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It was wonderful to see England again – a most welcome sight after the bloody continent. Of course I could not see much from the Dakota in which I was flown from Antwerp, and when I arrived I was merely carried in my stretcher to an ambulance.
I feel lucky as hell to be alive with only a bullet wound in my right arm, above the elbow, which partially broke the bone, and a bit of a gash in my right calf where another bullet nicked me. I’ll never forget the day I got it – Friday the 13th. We all thought of the date when we got the orders for the attack. It was a place north of Antwerp where we had been held up for some time. We couldn’t take the town so we were to attempt a left flanking movement along the open country to the west. There was no cover at all and the ground was absolutely flat except for the dykes. Two companies got cut to pieces trying to take their objective in the morning, and so the remaining two companies were sound out in the afternoon. We had lots so support from the artillery, but that’s not good enough when troops are well dug in and especially when a lot of them are paratroopers. I was in the afternoon show and it reminded me of accounts of the last war. We formed up behind a dyke and advanced over the open ground. When we got practically to our objective (600 yards away) the machine guns and mortars became too hot and we began to drop right and left. Somehow a few managed to get the objective. Those of us who were hit lay out in an open field with not cover. Whenever any of the wounded moved the Germans opened up and the stuff was flying all around us. Some of them even crept up another bloody dyke and lobbed hand grenades among us and I could hear German voices distinctly. I thought they were going o polish all of us off as we lay on the ground practically surrounded and pretending to be dead. You couldn’t help any of the wounded because anyone who moved attracted a burst of fire. Those of us who alter got back lay out there for more than two hours until dark and then crawled back. The stretcher bearers were hours until dark and then crawled back. The stretcher bearers were then able to come out. It was a grim day all right for the whole battalion. All the company commanders were casualties and most of the platoon commanders. The strength of the rifle companies couldn’t have averaged more than 30 at most. The battalion seems to have horrible shows periodically and this was one of them. A couple of NCOs who had lived through May-sur-Orne told me that this was just as bad as that. The Canadian Army is running though a hell of a lot of officers and men and all these damned politicians lie who say that reinforcements are adequate and well trained. The truth is – ask anyone who has been up at the front and has not just visited some HQ – that they are poorly trained. The are dragging them into the infantry from everywhere in order to keep us up to strength, and then they can only keep us about 2/3rds up to strength by hardly ever giving the lads at the front a rest.

Letter from 18 October 1944 from Lt.Col Bruce Ritchie to Col. P.P. Hutchison

Dear Col Hutchison,

….Your initial paragraph (last paragraph) pretty well hit our troubles right on the head, coupled with the fact that training time, although promised has never been forthcoming since first St. Andre.
This produced an effect which was bound to become cumulative, and I’m sorry to say still persists.
It was only after having myself paraded (before breakfast on the morning I took over) that I managed to get forty-eight hours. It thought had the thing edge of the wedge, but hat was all it was.
At the end of last month we had two very successful attacks on St. Leonard and Brecht. Considering the numbers we were up against, out prisoners and the lot of dead Jerries (especially at St. Leonard) in was a very creditable showing and the casualties though considerable, were not excessive. I did feel we were in for a rest as contact had been very close subsequently, and the shelling and mortaring heavy and continual. Morale was very good.
Our rest never materialized and the same old story started all over again. It’s a case of running on the very best we have, strained to the limit.
Bill Ewing, Torchy Slater, Pinkham and Ian Louson led the Companies in the St. Leonard show, and Popham in lieu of Louson (who was hit) in the Brecht show. They were perfectly magnificent and carried out every job in their Company from commander to sniper. Such continued courage and bravery is almost unbelievable.
At St. Leonard, Selby Steward did a fine job with the Carriers in relieving a sticky situation, and Race Chapman stepped into the breach for Ian until Jimmy Popham was got up….
Our present Coy Comds are Bob MacDuff, Gordon Bourne, Pinkham, and Ted Price, with Don Menzies guiding Support and Powers still looking after HQ. Bill Ewing should be back soon and we hope Val and possibly John Donald will be sent up to us. Bob MacDuff’s arrival was an extremely pleasant surprise.

Letter to the Commandant (Col. P.P. Hutchison) dated August 7, 1944 from Capt Robert Pilot, HQ 1st Canadian Corps. Italy

Yesterday I received with very great pleasure the second copy of the BW bulletin. I thought you would not find it amiss if I wrote and told you how very interesting I found it and also give you some news from this theatre. I am afraid though my news may be a bit outmoded as five weeks ago whilst on my way to Eighth Army I fell sick and spent 3 weeks in a hospital in Rome. Now I am on my third week at the Convalescent Camp at Salerno and after another week at Amfli on rest I’ll rejoin my HW and get back to my old job. I was in 5 Cdn Gen Hospital in Rome, a very well run hospital with complete staff pleasant and friendly. There were a great many German wounded there – about half the patients – left when the Hun pulled back and others were constantly coming in fro the Northern Front. Quite a staff of orderlies and doctors were left too and seem to work out very efficiently. Rather curious to have a Hun bring in your breakfast porridge….My sickness was of no great importance – needed rest and sleep more than anything.
In this depot we are in an ex-Fascist school – the balcony from which I write is immediately over the beach and the surf lazily plays on the beach as it makes a white fringe of sand to the constantly calm and blue Mediterranean. We are in Salerno bay and the beach stretches for miles. The days we have to ourselves to bathe or sun bathe in and laze away the easy going hours. A pleasant life – except that we are routed out of bed at dawn which time is the only cool sleeping item of the 24 hours….
I would not be human if I did not say I long to get home. A wish, judging by the fast moving pictures of current events, seems not far from realization. Everyone here of course is in a ferment with all the accumulating military news, so completely a reversal of things of even a few months ago. It would not surprise me to see the European war fold up inside two months of even less. The Hun prisoners have even admitted that they’ve lost the show. Something that frightens me is the attitude of so many of them who say quite frankly “sure we’ve lost this war but we’ll make certain about the next one”. I only hope that the peace will be realistic and that they get no chance again. I’d hate to think that in another twenty years all this frightful stupidity could be recommenced and that our sons will be involved. It seems a paradox that so much of human goodness – sometimes hidden until then – should emerge only in war, the last and greatest of all human follies.
I moralize, so perhaps I better draw this rather rambling letter to an end.

Letter dated August 15 1944 from Capt J.P. Taylor RHC to Lt. Col. D.H. Taylor

To begin with, I might say that you need never be ashamed of having belonged to the Black Watch. Our first battle was a river-crossing from Caen to Vaucelles which we attacked and took in daylight. There were no rest periods from then on, and battle after battle followed in quick succession. We tool our casualties back, and reinforcements came forward to fill gaps which at times were quite sizeable, c’est la Guerre. My company reacted superbly and, if I may be dramatic for a moment, say that never have I felt the thrill of battle so deeply or been so proud and full of confidence as when I crossed the start line at the head of that happy, clean-cut bunch of kids (average age 21). All my advice and hate – talks had their effect; after consolidation it was really incredible how few prisoners we sent back. Might say here that we were nearly always opposite the 1st or (12th) SS Divisions. They are the original ‘Hitler Jugend” or youth movement, and run from 14 to 20 years old’ and a more fanatical, sneaky, sulky bunch of bastards I’ll never again meet. They knew every dirty trick and used them all, so we took bloody good care never to be on the receiving end of their treachery.
Our sixth battle came on July 25th, a rather fateful day for the battalion. Zero (hour) was at 0330hrs and the idea was to take three villages, all of which were strongly held. Our friends from the West had trouble with the first, so we bypassed to be on time. At our start line, which we found to be part of a Jerry position, it was then about 0500hrs, the C.O. came forward to Recce, and was hit by a machine gun. Motzfeldt was also badly hit, so Phil Griffin took over the battalion. We had a quick O Group. Fixed a new startline and took the first village; and I’m delighted to say we killed a Hell of a lot of Germans in doing so.
By 800hrs, we were in solid, so got organized for phase 2, the second village, and started off across country at 0900hrs to attack it. By then the Jerries were thoroughly awake as to what was going on, and from the start we had trouble from very heavy machine-gunning from the flanks, mortars and arty fire. The troops were steady as a rock and we kept going. I was the left forward Company and on my right was B Company then commanded by Sgt. Foam, all the officers having been knocked out. We over-ran two strong points, then got hit so can’t be accurate as to the rest of the story, but I understand they got the objective.
Then the Jerries counter-attacked on a Divisional front supported by tanks and cut them off, which was easy to do, as they were way out on a salient. Well, there were only stragglers (who) got back. We hope there are prisoners and have reason to believe there are some wounded in German hands. So ends my story, and I guess you know about those who were killed. The news about Ronnie Bennett and Ted Neill rather shook me. All the others, except Frank Mitchell have been wounded.

Letter dated November 20 1944 to Lt Col. W.E. MacFarlane M.C. from Lt. Maurice Berry, M.C. 1 Royal Regiment

We were on the dykes when the RHC put in their ill-fated attack in October 13th. I missed seeing them then and it was sad to learn later of their losses. It was a peculiar kind of war there and none of us were sorry to leave. The Jerries always seemed to be on a higher dyke than we were, with nothing but muddy fields and water to cross to get at him. He also switched this troops about so that something they’d be poor quality and sometimes hard fighters. My Coy captured the German strong points covering the causeway from South Beveland to Walcheren Island. We did the job at night, a there was so little cover for a day attack, and we wanted to cut his escape route to Walcheren. My Platoon was in the lead and we cut through four double apron fences and captured their outposts with hardly a shot fired. Fortunately we gobbled up their first MG Post with the crew fast asleep, my gang missed them and the second one dug them out. When we hit their main defenses they met us with grenades and small arms fire and it looked grim for a time. Somehow they’d left their left flank uncovered, so I got my lads in behind them and we bombed and shot our way right into their position. At this time they either quit or went underground and from then on we had it easy. We took about 70 prisoners in the night and in the morning well over a hundred came in from surrounding farms and woods and gave themselves up. In the morning some of them still on the causeway formed up to counterattack but our Arty drove them off before they could do us any damage.
About noon the next day the RHC passed through our position and began exploiting up the causeway. The leading platoon was John Ballies’ and he took them in grand style. The Germans, of course, had the whole place taped and they simply plastered it with shells, mortar bombs and MG fire. They even put the odd AP shot down the road and very unpleasant it sounded when it bounced off the road and went shirring over our heads. They do this for its demoralizing effect, but it never checked the BW. Our boys were very impressed with the way the first two Coys went through, and it made me proud that I had once worn the Hackle. Gordie Bourne was hit just outside my trench and one of my Corporals and myself reached him first and bandaged him. In spite of having both wrists slashed and wounds in his upper arm and things, he managed to get his blouse off and trousers down do we could patch him up. He had plenty of guys and refused to let me get a stretcher bearer. We had a steep bank to climb to get him under cover and he ran up it unaided with night on but his shirt and underwear. We got him into a deep shelter and turned him over to your people. Bob MacDuff moved his Coy HQ into my shelter and it was strange to meet him there. The last time I’d seen him was in England when he was leaving for Canada and on the Staff Course. I also saw Beau Lewis for the first time since I’d left him in England early in July….
We are all hoping this business will soon be over and it does look promising at the moment. I do not know what we’ll be doing for Christmas cards over here, so I’ll take this chance to wish you the Season’s Greetings.

Letter dated April 3, 1945 from Maj. R. J. Gelston to Col. PP. Hutchison

We have been very busy crossing a river as you will know and have not had much time to write. I can tell you a little about it now. I command “B” Company and have since before the great battles of the Reichwald Forest and that are took place. I was all though that whole show up the Rhine, then as you know the 51st (Highland Division) were the Assault Div., and I was one of the Assault companies landing first and tool the first objective on this side of the Rhine at H + 121/2 minut4es….I’m very proud to say my company was leading, about 2 hours alter I went inland and took a second objective having taken about 60 prisoners. I then dug in and consolidated and at first light Jerry threw in a counter attack. It was fast and furious for a while, we gave them quite a beating when I finished up I had either killed, wounded or taken prisoner the whole Company, a total bout 80 against my 2 killed, 2 wounded. I was holding the left flank of the bridgehead and everyone including the GOC were very happy about it. The GOC General Rennie was killed about 3 hours later. I had many successful shows in the first 24hrs and for the following 4 days things went very well.
I have to pinch myself every now and again. I’m so proud to command a Company in this Wonderful Battalion and Division. I’m enjoying myself thoroughly never been happier. I’m now Senior Company Commander in the Battalion, not because I am good, because I am alive! But I have managed to do well in my battles so far and only hope I can continue.
..Things are going very well here and we should all be home soon. Victory is certainly in sight this time, and the “Jocks” have all got their tails up and in wonderful fighting form as Monty says for the last round.

Outline Report on Battle May-sur-Orne – Fontenay le-Marmion 25 July 1944 by
Brigadier W. H. Megill
Commander, 5th Cdn Infantry Bde
16 August 1944

The Plan:
Phase I: Calgary Highlanders to attack and capture May-sur-Orne
Timing: Cross Start Line first light minus 2 hours and have completed initial consolidation by first light
Start Line main East-West road through May-sur-Orne East of the town itself I.E. to by-pass the town and snot become involved in it
Phase II: RHC to cross Start Line (same one ) at first light move clear of May-sure-Orne (East of it) capture Fontenay Le Marmion to be supported by 6 Cdn Armored Regiment
Movement to RHC from Start Line to check line, road running East north East of May-sur-Orne, to be continuous, i.e. Battalion would be formed up behind Start Line and if possible move straight through to Fontenay-Le- Marmion with just a slight pause on the check line. Support for Phase I and Phase II a series of concs on known enemy localities. Camerons of Canada to secure the Start Line by mopping up St. Martin De Fontenay, Camerons of Canada before the action being in occupation of St. Andre-sur-Orne only.

Action:
Phase I:
Calgary Highlanders crossed the Start Line on time but moved forward of right forward company was interfered with by fire from St. Martin De Fontenay which had not been completely mopped up.
The left forward Company, however, reported being on its objective at 0630hrs and a second company reported being immediately North of May-sur-Orne. It is doubtful if in fact the company was where it reported itself as being, though during the morning several members of the Battalion including Battalion Sigs were forward to the main crossroads of May-sure-Orne and Battalion cable was laid to within 200x of the Xrds.

Phase II
RHC moved forward to their Start Line on time. However, for some unknown reason Lt.Col. Cantlie changed the plan for forming up and decided to move the Battalion straight through the main North/South re St. Andre-sur-Orne and move from there using the check line (previously referred to) at May-sur-Orne as a Battalion timing line. During the advance to the FUP Lt-Col Cantlie was mortally wounded and command of the battalion devolved initially on the nearest Company commander, Capt Taylor and then on the next senior officers of the Battalion, Major Griffin.
The Battalion moved to its FUT south of St. Andre-sur-Orne, “F” ech troops being dispersed in the open field immediately North of the town on the West of the main road.
During the move up and during the forming up the Battalion was under heavy mortar fire and shelling, a considerable number of causalities were suffered. During the move through to the FRUP they had still to contend with snipers and the Battalion was not actually formed up in the forward area until 0600hrs. There had been considerable disorganization due to the heavy shelling and Major Griffin did not want to launch the Battalion until he could reorganize it. To do that a new fire plan had to be made and Major Griffin succeeded getting anew fire plan (really a repetition of the initial one), got in touch with the tank squadron commander and set the time for the move forward from the FUP at 0930hrs expecting to cross the check line east of May-sur-Orne at 0950hrs
The Battalion moved forward on time as planned, all four companies moving at once, too. They were last seen moving over the ridge towards their objective under control. This was reported by the Scout Sgt of the RHC.
There was a strong enemy position behind the ride and it appears that the Battalion was allowed to get right over and in to the position when they were fired on from all sides. The advance was evidently pressed on steadily in spite of the fire since I understand that bodies of many soldiers killed during the battle were found spaced in groups of two or three several paces apart. The last report to come from the Battalion was brought back by a Scout at approx 1400hrs. He stated that Major Griffin had decided to would be necessary to withdraw the Battalion and had organized a conveying party to do so. None of the Battalion did in fact succeed in disengaging.
There is a report that the Battalion, after being pinned by the heavy fire tried to disengage but exhausted its ammunition supply before being able to do so. Once the enemy had determined the exact direction of the attack, movement to and from the trapped Battalion was impossible due to heavy mortar and MG fire. The scout who came back with the report took one hour to get from the ridge back to St. Andre-sur-Orne.
Several attempts to establish contact by runner were made but all failed.
The action of the tanks in the battle is obscure. They did not advance up to the ridge but were working North in the vicinity of May-sur-Orne. A detailed report of their action will be required to clarify their story.

BWA Letter from Lt-Col A.W. Wright to Col. Paul P. Hutchison March 1st 1945 (Farnham Que)

I have had a very interesting talk with D-81864, Pte Kean, R.E. who today arrived in this Training Centre on completion of his 30 day disembarkation leave. Pte Kean was an original member of our 1st Battalion having been employed as a sniper Corporal with the Intelligence section and in various capacities with the Support company. He was one of Phil griffin’s runners during the Normandy show and lasted until September when he was wounded near Dieppe. I remember him as a pretty steady chap and a good soldier.
He tells a very clear story of what happened to the Battalion when they sustained their heaviest casualties particularly the action when the Battalion plugged the gap in the line left by the Essex Scottish and what happened when the Battalion attacked to restore the line. He says that all the men were fully expecting that Stuart Cantlie and George Fraser would be decorated for their very gallant part in this show and cannot understand why they were not. He claims the he knows that written reports were sent in by eye witnesses the next day but he, of course, has no idea as to the destination of these reports.
He also stated that in the opinion of everyone concerned who survived the May-sur-Orne show that Phil Griffin’s actions had earned the V.C. and that everybody expected that a posthumous award would be made. He says that in the Training Battalion, now commanded by Jim Weir in England, two chaps who were with Phil griffin and who were in Hospital in Rennes when the Americans overran that Town, have the whole story at their fingertips and cannot understand why nothing has been done about it.
I am pointing this out because this whole question was being discussed the last time I was in the Armory when everybody felt that all these stories (which are continually being added to) should be fitted together, and some action should be taken to reopen or to build up a case for some worth-while recognition of the Battalion’s heroism in Normandy.
I am sure we all feel that something slipped up at that time and that a review of the facts will warrant some steps being taken to get official recognition for some of our gallant lads.