Fallen Comrades (retired members)

[Edward Campbell]

From today's Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050803.wsmokey03/BNStory/National/

Ernest (Smoky) Smith, 91

Ernest (Smoky) Smith, who was the last surviving Canadian Victoria Cross recipient, died Wednesday. He was 91.

Mr. Smith, a Second World War veteran in the Italian campaign, was a private with the Seaforth Highlanders in northern Italy when he almost single-handedly held off three German tanks, two self-propelled guns and 30 German soldiers on a rain-soaked night in October of 1944.

According to the citation for the Victoria Cross, the situation was virtually hopeless when the young soldier showed amazing gallantry in fighting off the enemy with a PIAT, a bazooka-like antitank gun.

Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson remembered Mr. Smith as a wonderful friend.
â Å“ Every Remembrance Day, he came for tea (and Scotch!) and was a vivid reminder of our country's heroism in World War II,â ? she said in a statement.

â Å“Like many others who serve our country, he took his place alongside his fellow comrades at arms to fight for freedom. It was a daunting task, but he did it like his comrades without fanfare, without hesitation, with great pride and determination.â ?

Mr. Smith was 25 when he joined the Highlanders in 1940 in his native Vancouver. He had worked as a driver, a bricklayer before he signed up. He was shipped off to Britain and finally saw action in 1943 in southern Italy.

There, he was struck in the chest by shrapnel on the flanks of Mount Etna. Three months later, his chest still bandaged, he was back on the march with his unit.

He was one of the few privates to win the award, and he retained the ordinary soldier's disdain for the officer corps.

After a few years of civilian life, he decided to sign up again to fight in Korea. He then stayed in the armed forces until he retired as a sergeant at the age of 50. Then he started a new career as a travel agent, working alongside his wife. He retired again when he was 82.

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

so long smokey, been interesting reading about you over the years. A true Canadian Hero, we need Canadian Heroes and need them now. Who is next to step up?

 

[armywoman]

Canada.com has an amazing story on Smokey.

His death is certainly a great loss.  I remember when I first joined. My first Remembrance Day I went to Billy Bishops and to Seaforth.  Smokey spent alot of time chatting up the ladies.  I even got a pinch on the bottom, saucy devil!!!!  
The funeral arrangements are in full gear.  This is going to be a military gathering such as the tree huggin Vancouverites have never seen before!!

(P.S I am one of the tree huggers so that is not meant in a rude way)

 

[Gunnar]

I'd love to be remembered like this crazy SOB!  One of ours, and a VC to boot!

=========
By Pat McAdam


Ernest "Smokey" Smith was the last living Canadian to wear the Victoria Cross. Sixteen Canadians won a VC during WWII. Smokey was the only private soldier.

He went through war and life "raising hell." Smokey did for good order and discipline what Don Cherry does for grammar and diction. He was promoted to corporal nine times and "busted" back to private nine times. It was fortuitous he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He couldn't win a Good Conduct Medal if he lived to be 150.

Smokey was built like a fire-plug, short, stocky, barrel chested, muscular and powerful. He didn't go looking for fights but he never backed away from one. He didn't look for trouble. Trouble looked for him. He was like Joe Bfstplk in L'il Abner. Joe Bfstplk walked about with his own personal black rain cloud over his head.

Smokey got to Europe the hard way - as a Seaforth Highlander hitting a beach on Sicily. He was seriously wounded and not expected to live when fragments from a rifle grenade hit him.

He recovered, fought his way up the boot of Italy and survived Ortona and the Hitler Line battles.

He won his VC the night of October 21-22, 1944, "raising hell" against a German mechanized unit.

Smokey and two Highlanders were sent ahead across the Savio River to establish a beachhead. During a torrential rainstorm the river level rose six feet in a few hours. They were cut off.

They found themselves facing three Mk V Panther tanks, two self-propelled guns and 30 German infantry soldiers. At point-blank range, 30-feet from his target, Smokey fired a PIAT rocket and took out a tank.

Shielded injured comrade

He mowed down advancing German soldiers with a Tommy gun and then destroyed a second tank and both self-propelled guns, all the while shielding a badly wounded comrade.

He fired every weapon he could lay his hands on.

"I was firing PIATs from the hip."

Smokey told me the Germans thought they were up against at least a platoon. The surviving Germans retreated.

In December 1944, Smokey was told to pack his kit. He was going to Naples. When he arrived in Naples he was locked in the guardhouse. He would not be allowed on the loose to sample the juices of local vineyards.

He was told he was going to receive the Victoria Cross from King George VI at Buckingham Palace.

When he arrived in London he was locked up again until shortly before the ceremony. There would be no English pub crawl.

After the war, the City of New Westminster established an annuity for him and he started up a travel agency.

Retired Ottawa travel agent, Ray Sally, met Smokey in the 1960s. They were on a British Airways, all expenses paid, 30-day familiarization junket to Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. Ray recalls that, before departure, BA hosted a farewell cocktail party in a Los Angeles hotel suite.

"I overheard one lady say to another: 'I'm really looking forward to this trip now that that horrible Mr. Smith won't be with us.'

"I was curious so I asked who Mr. Smith was and where he was. She told me he was passed out in one of the bedrooms of the suite. So, I woke him up, got him on the plane and we've been fast friends ever since."

The pair cut a wide swath on the "fam."

"One night, BA hosted a dinner/dance and after dinner the band struck up a conga tune. We all got out on the floor and the next thing I heard was a lady saying to her husband 'do you know what that horrible man just did?'

"Smokey was in the conga line and maybe his hands slipped down a little from the lady's waist. The next thing we knew we were on our asses outside.

"When the German manager of a night club attempted to curb his boisterous conduct, Smokey told him what he had done to 30 Germans in World War II: 'You'd take me all of 10 seconds.' "

Smokey took delight wearing the maroon VC ribbon. All ranks, from field marshal down, are required to salute the medal. If Smokey saw a pair of red collar tabs across a parade square he'd walk hundreds of yards out of his way to intercept the officer. If the officer didn't salute, Smokey would tap the ribbon with his finger until the officer got the message.

He brought a firestorm down on his head during a Royal visit. Queen Elizabeth noticed his miniature VC and paused to speak. Afterwards, he was scrummed by media and asked if he was nervous when the Queen spoke to him.

Smokey replied:

"Naw, when you've met one you've met them all."

Monarchists went ape

That was the banner headline in the next day's newspapers. West Coast monarchists went ape. Broadcaster Jack Webster pulled Smokey's chestnuts out of the fire on his radio show: "You didn't say that, did you, Smokey? You must have been misquoted."

Smokey agreed.

He was invited to attend a mess dinner to sit at a head table with Lt. Col. Cecil Merritt, another VC winner. Smokey's reply was: "You have a portrait of Cece Merritt hanging over your bar. Put my picture up alongside his and I'll come."

"But, Smith, you are only a private. This is an officers' mess."

"Makes no difference. If you don't put my picture up I'm not coming."

The picture went up.

In the early 1970s, Smokey and I linked up for three days in London where he was attending a VC reunion. I had met him through Ray Sally in Ottawa a week earlier when the three of us put a fair dent in a keg of cold draft at Sammy Koffman's Belle Claire Hotel one Saturday afternoon. I was just off the plane from Canada and checking in at the Kingsley Hotel in Bloomsbury Way when the desk clerk said:

"There's a call for you."

It was Smokey. He was on his way over. For the next three days we terrorized High Holborn, Piccadilly and Mayfair. The man had the constitution of a canal horse and refused to accept there was such a medical condition as a hangover.

We came back to the Kingsley from a ceremony at St. Martin-in-the-fields Church one noon and repaired to the saloon bar. Smokey was wearing his miniatures. A well dressed Brit approached, excused himself for interrupting and asked: "Is that the 'effing' Victoria Cross?"

Smokey allowed that it "effing" well was and, from that moment on, we couldn't buy another drink. The Dom Perignon flowed until closing time. I have no recollection of being put to bed. The next morning my stomach was returning drop kicks to my head and there was Smokey -- tucking into a full cooked English breakfast.

That evening I went to the Cafe Royale on Piccadilly to help Smokey make an early getaway from a stuffy dinner. Princess Anne was at the head table and Smokey was sitting next to her.

Before I could tell him I had a (phoney) "urgent message" for him, he turned to the Princess Royal and asked: "Your Highness, have you met Pat MacAdam from Glace Bay?"

The Princess looked as if she had been struck between the eyes with an axe handle. She hadn't the foggiest idea who I was and I am sure she didn't know what a Glace Bay was.

Smokey left with me and off we went into the night looking for new territories to conquer. Somewhere along the route we linked up with an off-duty bobby, a Soho publican and a retired British Army major whose service in India was guarding a maharajah's tigers.

Woken by pounding

I was awakened next morning by pounding. I hoped it wasn't my head. It was my hotel room door. There, booted and spurred in full uniform, was our bobby friend. He was carrying a couple of cold cans of best bitter. There is a Santa Claus.

Smokey never entered a bar; he stormed it. But he was a warm human being, always entertaining and always fun to be with. There was never a dull moment travelling with Smokey Smith.

I know the pain those unfortunate Germans must have felt that night in Italy.

 

[RangerRay]

Great story, Gunnar! 

Do you have a link?

Smokey will be missed.

 

[Roy Harding]

A lot of you fella's are very lucky to know these things about your grandparents, or your CO's.

My grandfather died at the age of 84 in 2003. He joined at the age of 20, in 1939, as an armoured soldier(tanks... forgive me please, i don't know much of this military lingo), he was a young LT. who served in the army until the age of 45. Trained young recruits while deployed in england in the early parts of the war, fought in normandy, belgium, and holland. Lost half of his right sholder, and chunks of his skull when a grenade went off under his tank. In 1945 he decided to stay in the army. I don't know if he volunteered for the south pacific campaign, or if he was even able to, i doubt he would have, he had enough of death. After the war, he had my family tromping around europe while he was constantly redeployed, later to send his wife and son to quebec, while he was stationed in india. After his retirement from the military, he served as a proud member for the faculty of law at the University of british columbia, where he spent the next 20 years. Retired for what he thought was good, got bored basically, and became a marriage commissioner.

My grandfather never told anyone about his experiences in the army, or during the war until he was diagnosed with Cancer in 2002, but decided it was a good idea to give his 8 grandchildren an idea of what he did. He never wore his uniform on rememberance day, he never bragged about any medals he may have, he was simpley proud of who he was. He was a well respected man, as hundreds attended his funeral. He died of cancer early in the morning with his relatives around him, do to Cancer.

Anyways, i thought i would just add this, hoping someone would take some time to read it, there are a lot of great stories here.

Currently i am looking for his military service records, but i have had no luck. Hopefully someone here can help me out. All i know about his time in the army, was that he commanded, or drove a tank nicknamed BOMB or BOMBtank.

Tynan
tmg123@hotmail.com

Tynan:

The story of your Grandfather is typical - great men made greater by their humbleness.

As far as getting more information, try the Department of Veteran's Affairs, the more information you have (Regimental Number, Unit, etcetera, etcetera) the better off you'll be.

Their website can be found here:  www.vac-acc.gc.ca

Good luck and Godspeed.  It's men like your Grandfather that not only defended this country's way of life, but showed those of us who followed in their footsteps how it's done.

 

[1feral1]

I had been thinking of doing this for some time now. I knew every single one of these men listed below, and as one grows older, sadly the list grows even more. For those that knew these men, think of them with a smile today.



Hon COL (RRR) 'MAJ' Don Scott-Calder, 28th Battalion CEF, d.1983
LTCOL J. O'Kane, 10 Fd RCA, d.2003
MAJ D.J. Hendrickson, RRR, d.1985
MAJ F. MacCallion, RRR, d.2001
MAJ D.G. Ritchie, SaskD, d.1997
CAPT R. Cameron, 155 RRR RCACC, d.2003
CAPT G. Nagy, RRR, d.2001
MWO Les Lidgett, 16 Svc Bn Det, d.1981
MWO R. Sinclair, RRR, d.2005
WO B. Binnie, Sask DISTHQ, d.1989
WO L. Hartenburger, RRR, d.1990
SGT T. Champion, 16 Svc Bn, d.1983
SGT Bob Jarvis, 10 Fd RCA, d.1977
MBDR Tadpole Taylor, 10 Fd RCA, d.1996
MCPL H. Lundy 16 MP PL, d.1983
CPL Festus MacDonald, SaskD, d.1999
CPL Billy Neil, NSaskR, d.1990
CPL I. Routledge, RRR, d.1986
CPL Woulfe, 16 Svc Bn Det, d.1993
RFN M. Appleton, RRR, 1977



A quote from the Canadian Army's 'Young Soldier's Manual, dated 1942,"Sons of the Empire, forget it not, for there are such things as love, honour and the soul of man which cannot be bought or die with death"

For they have gone to the last reunion, and they'll be waiting in the Mess with a cold beer for the rest of us when its our turn.


Stand easy Mates,

Wes

 

[Spr.Earl]

Wes,
I have never sat down and thought of how many I have known in my 29yrs who have passed.
I'll sit down and write my list.

As to WO B. Binnie, Sask DISTHQ, d.1989,did he have a brother by the name of Dwyane?

 

[1feral1]

I don't know Nick. Bruce was truly a real character both in and out of the RGSM. He was liked and respected by all who knew him. He was the CCLK/UCC of 16 Svvc Bn before going up th DISTHQ's BOR.  Sadly he lost a lengthy battle to cancer, and this shocked us all, as we thought he had it beat. Truly a good man.

I have the same list on my website, and I hear of the post 1995 passings thur the INet with friends back in dear ole Canada. After now over 10 yrs in the ADF, I have started a similar thread (on the L1A1 Armourer) of the same thing, and it too is growing.

Our Armies are a small world, and I am sure someone on here will recognise a name or two.

Cheers,

Wes

 

[Gunnar]

It was one of the Sun papers, a couple of days ago.  I found it on SOMNIA, so it's probably still there....

Here we go...Ottawa Sun:

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/Columnists/MacAdam_Pat/2005/08/04/pf-1158605.html

 

[Gunner]

MBDR Tadpole Taylor, 10 Fd RCA, d.1996

Wes, a few of those names were certainly recognizable, particularly Tadpole, who was my instructor on my drivers course in 1986 in Shilo.  I am sorry to hear that he passed away so many years ago as he certainly made an impression on me and will forever be a "legend".

Cheers

 

[1feral1]

Remember that 'guitar playing frog' tatt he had on his forearm? He too was a colourful man. After he retired from the Army, he worked for the Commissionaires. His Son joined the Militia not long after Tad was posted to Regina, and was a MBDR when I left in 95.

 

[Roy Harding]

I had been thinking of doing this for some time now. I knew every single one of these men listed below, and as one grows older, sadly the list grows even more. For those that knew these men, think of them with a smile today.



Hon COL (RRR) 'MAJ' Don Scott-Calder, 28th Battalion CEF, d.1983
LTCOL J. O'Kane, 10 Fd RCA, d.2003
MAJ D.J. Hendrickson, RRR, d.1985
MAJ F. MacCallion, RRR, d.2001
MAJ D.G. Ritchie, SaskD, d.1997
CAPT R. Cameron, 155 RRR RCACC, d.2003
CAPT G. Nagy, RRR, d.2001
MWO Les Lidgett, 16 Svc Bn Det, d.1981
MWO R. Sinclair, RRR, d.2005
WO B. Binnie, Sask DISTHQ, d.1989
WO L. Hartenburger, RRR, d.1990
SGT T. Champion, 16 Svc Bn, d.1983
SGT Bob Jarvis, 10 Fd RCA, d.1977
MBDR Tadpole Taylor, 10 Fd RCA, d.1996
MCPL H. Lundy 16 MP PL, d.1983
CPL Festus MacDonald, SaskD, d.1999
CPL Billy Neil, NSaskR, d.1990
CPL I. Routledge, RRR, d.1986
CPL Woulfe, 16 Svc Bn Det, d.1993
RFN M. Appleton, RRR, 1977



A quote from the Canadian Army's 'Young Soldier's Manual, dated 1942,"Sons of the Empire, forget it not, for there are such things as love, honour and the soul of man which cannot be bought or die with death"

For they have gone to the last reunion, and they'll be waiting in the Mess with a cold beer for the rest of us when its our turn.


Stand easy Mates,

Wes

Wesley - that's fantastic.  I, too have a list that I reluctantly add to upon occasion.  Mine only includes those I've known who have died or been wounded "in service", and those in some way related to me - your list has given me reason to reconsider this proviso.  I send it to my friends and relatives on Remembrance Day every year.  Following is my email from last 11 November.

QUOTE

I will remember them:

These Canadian warriors who died on operations I remember personally, having either served with them, or being involved in repatriating their remains:

Sgt Cornelius M. RALPH - Croatia '92
MCpl Mark R. ISFELD  - Croatia '94
Cpl Daniel GUNTHER - Croatia '93
Pte Kirk D. COOPER  - Croatia '94
MCpl Terrence S. McCREA - Croatia '94
Sgt. Marc LEGER - Afghanistan '02
Cpl. Ainsworth DYER - Afghanistan '02
Pte. Richard GREEN - Afghanistan '02
Pte. Nathan SMITH - Afghanistan '02

These Canadian warriors who were wounded on operations I remember personally, having served with them:

Lt Anderson - Croatia '94
Pte Lunney - Croatia '94
Sgt Lorne Ford - Afghanistan '02
Cpl René Paquet - Afghanistan '02
MCpl Curtis Hollister - Afghanistan '02
Cpl Brett Perry - Afghanistan '02
Pte Norman Link  - Afghanistan '02
Cpl Shane Brennan - Afghanistan '02
MCpl Stanley Clark - Afghanistan '02
Cpl Brian Decaire - Afghanistan '02

These Canadian warriors with whom I served who died as a result of peace-time accidents:

MCpl John MacKinnon - Alaska '88 (thanks for taking my place on that Herc, John)
MCpl Marc McCRAE - Cyprus '86

These veteran warriors, who have gone to their reward, to whom I am related:

Pte Frederick Collins - The Great War 1914 - 1918 - The Royal Irish Rifles (My Grampa)
Pte Herbert Collins - The Great War 1914 - 1918 - The Royal Irish Rifles (My Great Uncle)
MWO John Martin - Cyprus '74 (My Father-In-Law)

God bless 'em all -

UNQUOTE


Edit:  grammar.

 

[bossi]

A truly remarkable RCAF vet:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1124920225306&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

Pashby changed the face of the game

Players blinded in 1974 season â ” before his efforts to make masks mandatory in minor hockey: 43. By the 1978 season: 0

Glen Colbourn and Lois Kalchman, Sports reporters (The Star)

When Dr. Tom Pashby began searching for hockey helmets for his sons in 1959, he found only flimsy shells better suited for use as fruit bowls than safety equipment.

Pashby devoted the next 46 years of his life to making helmets stronger and face protection mandatory in Canada and around the world. In doing so, he quite literally changed the face of hockey.

Pashby, the game's foremost safety pioneer for the last half-century, died at his Leaside home yesterday surrounded by his family. He was 90.

"Thousands of kids have been saved from serious injuries because of him," said Frank Selke Jr., a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee and a long-time friend of Pashby.

"Unfortunately the masses don't know how much work this man has done and that is the tragedy."

Pashby's labours haven't gone completely without recognition. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1981 and inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2000, among two dozen national and international awards.

An ophthalmologist, Pashby launched his crusade to prevent catastrophic injuries in sports after his eldest son Bill suffered a concussion while playing in a Leaside house league game in 1959. Bill smacked his bare head on the ice and was rushed to the Hospital for Sick Children.

"He took what was potentially a very dangerous incident involving me and as a result has saved many other young people from waking up in an ambulance like I did," Bill Pashby told the Star. "It was scary."

The elder Pashby already knew about the seriousness of concussions, having suffered one as a high school football player.

"I was out like a light. I don't remember any pain," Pashby recalled last month. "I do remember going to East General Hospital. I said I was all right, got out of the car, went to walk and fell flat on my face."

After Bill Pashby's injury, the senior Pashby forbade his two sons â ” Bill, 13, and Bob, 11 â ” from playing hockey again without a helmet. It was a hard rule to enforce.

"All I could find were these crazy things made out of cardboard," Pashby told the Star in 1983. "There was a lot of junk out there."

So Pashby, a consulting physician with the Maple Leafs, got forward Bert Olmstead to help him import a polycarbonate helmet from Sweden.

"They called Bob `Caesar' the first time he wore it, but the other parents caught the fever after that game," Pashby said.

That's believed to be the first time a player wore a helmet in the Toronto Hockey League (now the Greater Toronto Hockey League) and Bob Pashby's original "white eggshell" headgear has gone to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

But even the early Swedish helmets were unsatisfactory to Pashby, who began seeking ways of testing and improving them.

"The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association said if I would set a standard they would make (helmet use) mandatory," he recalled this summer. "And so I did."

That was the beginning of a long second career as a hockey safety innovator â ” "a hobby that blew up into a big job," Pashby said when he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1975, Pashby was named chair of the Canadian Standards Association committee that approved hockey and box lacrosse equipment, a position he held for two decades. His influence was felt almost immediately. In 1976, the CAHA ordered that all amateur players wear CSA-certified helmets. In 1979, the NHL made helmets mandatory for incoming players.

Pashby also pioneered the development of visors and wire facemasks. He took great pride in the number of blindings they prevented.

In the 1974-75 season, before facemasks were mandatory in minor hockey, the number of players who suffered a permanently blinded eye in Canada was 43. By 1978, the number among players using CSA-certified, full-face protection was zero.

"He affected a lot of people," said Murray Costello, who, as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, worked with Pashby for three decades.

"You knew he was right in what he said."

Pashby continued his crusade for safer hockey until his last days. He used Vancouver Canucks' forward Todd Bertuzzi's attack on Colorado's Steve Moore in 2004 to call on the NHL to ban all hits to the head. The International Ice Hockey Federation, USA Hockey and Hockey Canada had already adopted such a rule â ” at Pashby's behest.

Over the years, he also pushed to ban unsafe moulded goalie masks, introduce neck protection and disallow hitting from behind to reduce spinal injuries. He set up the charitable Dr. Tom Pashby Sports Safety Fund, which has raised approximately $600,000 for research and education and annually confers a $10,000 award for outstanding contributions to preventing catastrophic injuries in sport.

"He has had phenomenal impact on amateur hockey," said GTHL president John Gardner.

That impact is evident in Pashby's personal collection of hockey safety gear, which shows the development of facemasks and helmets through the decades. Earlier this year, the Hockey Hall of Fame selected 50 items from the collection for the Hall.

Pashby was born into a family of butchers in east-end Toronto in 1915. He grew up in the Danforth and Pape area and graduated from University of Toronto's medical school in 1940. He married high school sweetheart Helen Christie in 1941 just 10 days before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force. In the military, he conducted eye tests on would-be pilots, bombardiers and tail-gunners and became interested in ophthalmology.

In 1948, he started his own practice in Leaside, which his son Bob joined and still runs.

Helen died in 2003 of colon cancer. Pashby is survived by their three children, Bill (Elizabeth), Bob (Penny) and Jane, as well as six granddaughters, one grandson and a great granddaughter.

The family is planning a private funeral.

 

[Danjanou]

Didn't see this posted elsewhere. One of the original SAS warriors has left us to rejoin his old comrades in that eternal mess in Valhalla that awaits us all someday.

Johnny Wiseman
(Filed: 17/09/2005)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=PT4CQYRMIZP0HQFIQMFCM54AVCBQYJVC?xml=/news/2005/09/17/db1701.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/09/17/ixportal.html

Johnny Wiseman, who has died aged 89, was awarded an MC in 1943 for leading an SAS assault on a coastal battery during the invasion of Sicily.

In the early hours of July 10 1943, the Special Raiding Squadron (formed after the temporary disbandment of 1SAS), left their troopship and embarked in landing craft in heavy seas. Wiseman, in command of the forward section of the leading troop, ordered the pilot of his LCA to stop and pick up a group of men who were clinging to the wing of their ditched glider.

One of them was the commander of the airborne force who, like many others, had been dropped short of the target by inexperienced pilots. "Look, old boy," Wiseman told him firmly, "I can take you into the beach, but you will have to keep out of my line because I have a job to do."

After landing on Cape Moro di Porco, Wiseman led his men up the cliffs while mortars provided covering fire. He reached the perimeter of the enemy position without being detected and cut through the wire. As soon as the mortar fire was lifted, he and his section attacked.

Wiseman achieved complete surprise and his small force captured, killed or wounded 40 of the enemy without sustaining a single casualty. Wiseman's CO, Paddy Mayne, then got him on the wireless to order him to remove his men from the battery because sappers were coming to destroy the guns. Wiseman mumbled, and Mayne had to tell him to speak up.

"I managed to tell him that I had lost my false teeth," said Wiseman. "It was amusing afterwards, but it didn't seem so at the time." He had been hit in the mouth playing cricket at Cambridge and had worn false teeth ever since. He had been shouting orders when they flew out of his mouth into the long grass.

Despite this mishap, he was awarded an immediate MC.

John Martin Wiseman was born on January 27 1916 at Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey, and educated at St Paul's before going up to Pembroke, Cambridge, to read History and Modern Languages. He went into the family optical instrument business in 1937.

The company had been founded by his father, Max, who arrived from Germany in the 1920s and started selling spectacle frames. In 1926 he began to build up a group of purpose-built factories.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, Wiseman joined the North Somerset Yeomanry as a trooper and saw action in Syria against the Vichy French. He was fluent in French and German and was selected for OCTU in Cairo.

Shortly after his commission, he heard that David Stirling was expanding his detachment to a full regiment and went to meet him. Stirling's batman answered the door of the flat in Cairo. His master was in the bath, he said, and could not see anyone. Wiseman persisted, and Stirling, who valued people who were not easily discouraged, agreed to take him on.

For the next months, Wiseman and his men, mounted in three Jeeps, operated in the Great Sand Sea, mining the coastal road and strafing enemy vehicles when they were forced to halt. Then they slipped back into the desert.

Following the taking of Sicily and shortly after the capture of Termoli on the Italian mainland, the Germans counter-attacked. Wiseman had just left his truck to talk to a messenger from his CO when the vehicle received a direct hit from a shell. His whole troop was killed or injured. It was, he said afterwards, the worst moment of his life.

Wiseman returned to England to train for the invasion of France. He was promoted captain and placed in command of 1 Troop "A" Squadron, and in June 1944 they were dropped into France in Operation Houndsworth.

Operating from near Dijon, the most exposed of the Houndsworth bases, Wiseman's objective was to help prevent the Germans from reinforcing their units in Normandy from the south. His troop blew up the Dijon-Beaune railway line three times, the Beaune-Paris line once and derailed two trains.

In August, Wiseman got wind of a joint assault on his hideout by the Germans and the Milice. He rapidly evacuated his troop and, when the pincer attack was launched, the two parties opened fire on each other, inflicting numerous casualties.

He was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Silver Star.

The following month, Wiseman brought his troop back to England. He was exhausted, and Paddy Mayne put him in charge of SAS HQ while the rest of "A" Squadron went to Norway.

Wiseman and Mayne did not always see eye to eye. Wiseman said afterwards that Mayne, one of the most highly decorated soldiers in the war, was a great warrior but a difficult man to serve under. A man of considerable physical strength, on one occasion Mayne wrestled Wiseman to the ground, pinned him there with his knees and called for a cut-throat razor. He then shaved half of Wiseman's beard without using soap or water.

At the end of the war in Europe, Wiseman retired from the Army in the rank of major and returned to his family business. He was a director of what became a large-scale manufacturing organisation with affiliated companies overseas until he retired in 1982.

Wiseman lived in London for a time, and then moved to Sussex. He led an active life in the country and greatly enjoyed racing.

Johnny Wiseman died on August 23. He married first, in 1944, Jill Sinauer. He married secondly, in 1994, Eileen Finch (née Gill) who survives him with a step-son and a step-daughter.

 

[bossi]

I only received this info today:

Sadly, WO I Ken Andrews, Former RSM (R Regt C?), passed away on 12 Oct.  A Funeral Service will be held at the Scarborough Funeral home, 2966 Eglinton East on Saturday 15 October at 2 p.m. There will be no visitation.

 

[armyvern]

 

 

[Kat Stevens]

Roy Harding;
Corneleus "Mike" Ralph was killed in Croatia in '92, not '93, while serving with 4 CER as CANENGBAT for UNPROFOR.  Mark Isfeld was killed in Jun of '94, not '93.  Trivial corrections, maybe, but important to me....

CHIMO,  Kat

 

[Rifleman62]

Lieutenant-Colonel (Ret'd) Lockhart Ross Fulton, C.M., D.S.O., E.D.
Birtle, Man.
Member of the Order of Canada

A successful farmer and distinguished veteran of World War II, Lockhart Ross Fulton has always served his country and his community in an exemplary manner. Highly respected for his courageous wartime leadership, he later shared his military experiences with younger generations of officers at the Canadian Land Force Command and Staff College for over a decade. He has also been active in his community, serving as president of the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion and as chairman and trustee of the Birdtail River School Division Board.

LCol Fulton will be greatly missed. He was most assuredly well respected by all.   I had lunch with two of our Vets in Thunder Bay three weeks ago, and they were very appreciative of Locky's leadership even after 60 years.

I can remember years ago at the D Day reunion at the Minto Sgts Mess, ( the days when these events were packed). LCol Fulton was there. He was going to speak, and you could here the message been passed in that noisy atmosphere. As " Locky is going to speak'" went around the room, a immediate hush prevailed. That's respect. We should all aspire to lead our soldiers at that apex.

Locky was OC D Coy on D Day. D Coy was the only coy that was not over run by the 12 SS on 8 Jun 44. In 48 hours the unit took 480 casulties.   Locky took command of The Royal Winnipeg Rifles in late 44. After the war, Locky went back to his farm in Birtle, MB. Remarkable, commanding an Inf Bn in battle, to farming. Thats the kind of man Locky was.

Locky died in Birtle at 0400, Friday 21 Oct 05

 

[Rifleman62]

LT. COL. LOCKHART R. FULTON CM, DSO, ED It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Lt. Col. Lockhart Ross Fulton on October 21, 2005 , in Birtle MB. Lt.Col. L.R. (Lockie) Fulton was born in 1917 in rural Manitoba. Raised on a mixed farm in Birtle, MB, the fifth of a family of seven children, Lockie quickly learned the benefits of hard work tempered by familial love and affection. At the early age of 16, Lockie began his military career by joining the 12th Manitoba Dragoons, a unit of the militia, where he excelled in skills such as horsemanship. When war came, he transferred to the 1st Battalion, Royal Winnipeg Rifles which was awaiting mobilization in Nova Scotia. At this time, he also seized the opportunity to marry his childhood sweetheart from Birtle, Nellie Finch. In August of 1941, the Regiment was sent to England where it spent the better part of the next three years organizing, training and gearing up for eventual combat. During this period, Lockie rose steadily in the ranks, performing a number of duties and at one point being selected for the elite British training program at Barnard Castle, one of the few Canadians so honoured. In February, 1944, he was promoted Acting Major (later confirmed) and given command of D Company, one of the four rifle companies of the Battalion. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Royal Winnipeg Rifles were part of the initial assault on Juno Beach. Landing with the first wave, Major Fulton led his company past intense enemy fire, rapidly overcoming the defenders and capturing the town of Graye-sur-mer, gapping a minefield in the process. Almost immediately, as lead company for the Battalion, Lockie's men fought their way several kilometres inland to the town of Cruelly, where the battalion encamped for the night. The following day, the Battalion pushed on to the village of Putot-en-Bessin, abutting the crucial Caen-Bayeux Railway, becoming one of the first Allied units to reach its final D-Day objective. On June 8, significantly larger and more heavily armed German forces, overran 3 companies of the Battalion. Many of those taken prisoner were later murdered by the infamous 12 SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. The assault on Major Fulton's company, however, was decisively thwarted, preserving a key portion of the objective until a counter-attack by the Canadian Scottish Regiment fully restored the situation. For his accomplishments on D-Day and at Putot-en-Bessin, Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery presented Major Fulton with the Distinguished Service Order, a recognition second only to the Victoria Cross. Major Fulton continued to lead his company with considerable success, often against formidable odds. In the assault on Carpiquet Airport in July, 1944, they had to advance across a large, wide-open field while being subjected to a fierce mortar and artillery barrage. Despite heavy casualties, Major Fulton and the remainder of his force eliminated strong enemy resistance and captured their objective - two of the airport hangars - before being ordered to withdraw due to the difficulty of maintaining armoured support under the intense enemy artillery and anti-tank fire. At the Leopold Canal in Belgium, Lockie was appointed Battalion Commanding Officer. He was 27 years old. Promoted Lieutenant-Colonel, he went on to lead the Battalion to a string of hard-fought victories, from the Scheldt Estuary through the liberation of Holland and on into Germany itself. After the war, Lt. Col. Fulton returned to his wife and family to enjoy his life as a successful grain farmer in his home town of Birtle, MB. During his life in Birtle he raised six children, and contributed much to the civic life of the community for which contribution he was awarded the Order of Canada. His retirement years were spent wintering in Victoria, BC. In his latter years, Lockie put his military knowledge to historical use, giving numerous speeches and talks as well as continuing research with Battlefield Study Groups. He returned several times to his old battlefields, most recently for the 60th Anniversaries of D-Day and VE Day; at both events he may have been the only surviving battalion commander in attendance. He also never lost touch with many of his old comrades and with the Regiment itself, past and present, maintaining a mutual air of great respect and affection. Lockie's military accomplishments were further recognized in 2004 when the government of France awarded him the Legion of Honour, that country's highest honor. Perhaps the best summing up of Lockie Fulton as a military leader would be the citation for his DSO, which read, in part: Major Fulton's personal bravery, his complete disregard for his own safety and his coolness and skill in leading his command are considered to be in keeping with the highest traditions of the service. Lockie Fulton was predeceased by his loving wife Nellie in 1998. He leaves to mourn his passing his children and their partners: Bruce and Rosemarie, Geoff and Lynn, Debbie, Peter and Sandy, Jennifer and Don, Abigail and Alan; his grandchildren, Lockhart, Evadne, Deirdre, Vanessa and Liona; his surviving brother and sisters Harvey, Eva, Margaret, and his sister -in-law Marion Fulton. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Lockie's name to the Palliative Care Unit, Birtle District Hospital, Birtle, MB R0M 0C0; with the intention that donations will first go towards the establishment of a volunteer co-ordinator for the Unit.