
I agree with everything you say, Mr. Smith, with one little exception.
Why should it be just "one last time"?
Ammo can be found; it certainly has not ALL been shot off.
It would be GREAT to see, and hear, the old girl running again. Get her a spare set of rubber-faced tracks and she's street-legal, too. These things do have brakes, they had lights. Don't need turn signals; hand signals still are legal. Way the Motor Vehicle Act runs in most places, if she was legal as built, she's legal now. Just that her 'Horn' does make one awful noise.
Odin hanged himself for nine days, a sacrifice of himself, to himself. A mystery, and from it he received the secret of the Runes. Bomb can be a monument to herself (and is) but if she were running again, what might not she inspire in a new generation? "This is the REAL one: not a copy, not a reproduction, not an artist's impression, but the REAL one. And we can see it and hear it and touch it. This IS our history, not rotting in a book our kids can't read, but.... still living!" Another mystery.
DVDs these days cost about 20 cents a pop if you buy enough. Make some and sell them for $20: small profit. I'd take a couple, just to blow the speakers on my stereo system! Or 10 bucks for a little program so you can drive her around your screen, use Bomb instead of that stupid little arrow, have her fire when you click the button, put the money toward the restoration. I'd go for that one, too.
All you need is the right people and the right talents and the right objectives.
Bomb is as good an objective as any we are left with in this sad, self-centred age we have come into.
Make her snort again. Can the Army help? They have the parts, if anyone.
Why should it be just "one last time"?
Ammo can be found; it certainly has not ALL been shot off.
It would be GREAT to see, and hear, the old girl running again. Get her a spare set of rubber-faced tracks and she's street-legal, too. These things do have brakes, they had lights. Don't need turn signals; hand signals still are legal. Way the Motor Vehicle Act runs in most places, if she was legal as built, she's legal now. Just that her 'Horn' does make one awful noise.
Odin hanged himself for nine days, a sacrifice of himself, to himself. A mystery, and from it he received the secret of the Runes. Bomb can be a monument to herself (and is) but if she were running again, what might not she inspire in a new generation? "This is the REAL one: not a copy, not a reproduction, not an artist's impression, but the REAL one. And we can see it and hear it and touch it. This IS our history, not rotting in a book our kids can't read, but.... still living!" Another mystery.
DVDs these days cost about 20 cents a pop if you buy enough. Make some and sell them for $20: small profit. I'd take a couple, just to blow the speakers on my stereo system! Or 10 bucks for a little program so you can drive her around your screen, use Bomb instead of that stupid little arrow, have her fire when you click the button, put the money toward the restoration. I'd go for that one, too.
All you need is the right people and the right talents and the right objectives.
Bomb is as good an objective as any we are left with in this sad, self-centred age we have come into.
Make her snort again. Can the Army help? They have the parts, if anyone.
Well, "political correctness" is such a beast that it would only be a matter of time before the "pacifists" whom pretty much run the show in this province ordered her deactivated, or worse, melted down for scrap, so it would be unrealistic to believe that gunnery demostrations would become a regular occurence. Driving her around time in parades and such as a relic and tribute to the "heroes" of Sherbrooke wouldn't be nearly as "offensive".
If one was to give organised "tours" of the interior, complete with 5-10 minutes rides (at say, 100 dollars a pop) this would be one "living" monument that could rather easily fund itself. I do believe that there are that many history buffs, tank fans, current and former CF nostalgic tank crews, Fusiliers Sherbrooke vets and their families, and the list goes on to make such a "project" worthwhile.
If one was to give organised "tours" of the interior, complete with 5-10 minutes rides (at say, 100 dollars a pop) this would be one "living" monument that could rather easily fund itself. I do believe that there are that many history buffs, tank fans, current and former CF nostalgic tank crews, Fusiliers Sherbrooke vets and their families, and the list goes on to make such a "project" worthwhile.
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The WWII Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment is perpetuated by The Sherbrooke Hussars as an armoured unit. Les Fusilier de Sherbrooke ia an infantry unit with an ambiguous WWII record; although the two contemporary units share a prewar lineage.
Send your money to the Sherbrooke Hussars, care of the RSM, 315 William Street, Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1H 4E8. There is a charity golf tournament this September with this exact purpose in mind. But they've got a long way to go. Without proper financial authority, not a nickle of the taxpayer's money can be spent on the project.
The cost of rebuilding a Sherman is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (!), because there are only old parts left and whoever has them knows what they are worth. Then there are the special tools that are bigger and stronger than most driveway car rebuilders possess. It might be a Sherman, but a well-restored runner will cost $250,000, regardless of lineage.
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Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke and the Sherbrooke Regiment acted basically as Recruiting and Training Units during WW2. Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke managed to send a Company over to England in February 1945, but the minute it reached Europe it was broken up for re-enforcement and the men sent to fighting units already in combat. Pretty much the same thing happened to other Eastern Township Units during WW1.
