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All Gave Some, Some Gave All!

8/21/2022

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As an Infantry soldier for many a year, I learned and then taught the art of camouflage. The purpose of course was to conceal yourself and equipment so that you could get as close to the enemy as possible before starting your attack. 

Several years ago I came across this form of camouflage... and what a concealment it made.

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Who would have ever thought this person, in her full time occupation looked like this...
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As noted several times in past blogs, this  US Drill Sergeant, by the name of Sgt. ChristiAnna Ball has a passion for country and western songs. Her late father-in-law, a Vietnam veteran, learned the words and music for the song of the same title as this blog.

His favorite song soon  became her's and as the years went by she really began to understand and have incredible passion for the story they gave about those serving in harm's way.

Her following of country music, learning this and many other songs soon had her on stage performing them. Awards for her singing talent and story telling then led to a performance at the White House. All while still soldiering.

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President and Michelle Obama would lead the entire audience in a standing ovation for her lovely voice, and the tear-jerking, storied song brought to the audience.

Over the last few years I have often referred to Sgt. Ball's wonderful song. Each time I have asked you to take a couple of minutes and listen to its powerful words. For those missing this notice, she can be heard at:

  https/www.bandmix.com/christiana-ball/

You can also just google her name and the title of the song, and there is also a fabulous video that you can view at...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42jJcGbEKjmO&feature=youtu.be

Her title song, used also for this blog have been oft noted here in the past. All tell stories of so many heroes showing incredible bravery and of so many who gave their all for family and country.

Moving along, the past several blogs have briefly noted  the horrendous costs a joint force of Canadians, Americans, British and others would join in the attack. One that also came from the air and sea to capture the town of Dieppe France and its harbour beachfront on August 19, 1942.

If there ever was a story behind the song, this  battle ought to have been it.

The 80th anniversary of that tragedy, was celebrated at several Canadian centers, in France and probably elsewhere. just a few days ago. These told of the horrid details of the nine hour battle that saw 6000 troops, 5000 being Canadian, being almost completely slaughtered. The battle became known as the worst battle in cost of lives than any other one day battle throughout WWll.

Much more on the battle will appear in this space in the future. But that said, here is an image of the troops about to land on the beachfront.

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Most of the tanks either got destroyed before they even hit the beach or could not move around and got stuck in the field of loose rocks that prevented their moving about. Military intelligence did not discover that dug into the face the cliff at several points they had massive cannons to deal with the attacking tanks.

Rather than move out of target areas the tank treads got caught up in the massive field of loose rock bedding, and thus unable to move out of the target sites. Thus, they became  sitting ducks for the German heavy cannons.

Note the cliff face in upper left of image.

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Here we see two Allied tanks stuck in the small rocks and a  landing craft at water's edge that has just been hit possibly by mortar fire. The entire beach line was riddled with such images of men and tanks killed in the battle.
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Here is another image of tanks. The image was apparently taken by a German soldier and given to one of the Allied POW's. Note how many tanks are stuck in the image.

In my next blog I will bring you some very interesting details about the Dieppe memorial ceremonies in France and at Hamilton Ontario.

I expect that blog will be done on Sunday September 4th.

Blogs of late have been sporadic as my research is taking me down many roads and thus VERY time consuming. Add to this other matters in my life are also eating up time that I wished was more available for meeting these deadlines.

Hopefully your level of frustration is somewhat lower than my own  regarding these publishing dates.

Cheers till the 4th,

Bart

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Conclusion of God's Acre 2022 Ceremony.

7/13/2022

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Over the past several weeks I have brought you many segments to the story about this ceremony. I left off noting that most references to the tragedy of Dieppe tell us that there were three heroes awarded the Victoria Cross, 2 being Canadian.

The same reference materials say that there was only one soldier awarded the Distinguished Service Order and coming from Canada.

My research shows three more Canadian DSO's. Another reference was also found claiming as many as 12.

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Here we see an image of a 24 year old, who was given the temporary rank of major, while at Dieppe. His name was Pat Porteous. He was born in British India and was a Scotsman. And he would become the third Victoria Cross recipient for heroism at Dieppe.

Captain (acting major) Porteous was serving with the  Royal Regiment of Artillery. In the Dieppe campaign his job was to move back and forth, as the liaison officer, between two detachments charged with destroying the enemy's heavy coastal defense guns.

While working with the smaller detachment first, he was shot through the hand and the bullet traveled up his arm. But Porteous still managed to grab the German soldier and stab him with his bayonet. At the very time the enemy was about to kill a  British Sergeant. The officer thus saved the man's life.

The second and larger detachment, had its officer killed. The troop sergeant major had then fallen with serious injuries and the only other officer had fallen dead.

Porteous ran through withering enemy fire, though already wounded, and rallied them on to carry the charge. He was again wounded and collapsed from blood loss. But his objective, destruction of the guns, was a success.

When he later woke up in a hospital his mother gave him the news that he had been awarded the Victoria Cross.

Turning now to the DSO's, in a recent blog I told you the story of Major Curry of the Toronto Scottish, buried at Gods Acre and of his being a recipient of the Distinguished Service Order.

Net citations tell us that he was the only Canadian DSO recipient from that battle, but as noted, this is not accurate. I have found three others, and perhaps there are still more.

The first of the three found is Captain, (latter a Brig. General) Denis "Dinny" Whitacre from Calgary Alberta, shown below...

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Denis Whitacre was an RMC grad in 1937 and signed up when the war started. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. and soon Lieutenant with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry and commanded a Bren Gun Carrier platoon.

On landing in Dieppe he was charged with capturing  the beachfront Casino. His men did this and then moved on to hand to hand combat in the plaza behind. Then having to face very heavy fire from the town.

He then decided that continuing would lead to suicide and thus  retreated back to the beach. There his platoon was deluged by heavy mortar and machine gun fire whilst awaiting evacuation back to England.  He was the sole officer of some 100 that actually captured their original target and managed to escape unwounded.

His skill, courage and initiative were all  acknowledged by his receiving the DSO.

Still serving, in July of 1944 he received a dreadful  facial wound from an exploding shell. He was thought to be blinded, but miraculously recovered and went on the earn A SECOND DSO.

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John Hamilton "Ham" Roberts (above) was born in Manitoba. Another RMC grad, he served in both world wars.

Ham was commissioned as a Lt. in the Royal Canadian Artillery in 1914. He fought at the Flanders. In 1918 his bravery was so highly recognized that he was successfully recommended for the Military Cross.

He continued serving in the RCHA and after the final collapse of France,he was the sole commander to return to England with all his guns, and 12 Bofors, seven predictors, three Bren Gun carriers and other technical equipment.

At the start of WWll Ham was a Lt Colonel. By early 1942 he was a Maj. General and Commander of the Operation Jubilee (code for Dieppe.)

He operated as commander from the decks of a destroyer and under very perilous heavy enemy fire. For his ability, courage and determination, he was awarded the DSO.

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The last of the three DSO men from Canada that I found is Major General Clarence Churchill Mann, born in New Jersey, USA.

While many would question a US born hero's appearance on this site, this general was a whopping 6 years old when his family moved to Ontario.

On this note, please know that perhaps as many as 50 %, and I believe higher of ACCEPTED VC recipients are classed as Canadian even though born elsewhere. Same concept applies to the Canadians who opted for US service in the Civil War and every war they have been in since.

The concept has been oft noted in this space in the past.

Moving on... In 1927 Mann, who had early become yet another RMC Grad,  joined the Royal Canadian Dragoons. Two years later he was attending staff college in England. He then served  in General McNaughton's 7th Corps and found himself in the Dieppe battle of 1942 and wearing the rank of a Brig. General. He served on board HMS Fernie at Dieppe with the title of Deputy  Military Force Commander.

For this work he was decorated with a DSO and later found himself back in Ottawa as Vice Chief of the General Staff at Head Quarters.

More work is needed on many other possible DSO's from the days of Dieppe.

And now to an end note. As you can see from the above and many blogs over the last year and much more, a lot of work goes into these blogs. Moreover, a lot of work is needed in other related matters that have  been crying out for my attention for far too long.

With this said I am taking a break from this space until mid August or shortly thereafter, in order to get at some of this backlog.

I must thank you all for traveling along this route with me and hope that you will continue on the road to adventure with me when I return. I will be monitoring the comments sections, and now, more importantly than ever, your comments would be greatly appreciated.

In the mean time, you have well over 575 blogs in  this space and within, surely blogs you will enjoy having a second look at. Find it, read it and  break out of your shyness and send along some comments.

And please share this work with others you know who have similar interests.

See you all soon, I pray!

Bart





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Conclusion of  Candlelight Tribute,  to the horrors and bravery at Dieppe 80 years ago!

7/6/2022

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Off topic very briefly... it was 155 years ago tomorrow, that  some early politicians finally came together and agreed to join forces as one country. After all the heated discussions the leaders from four separate provinces came away with a Royal Proclamation, It created 3 separate provinces, but all under the same roof in a country to be called CANADA.

Here is the document that I suspect few Canadians today have ever seen...

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And here we see the 1867 map of the new Dominion.The four provinces of the day, are shown in white and appropriately labeled as Canada East(Que.) and West (Ont.), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
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As you can see, we have done a little expanding since the first ever... Canada Day!

But now its time to travel to the far left hand side of this image and the southern tip of Vancouver Island... and to God's Acre once again.

Recent blogs in this space, have brought you a lot of details with regards to the ceremony held there. Many speakers reminded us of the horrible costs, and the incredible bravery of all on that August day of 1942. The nine hours of slaughter became known as some of the darkest hours in Canadian military history.

We were told, as supported by the internet and most reference materials, that after all was said and done at Dieppe, three Victoria Crosses and 2 Distinguished Service Order medals for bravery were awarded. Apparently two of the VC's and 1 DSO came to Canadians.

So we were told.... in error!  The VC numbers are right, but not so for the DSO's!

Shown here are the 2 Victoria Cross recipients from Canada. 

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Vancouver born Lt. Colonel Cecil Merritt, at left, was the commanding officer of the South Saskatchewan Regiment. At Dieppe the landing crafts that dropped Merritt and troops off, dropped them on the West side of an important river. They were supposed to land on East side.

His bravery lead many across the heavily fortified structure but were later forced to retreat. Wherein he led a vigorous rearguard till captured. Twice wounded he was taken as a prisoner of war. He would later be awarded a Victoria Cross for his actions and incredible bravery.
Today he lay at rest back in Vancouver.

The above first image shows the proximety of Dieppe to the south eastern side of England, some 300 kms to the north west. The second shows part of the Dieppe beach and where Col. Merritt and his men landed, just about 7 miles from Dieppe.  Note the three rivers in blue. The one on the left was Merritt's start point.

But his troops were landed by the navy at the left of the river instead of the right side. If done correctly his men could have avoided the very heavy battles to cross a bridge structure that was well protected by the enemy.

He successfully crossed the bridge several times and moving more and more troops  across each time  but then luck turned against him and the men were driven back. But eventually he and many of his men had to make it back to the coastline and move out into the English Channel.

In the process he organized a rear-guard action aiding many to escape. But many, including the Colonel were captured and spent the rest of the war in POW camps.

For his bravery he was later invested with the Victoria Cross. A very rare honour for a POW.

John Weir Foote, Ontario born, was a man of the clothe. When the war started he  volunteered and was appointed as a military chaplain with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. He was given the honourary rank of a Captain.

Throughout some 8 hours Chaplain Foote continuously exposed himself to heavy enemy fire, while aiding the wounded back from enemy positions.

When finally forced to withdraw he had loaded troops onto a rescue craft and climbed in. Then he jumped off, because of his higher calling.

He turned about, and with hands up,  surrendered. Doing so allowed him  to stay with other POWs who would no doubt need his spiritual guidance  as a  chaplain.

He saved many lives during the battle, and probably many more whilst in a POW camp. He thus became Canada's first  member of the Chaplain service to be decorated with the Victoria Cross for his bravery.

Today he lays at rest in a Cobourg Ontario cemetery.

Canada's only (so they say) DSO recipient was a fellow from Vancouver named Curry. A few years back I discovered a grave for Curry at the cemetery. I was thrilled to learn that he was serving in the Toronto Scottish at Dieppe. This being my first regiment of three served in over about 17 yr span.

But I suspect unknown to those at the cemetery and those planning the ceremony, they had a Dieppe DSO recipient buried at this very cemetery. The DSO is a bravery award just one down from the Victoria Cross.

Knowing of the ceremony up and coming I went to the graveyard and after much hunting  by me and two very dedicated Veterans Affairs Canada reps, we found his grave.

Learning of this was too late for this year  but I suspect in future events his story will be highlighted at this historic grave site.

Here is his grave marker...


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Rather than trying to tell his story, I now enclose 2 documents about his deeds, provided to me recently from the Toronto Scottish Regiment's current historian. Here they are...
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Note that his recommendation for the Distinguished Service  Order came form his unit  Commander, and was supported by a Major General, General Crerar as General Officer of 1st Cnd. Army, and to top all these off note the signature at bottom right of pg two... Monty himself.

As mentioned in an earlier blog, all guests were invited to pick up a candle and place it in front of the grave of those at rest within the cemetery.

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Here I stand in front of one of the many tables of candles located throughout the property. It was not dark yet but as you can see I was thoroughly soaked, as were all others on site. (I had hopes that with all that water at least my hair would grow a little... but not so!
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Here I am placing the lit candle at the foot of my fellow Tor. Scots, Major John Owen Curry, D.S.O.

As seen at this blog in the past, for those that missed it, here are images of the Victoria Cross (on left) and the DSO... 

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Next Wednesday I will bring you a brief blog, and in that will be making an important announcement to all my loyal readers, and the rest too...

In the mean time, sorry I missed making notice in a timely manner that the 4th of course was the big day of celebrations throughout the US.

Hope you will join me on Wednesday.

thanks all,

Bart

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God's Acre's 26 May ceremony reminded all of horrors and bravery at Dieppe 80 years ago!

6/29/2022

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God shed tears, and more tears, and yet more poured over the landscape throughout the ceremony. He let us know that the passing of these men and women, and their families had not gone unnoticed. And his tears pushed us all on to conduct  this important Candlelight Tribute.

Several hundred gathered to pay their respects. Possibly, as many or more pooled their resources to help bring the community's respect and thanks to those who served, many giving their very  lives so that we could live in peace.

At this  time of reflection, thoughts must also go out to those on the home-fronts who did so much for those who left home to serve. Thoughts also were then, and to this day, due men and women who continue to serve, and those to come, who may be called on to reach out to grab the flame and hold it high.  And to catch it, if and when it falls.

The ceremony took place on the  Esquimalt lands owned by Veterans Affairs Canada. Land and all within, that have been declared a National Historic Site!

And so it should be!

The ceremony would never have happened without the tremendous dedication and support from a wide group of national  and local government entities as well as many other groups and individuals.

Each stood, or sat, and dealt with an incredible down pouring for about an hour, in honor of those at rest before them.

At the federal level, Veterans Affairs Canada and their very dedicated staff and volunteers at the cemetery performed numerous tasks to bring the event to life. Maritime Pacific Command was represented as was the commander of CFB Esquimalt and the Base Chief. Army, Navy, Air Force, Korean Veterans, Peacekeepers, Merchant Navy, Women Veterans of Canada, the  Royal Canadian Legion and the BC Command of the Army, Navy, Air Force Veterans in Canada were also key attendees and participates. As were numerous cadet groups, scouts and girl guides.

The badges of several reservists were also noted. And one could not go to such an event without the tremendous contribution of the Canadian Scottish. Their association band  marched on the dignitaries, the  Colours and Honour Guard to the tunes of the pipes and drums. We even heard the wonderful voices in song, from the Victoria Children's Choir.

At the municipal level we must acknowledge much of the background work and support of the folks at the Township of Esquimalt, and the Mayor and others who also attended the ceremony.

So too,  we need to thanks the great folks at Thrifty Foods, the Gorge Vale Golf Course and  The Lodge At  Broadmead.

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Canadian flags had been placed earlier at all graves in the cemetery. Here we see some of them and one of several tables with candles located through-out the property. As darkness was beginning to fall, the candles were turned on and were  eventually placed in front of each of the graves.

Some were even presented to selected youth. Popular local media personality Cliffe  Lequesne, assigned the children with individual special guests of honor and they accompanied the child to a  grave nearbye for placement.

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In the top of 3 images we see the Colours having just arrived and folks standing in salute to their arrival. At the center is a wider picture showing some of the veterans accompanying the Colours. And at bottom we see a few of the dignitaries at the dias and under cover to it's right.

My poor images are the results of the inclement weather.

The Master of Ceremonies reminded those gathered, that due to Covid, this was the first such ceremony in several years. After the singing of  O Canada, a prayer was given, then the Last Post and a Minute of Silence performed.

At this point Lilian Luyk gave the Act of Remembrance. 

Ms. Luyk's father... Ken Curry was one of 580 Canadians who, serving with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry who stormed the beaches of Dieppe on 19 August 1942. Very close to these men of the RHLI on the same beach where the men of the Toronto Scottish, oft noted in this space, also landed.

(Just  5 weeks before this landing, a navy signalman   heled the storming of another beach. This being Guandalcanal. You've hopefully read of Douglas Munro's bravery in numerous blogs in this space as being the only Medal of Honor recipient in the US Coast Guard's history. And he too, was a Canadian, from Vancouver. The US is so proud of him they named six war ships after him. Even the Headquarters building in DC is so named in his honor.

Within hours the RHLI lost 197 men. Another 174 became POW's. Ken Curry was one of these and was released at Armistice. This Hamiltonian relocated to Victoria BC in the 1980's. After some 73 yrs of marriage he died while a resident at The Lodge at Broadmead.

He was Canada's last veteran of Dieppe!

Guest Speaker Mark  Zuehlke needs no introduction to anyone with a serous knowledge of Canadian WW ll history. He is an author from Victoria who was earned many awards for his work as not only a mystery writer but also for his incredible Canadian Battle Series. If memory serves well, his numbers given to me recently were that he has written over 25 books. He is often referred to as the most popular Canadian military author of the day.

His address to the gathering left all with some horrible details about the blunder at Dieppe... and at the same time, some incredible tidbits about heroism. After his talk he was approached by many in the crowd, who enjoyed chatting with him, being amazed at his knowledge and an ability to converse with those from all walks of life at the service. 

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Mark conducts tours of Canadian battlefields in Europe and he can be contacted regarding history, his books or his tours through his website...   www.liberationtours.ca
In a symbol of passing the torch from the elder to the youth, some of the dignitaries escorted youth members to a few of the graves near the dias. Then they actually, in act of passing the torch, placed it (the candle)  in the hands of the youth, who in turn placed them at the foot of the graves  of one of the deceased who lay at rest near the dias.
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Here we see Ms. Lillian Luyk returning to her seat after  placing a lit candle. She is wearing the white coat. To her left we see historian  Mark Zuehlke and a youth, having just placed a candle  at the foot of a grave marker.
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Several years ago the Victoria Genealogical Society and the cemetery  worked together on the production of this book. Some history is in it as well as a complete list, as of that date, of all of those lying at rest at God's Acre. I would encourage you to contact the society to pick up your own copy. They can be reached at...   https;//www.victoriags.org.

Since this blog is getting far too long, I will return on Sunday to finish it off.

NOTE... at that time I will bring you an important note re this blog.

Please join me then.

Bart

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Returning to the God's Acre Candlelight Tribute Ceremony

6/21/2022

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I started to bring you this story a few blogs back but other matters kept me from completing the story. So we return to it today.

It began on Sunday, Father's Day. But as my blog was getting on, I tried to save it three different times and in each, the Weebly site I'm using managed to once again fail to do the SAVE. They ought not rely on me for any wonderful advertising in the days to come.

Hopefully Today's attempt to bring you the belated story will succeed. So here goes...

The God's Acre Cemetery has been operating for over 150 years, and got its beginnings with the navy's purchase of land back in 1868. The 1.1 hectare piece of land was self run for years and has grown to now be the final resting place for well over 3,000 members of the military family, their immediate families and others. In 1947 the cemetery was taken over by the folks at Veterans Affairs Canada, and have, since seen its expansion during their ownership.

For many years the cemetery has held ceremonies in honour of various causes. On the 26th of May this year several hundred attended its annual Candlelight Tribute. Each year the cemetery highlights several events in our military history. One of these annual events is called a Candlelight Tribute. These highly special events encourage public participation from several official, non official and civilian representatives of the local population.

This year's theme was the 60th anniversary of bravery and a solum remembrance of the incredibly high costs suffered during the 19 August 1942 attack on the beaches of Dieppe. 

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At the time the Germans held virtual control over most of continental Europe. The Allies needed desperately to get  a safe haven to land and start to advance on the Germans.

But, as thought by some, the attacks along a 16km stretch of coastline was well defended by hidden gun, mortar and other weapons to prevent such a landing. Many of the positions high up in the cliffs were so well concealed that Allied intelligence was completely caught off guard. Evidencing this was verified by some of the officers attacking and seeing evidence of mortar guides used to practice and then the weapons being better zeroed in and ready to counter any attacker.

And the Allies came...some 6,100 strong. About 5000 being Canadians from across the country. Some 1,000 were British Commandos and 50 American Rangers also participated.

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The Allies were to land at five separate areas along the beach of this fishing port in northern France. A peacetime portion of the landing area is shown above.
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Here we see the various obstacles including barbed wire the Allies faced when arriving at the beach. In upper right corner we see part of the higher positions where big guns were installed, and these followed the coast line all along the beach.

Getting over the concrete  obstruction closest to the water, you then had a pathway of crushed rock that made it quite difficult to dig into for protection and tank movements. Many of the tanks attacking would never even get off the beaches. Same for the brave soldiers!

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Over 1,000 planes fought in the air and tried to lend support to the ground troops. The Allied landing crafts could only get so far and then all the men had to bail out and make way through more water obstacles before even setting foot on ground.

The Royal Navy refused to provide enough heavy, long range bombarding of the beach and cliffs beyond. Such would have made landings much easier. Instead it was a Forlorn Hope. Many would call it a suicide mission. But the Canadians were glad to get into battle and very tired of the two years training and retraining and performing defensive duties at London.

So the stage was set for what was destined to be one of the most bloody and horrific few hours of fighting in our nation's history.

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Here we see several of the different landing points during "Operation Jubilee," the military code name for the operation. (On reflection it should have been "Operation Slaughter".)

Of the 4,963 Canadian troops landing, only 2,210 would make it back to London after the battle. Of about 6,200 involved, 3,367 became casualties, 1,946 became POW's and 916 of the Canadians were killed in action.

The attack was supposed to be a surprise, but one of the vessels approaching the coastline ran into German coastal patrols. A battle broke out and the noise was heard on the beach telling the Germans that an attack was underway.

Delays off shore also saw an arrival, schedual to be in darkness,  becoming one in the early morning light.  Further challenging the allied attack, was the fact that one of the beach landings starting 1 1/2 hours early. Thus sending the signal that more was to come.  Another problem had some of the troops landed on the West side of a river whilst they were supposed to land on the East side.

That river was called the Sice at the left of above image, at Green Beach. I have a particular interest in this and Red Beach.

It was at Green Beech  that Lt. Col. Cecil Merritt would go on to earn his Victoria Cross... in crossing a very dangerous bridge under withering fire, and rallying his troops to follow. Had they been landed in the right place much of this loss may have been prevented.

Merritt was a distant cousin of my mother's!

At Red Beach many units landed. One of these was the Toronto Scottish. This remains my favorite regiment of all reserve units in  Canada. One in which I first served and remained for close to 15 years. Had I not moved to the East coast I would have continued a career. And one in which I was destined, unknown at the time, to one day becoming its Regimental Sergeant-Major. But alas, by that time I was long gone.

But back to God's Acre, it would be the devastation at Dieppe,  the bravery through-out and the horrible costs that would be the subject of remembrance on May 26th.

And that will finally be covered in the next blog on Sunday.

Please join me then.

Bart



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A Correction and  More on God's Acre Ceremony

6/12/2022

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Way back in 1988 I began a 5 1/2 year run writing a Column in a Halifax newspaper. When it ended I had done  over 560 columns helping folks seeking better treatment from municipal, regional, provincial and federal governments, as well as agencies, boards, commissions and the like  at all those governments  levels.

During that time I learned early on that when one in the press writes something, it often stands, even after the author has been told he or she was wrong about something.

I however took a different approach as a freelancer at the time. I felt that when an error is made, one must verify and then correct the error in a future column. I was however  most stunned to hear quiet often that often you don't correct,  you simply ignore it and move on.

In as much as my column was one of the top columns in the paper and in fact NS journalism of the day, the paper's approach was silly. A mistake uncorrected could lead many a reader down the wrong path to their search for justice.

So, when errors were pointed out to me I corrected them, much to the chagrin of many on the newspaper staff. I have tried  to bring this same philosophy to about  755 blogs in this space over the past dozen years.

So today's column brings you a correction, as have several in the past.

It deals with Dennis Buckley's grave, of which you have hopefully read much here in the past. After some 134 years Buckley remained buried under a misspelled name. Many searched for years to locate his grave without success.

The current historian for his Civil War unit finally tried something different. If Buckley was hiding, the man would just look for the fellow who died with him at Peachtree Creek in July 1864. That man's name was Whitmore. The hunch turned out correctly.

As a result of this great research, historian  John DuBois, took steps to have a new grave marker made, and a formal ceremony conducted in Georgia about the discovery and correction to this part of US and Canadian History.

The following year the historian and family and other re-enactors traveled to Ontario to help me and others  unveil a commemorative marker in Lindsay for Buckley. Much has appeared in this space in the past about both matters.

Interestingly, DuBois' grandfather also fought at Peachtree, and later at Gettysburg and  rests at same cemetery. His name was also misspelled but I believe corrected  by John DuBois.

Somehow the story had it that the CW soldier buried next to Buckley was DuBois. But in fact it is another soldier, who died at Peachtree, and was also a buddy of Buckley's. He too was killed there in action, and it is this man... Sam Whitmore that rests at Buckley's side.

Below are some  Images to show these graves.

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Like so many other soldiers who died in war, Sam and Dennis were originally buried very near the fields where they were killed. Only wooden crosses were first erected. Later they were moved to a second and then third cemetery. That 3rd cemetery is the Marieta National Cemetery in Cobb County in Marietta Georgia.

Here we see Sam Whitmore's marker at left in upper image and to the right is  Dennis Buckley's markers on the right. Below these is the current marker for Buckley, unveiled by DuBois and many others in 2005.  Note the older model of marker then still in place for Sam Whitmore.

I shall return on Sunday June 19th to give more on the story of God's Acre, introduced last week.  Hope you will join me then.

Bart

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A Week of Remembrance!

6/5/2022

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Last week was another of the 52 weeks in every year that folks across North America must stop and give thanks and thoughts to. And remembrance of so much given by so many in order that you and I can live, in peace today.

Or at least in most places, tragic that it is that these feelings can not be shared by the daily horrors seen  by those brave men, women and children in the Ukraine, and their families around the world. 

Closer to home, thousands each day pass one of the  18 wonderful Civil War statutes in Washington DC. One dedicated to remembrance! Though, tragically not known to all who pass bye.

Here is that statute.


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The man on top of this statute asks, did you remember the price we, are families and other loved ones  paid so long ago? 

His name was John Logan and he was a politician, lawyer and Civil War General. After the war he became the 2nd president of the thousands strong very influential veterans group known as the Grand Army of the Republic.

His statute represents men and women who came forth from so many nations,  to save the United States of America. Ironic, that its very location, is only a few blocks away from the Canadian Embassy. Canada being a country that some 50,000 left to help our American neighbours during those horrific days of 1861-5. 

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Several years ago I had the privilege of visiting both the Canadian Embassy, and this statute and many other important DC locations. I was there doing research on the Civil War and the roles fellow Canadians played during those tragic days.

At war's end Major General John Logan joined and soon became the 2nd Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). This group, numbering in the tens of thousands, had offices... or posts, across the US and a handful even in Canada. They represented the interests of their member veterans.


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One of General Logan's (shown above) orders of business, was indeed an order. An order that required all members to take the time to remember, give thoughts to, and show same by adorning the graves of the past veterans with flowers.

And as such, a day had to de decided, that flowers would be in bloom all across the country. That day was chosen to be May 30th, and it was to become known as Decoration Day. Today it survives but Americans now call it Memorial Day.

And that day for this year was last week!

Logan's original order, known as General Order number 11, was issued on 5 May 1868, and here it is...

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This plaque may make reading a little easier...
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Several times a year Americans come forth to recognize their fallen service men and women. Here is one way they show their respect...
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It  is unknown if this young fellow is one of many planting flags across the nation, during several occasions each year, or more tragically, if he is grieving the loss of a friend or family member.

We do the same in Canada. Similarly we also do Candlelight  Ceremonies in many locations including here in Victoria BC.

At Victoria one such ceremony takes place annually at the Department of Veterans Affairs cemetery known as God's Acre.

The land was purchased by the navy for use as a cemetery back in 1868, making it 155 years old next year. On the grounds rest many family members and workers from the military and some 2500 resting places for military men and women.

To get to the cemetery you have two directions of approach, shown below.


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To gain entry to the cemetery you could drive south on Tillicum Road, and turn right at Colville Road and continue to the 2nd arrow above. This is Veterans Drive. Again turn right and continue on for a few minutes till arriving at the cemetery. Or you could approach the entrance from the left side of the map show above.

If from the right, you drive right past an important historical memorial. Sadly most do not ever even see it. It is located at the red arrow at right in above picture. Here is that memorial...


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The image is that of Rowland Bourke, a Brit. who moved to Canada and began farming but in clearing the land he lost an eye in an explosion. Continuing on, at the beginning of WWl he volunteered first with the Cdn. forces, then the US forces and then the Brits and got rejected by all three.

Eventually, with only one eye, the Brits took him on in their Naval Reserves.  He would eventually be called into action, and  would earn the Distinguished Service Order, and in short order would then be awarded the Victoria Cross for two different events and the saving of many sailors lives. (His heroism has been oft noted in this space.)


Lt Commander Bourke and General Pearkes are the only  VC recipients buried in the greater Victoria area.

Bourke's grave has an annual ceremony, thanks to family, myself and the great folks at HMCS Malahat, the local naval reserve unit.

Pearkes final resting place, as far as I can tell, gets little notice or ceremony by anyone other than normal church maintenance.

Both should get major attention several times a year.

But getting back to God's Acre, for years the cemetery sign has become weather beaten and in need of repair. Several attempts to have the matter addressed finally  resulted in the new sign being erected several months back. Here are both...

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Something has just cropped up that needs my attention, so my planned description of those events and more must  be left till next Sunday.

I hope  you will again join me then.

cheers,
Bart

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Delay till Wed. or Sunday

5/29/2022

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Am searching for an image I want to use but can't find it.

I think it got lost with about  a thousand emails and images due to a recent complete  failure of my back up hard-drive. Will go and get another image locally tomorrow and should be back on line by Wed or Sunday with a blog.

Sorry folks,
Bart

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More Medal of Honor News

5/22/2022

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When we talk about Medal of Honor news, be it current or historic and involving the United States, we should broaden our horizons.

We should realize that men (and one woman)  being awarded these most precious tokens of American appreciation for their valour,  where not limited to American born men and women alone. Of the 3500 plus medals awarded so far, well over 700 went to non Americans coming from at least 48 other countries. (In fact the very first award, by date of action, went to an Irishman... (with Canadian connections to boot.)

And so it is fair to say that MOH news is news that ought to be of interest to all 48 countries... if not more.

During Civil War days alone, one in four medals went to a non American. These numbers drop to one in five over all years from inception in 1862 until today.

Moving along, the longest war the Americans have been said to have fought was that against  the American  Natives. There are many stories about bravery and atrocities on both sides of a 30 year period beginning in the late 1860's.

I shall leave those discussions to those far more qualified than I to document these battles.

But I do want to offer brief comment on the battle some know as the Battle of  Rocky Mesa, others call it the  battle of  Chiricahua Pass.

The natives had been attacking the white man in the area for some time and the US Cavalry were on the look out for such activity.

A mine President headed off his property with several others en-route to do other business, decided to take rest at an abandoned stagecoach stop. But natives were in hiding and  attacked and killed all but one man who escaped to near-by Fort Bowie and troops soon were en-route to capture the natives.

A five hour battle broke out before the natives escaped, leaving their carnage behind. Five months later the government awarded 33 Medals of Honor, apparently the most in the medal's entire history, for a one day or shorter battle.

Several Canadians in that unit had, or would later earn Medals of Honor but in this battle a Canadian risked his life in a hail of gunfire to crawl out and rescue one of the troopers. He would  be one of those later getting the MOH. His name was Mosher Harding and he was from Ontario.

Mosher would live another 60 or more years and finally passed away and was laid to rest in 1931. His original marker contained no information regarding his Medal Of Honor Status and years later another marker was laid at his final resting place. Both are shown below at a Dennison Iowa cemetery.  

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Unfortunately the image is of very poor quality but it does show Mosher wearing a later version of the Medal of Honor. His original would have been slightly different.  Its has been reported that in this frame we see not a picture...but his actual Medal of Honor.

Moving on, just days ago I learned of a major event in the Medal of Honor world. And as noted above, this event, being digital can be shared by folks in all the countries around the world, even those who did not bring home an actual Medal of Honor.

On March 25th past, Medal of Honor Day in the US, it was apparently announced that a fabulous source of research and learning had been developed for free use. A tool for all to enjoy and learn all about the medal and the men and one lady who had been recipients in the past.

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The Congressional Medal of Honor Society and the American Battlefield Trust and others have joined forces to bring us this fabulous and most attractive resource to pursue our MOH interests. And it is fun and most attractive to digest. Here is my favorite part, but much more time is needed for me to better look at all it has to offer.
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The buttons on the right control the screen image you see. Each gives direct details depending on what you are looking for.

Its great fun..and useful too. And here's my favorite so far...

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Alexander Scott was born in Montreal and fought at Monocacy Md. during the US Civil War and was awarded the medal for his bravery. He is among at least 2 dozen Canadians buried at Arlington.

I almost missed bringing you the following plaque possibly erected in 2021 and dedicated this year  regarding Mosher Harding and the other MOH recipients. It was  erected by the Cochise County Arizona Historical Society. Note in the left column, Mosher Harding's name  being the 6th from the top.


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More next Sunday,
Bart

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More Tidbits for Your Canadian Medal of Honor Files

5/15/2022

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In this space over the past 12 years, I have brought you news about the Canadian part of the US Medal of Honor story. With almost 600 blogs, that's  an average of at least one blog, every week for those past years. It is true that I have taken a few sabbaticals for a few months a few times. But the average numbers still show at last one blog per week since December of 2012.

I have visited several dozen locations, both in the US and Canada. Getting to graves or research materials and visiting descendants has taken me on numerous automotive trips, travel by air, by ferry, train, subway, taxi and even at one stop by a golf cart to get to a burial site.

Costs to bring this material to you have included many thousands of dollars for hotel and parking, taxi, meals, and very high number of long distance telephone costs covering the above dozen and another 8 years previous to the start of these blogs. 

A bucket list of other costs would include going through three computers and printers, office supplies, monthly subscription fees for the URL, this site, membership in numerous organizations, purchase of numerous books and videos on subject, making several actual donations to like minded entities, and much more.

All of this and so much more has been absorbed by me without any financial help over the 2 decades other than I believe  one night  in California hotel and 2 in a bed and breakfast establishment in Ontario. Small stipends for talks on two occasions also helped out.

The gist of this work has been to uncover forgotten heroes from Canada, and helping to document or correct so much in the existing files. This and of course, bringing these results to the decedents and you, my faithful readers.

With start numbers at 54 Canadian Medal of Honor recipients,  and mine now hovering close to 120, the site has done its job! But so much more remains to be done. And with the help of so many from all walks of life that have lent me a hand in this journey, I pray they will stay with me for another dozen.

Did I just hear you scream!

Today I have a few updates and then some new materials, so strap in.

Past blogs have brought you the story of Lindsay Ontario born Medal of Honor recipient Dennis Buckley, who gave his life trying to save the Union during the US Civil War. His story has oft appeared in the space in the past. For the new reader, the search engine at upper right will get you to stories about Dennis.

As a youth he was the sole bread winner for ailing parents and younger siblings. He literally brought home the clothes on their backs and the food for the kitchen table.

At one point, while working for a  local farmer, it was a bad month and there were no funds to pay Dennis for his labor. Instead he was given a cow. He took it home for the family to slaughter.

Not long after, he got influenced by a US agent to go to the US and sign up for Civil War service. He did so and soon found himself in the Battle at Peach Tree Creek near Marietta Georgia. 

It was not his first battle, but it was his last!

On advancing to the enemy lines Dennis captured the enemy's colours. As he waved at his own troops he shouted out words of encouragement to keep advancing and while waving it about, yelled that ..."Every Bullet is Worth a Cow."

This was no doubt said while remembering the importance of that cow the farmer gave him to feed his family months earlier. 


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This is the Confederate flag of the 31st Mississippi Regiment of Infantry that Dennis captured.

But as Dennis was rallying his New York Infantry unit to keep coming forth, he hollered out the above phrase and was immediately shot dead by the Confederates. He was only 19 or 20 at the time. A southern shot hit the flag pole, bounced up and hit Dennis in the head,  instantly killing him.

For well over 120 years many tried to find where Dennis was buried, without success. But then came along  a fellow named John DuBois.  Several years ago John was a historian for Dennis's old regiment, the 136th New York Infantry. And John was most interested in the Buckley story. It turns out that everywhere Dennis went, so went a fellow name DuBois... John's grandfather, William E DuBois.

And he too was killed at Peach Tree Creek and was thought to be at Dennis's side when the Lindsay youth  was killed.

Years of research finally hit John when he thought of going to the Marietta grave site to look for his relative's grave  and perhaps Dennis's would be close by. Turns out they were right next to each other. The DuBois marker was misspelled, and so was the Buckley grave. And thus the difficulty for over a century in finding both. Two men lost to history for almost 125 years.
 

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Here we see the old grave stone for Buckley. On the left it was incredibly difficult to read. With some careful cleaning up the image on right shows the same grave stone. And now it was readable. But Buckley's name was misspelled and actually read BURKLEY.
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After hearing about a news story regarding the grave being found, I contacted John DuBois. I assisted with making a few calls and aiding his journey to get a new marker and also put him in contact with the Canadian Counsel General office locating in Marietta Georgia, quite close to where the unveiling was to take place. A formal unveiling assisted by many officials including the Canadian government then took place in 2006.
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This is a picture of the Buckley grave at Marietta National Cemetery outside of Atlanta Georgia years later.

I later contacted John DuBois regarding  the story and noted that I had an interest in doing the same for him in Canada... at Lindsay, his home town.

After I wrote an article in the local paper I was stunned to learn that the Victoria County Historical Society, in Lindsay had heard from Lindsay Monument, a firm that makes monuments and that they had offered to make a memorial stone for Buckley at no charge to the Historical Society.

Soon plans came to fruition and a formal unveiling ceremony took place in April 2007. John DuBois and several family members and others from the 136th re-enactors from this NY City regiment, as well as an Ontario group of Civil War re-enactors participated in the service.  Also attending were several dignitaries including from the US Consulate office in Toronto, at my request.

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Here is the new marker in Ontario.  I had not seen it prior to the day that I and John DuBois did the actual unveiling. The monument company did a great job but there are two problems with the marker. To begin with, it looks like an actual burial marker. There  are no remains buried here. And thus the marker really is what is referred to as a Memorial Marker.

It most interesting also noted the quote about the cow, very pertinent to those who know the whole story.

But missed  by me on the day of unveiling was that the firm used an image of an Air Force Medal of Honor. This is quite different than the proper one, being for army service.

I shall make inquiries re the correcting of this... if possible.

If you are ever in Lindsay I think it would be great for you to stop by the Riverside Cemetery. Check out the memorial and reflect on the cost this youth paid to quell the terrible slaughters of the Civil War.

More next Sunday. Hope you will join me then,

Bart

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    Author;
    Bart Armstrong, C.D.,
    Recipient, Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers 

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