The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment) by Richard E. Ruggle

The Lorne Scots are working on a history of the regiment; here are some excerpts of the 'work in progress'. Comments, questions and expressions of interest are welcome. A summer student working for the Esquesing Historical Society at Halton Hills Public Library has scanned the available nominal rolls of the many sub-units of The Lorne Scots during the second world war. The database contains most of the names of the 1500 + soldiers who served with the unit during the second world war. We're working at cleaning up the mistakes (some sub-units are incorrect, and some names misspelled); if you are interested in a particular person, please contact me at the address at the bottom of this page. You may also want to visit the Lorne Scot site maintained by Major (retired) Robert Goddard.

The official lineage of The Lorne Scots goes back to 1866, but there was much militia activity in Peel, Halton and Dufferin counties from the time of their first settlement.

The War of 1812

As tension increased between Britain and the United States, the commander-in-chief in Upper Canada, Major General Isaac Brock, and the Lieutenant-Governor, Prevost, had little confidence in the militia. Although they numbered 11,000 on paper, Prevost thought 'it might not be prudent to arm more than 4000.' Brock wanted to secure the best men from the militia and give them special training, and his proposals were embodied in the Militia Act of 1812. That provided for two flank companies to be drawn from each militia regiment, not more than one third of the strength of the parent regiment; the remainder would form battalion companies. The flank companies were to be volunteers, who were to provide for themselves 'a good and sufficient musket, fusil, rifle or gun, with at least six rounds of powder and ball'; and their captains were to call them out to train at least six times a month. They would be the first to be mobilized, and during the war they played a major role in the defence of the country.

When President Madison did declare war, on 18 June 1812, it took three weeks for the news to reach Upper Canada. To defend a thousand miles of border, Brock had one regiment of British regulars, the 41st, some gunners and the militia. Amongst the flank companies that were mobilized was Captain John Chisholm's Flank Company, 2nd York Militia, which drew its men from the lower parts of what was to become Peel and Halton.

The Americans planned a three-pronged attack, against Kingston, Niagara and Amherstburg. The first two evaporated under General Dearborn's indecisiveness; at Detroit, a large force commanded by General William Hull could easily have taken the small British fort on the other side of the river, where the militia from the western parts of the province slipped away to work on their farms, and to avoid Hull's threat of no quarter for fighting alongside their Indian allies. But while Hull hesitated, Brock brought reinforcements from Niagara--... regulars and ... volunteers. At Detroit, he clothed 300 militia in cast-off tunics of the 41st to make it appear that his force of regulars was double its actual size. And he had Tecumseh's warriors perform a ruse that made them appear to be three times their numbers. Hull felt he could not withstand, and to avoid loss of life, capitulated. William Chisholm, who was an ensign in Captain Samuel Hatt's first Flank Company, Lincoln Militia at Detroit, and one of the first to enter the fortress when the Americans abandoned it.

At Queenston Heights, William Chisholm had transferred to a flank company of the 2nd York Militia, and his gallantry drew special mention in the dispatches of General Schaeffe. He and his fellow soldiers would have been amongst those who were urged on by the dying words of Brock at Queenston, 'Push on the brave York volunteers.'

The Fenian Raids

When many British troops in Canada were withdrawn in the mid-1850s, to serve in the Crimea or India, there was a need to reinforce the ability of the militas of the two Canadas to defend themselves. So Volunteer Companies were authorized, in addition to the sedentary militia. Between 1856 and 1863, Volunteer Companies of Infantry or Rifles were organized in Brampton, Georgetown and Oakville (where the Lorne Scots currently have armouries), in Orangeville and a dozen other towns in the three counties now served by the regiment.

Despite the threat, these were still times of fiscal restraint: soldiers were not adequately unifomed, armed and drilled, and musters were often abandoned. The need for a strong militia intensified in the early sixties, during the tense times when it appeared that Canada might be drawn into the conflict between the Union and Confederate States. The unstable condition in the United States at the end of the Civil War put the militia to the test.

From Peel, the Derry West and Grahamsville Volunteer Infantry Companies had been called to arms in March of 1866, in anticipation of a Fenian raid expected on St Patrick's Day. When the attack failed to materialize, they were dismissed within a few weeks. Finally the Fenians crossed the border, on June 1st. Again the volunteers entrained for the frontier, to protect the Welland canal and the suspension bridge at Niagara Falls. One Peel veteran recalled that the greatest hardship during the 46 days of active duty was on the occasion when sixty men were quartered in a little hotel with only three beds.

The experience of mobilization had pointed to a serious weakness. The individual companies, from Peel, and from Stewarttown, Norval and Oakville in Halton, were quick to respond, to move to the front and to do creditable service. But they were only companies, and much of the battalion structure had to be created on the spot, commanded by officers newly-appointed to battalion positions, who were to learn their job in what could very well have been battle conditions.

So to provide a structure where these larger roles could be learned and practiced, new county battalions were authorized. Amongst the first, in September of 1866, were the 36th Peel Battalion and the 20th Halton Battalion. Marksmanship has always been important in the regiment, and the Halton battalion quickly resolved to become a Rifle rather than an Infantry Battalion--the change was authorized in 1872. Silver shooting trophies from the last century still adorn the mess, and the unit sent many successful competitors to the Bisley matches.

The Halton Regiment

The Halton Regiment was organized in 1866, with seven companies. George K. Chisholm commanded, and Walter McKay was Sergeant-Major. They first assembled as a unit in Oakville in 1868, when they decided to make it a Rifle Corps, clothed in Rifle green (rather than the normal red). Part of the cost of the uniforms was paid out of the men's pay (of fifty cents a day). When Colonel Otter made a comment about the appearance of some soldiers in the regiment, the CO replied, 'Well, what do you expect for fifty cents&endash;&endash;humming birds?' Eventually the uniforms changed to navy blue, and for a while the uniform was partly rifle green and partly navy blue. During the regime of Colonel Allan, the regiment were issued with trews in the Campbell plaid. The uniforms did not always fit perfectly, and one new recruit, issued with trousers of tremendous size on the eve of the annual camp, said to his company commander, 'Good gracious, Captain, that was a big suit they gave me at the Armouries last night; when you gave the command of "Quick March", I was half way across the drill shed before the pants got started."

Two Halton men served on the Red River expedition: Captain William Albertson and John Gillies.

The unit's highland affiliation dates back to 1881, when the 20th Battalion became The Halton Battalion, Lorne Rifles. The 20th had provided a guard at the new Canadian National Exhibition, which impressed the Governor-General, who was the Marquess of Lorne. At the time the CO was Lieutenant-Colonel William Allan, who had been a Sergeant in the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, had come to Canada in time to participate in the Battle of the Windmill and other engagements of the Rebellion of 1837, and who loved all things Scottish. He persuaded the Governor-General to allow his name to be used by the unit, acquired trews for the soldiers, and had pipers added to the band. A few years later at the annual camp, at Niagara-on-the-Lake, the General asked Colonel Allan to have the pipers play him a tune, and then rode away, saying that they sounded better at a distance.

4th Battalion (perpetuated by the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry)

The detachment from the 36th Peel Regiment were incorporated in B Company, and other members of the regiment served in various battalion appointments.

20th Battalion

The 36th Peel Regiment contributed three officers and one hundred other ranks towards this battalion.

36th Battalion

When a new draft of men was required for the Third Contingent, part of the 36th Battalion, authorized 2 January 1915, were to come from Peel [and Halton?]. The 36th Peel Battalion contributed four officers and 237 other ranks to the unit. The Battalion trained first at Ravina Barracks in West Toronto, Hamilton Armoury and Niagara Camp, before embarking for England 19 June on the S.S. Corsican. Hopes that the Battalion might serve intact as part of the 2nd Division in France were not realized, and on 26 September it was moved to winter quarters at West Sandling. When the Canadian Corps lost heavily at St Eloi in April 1916, the 36th was declared a reserve battalion.

74th Battalion (perpetuated by the Peel Regiment, and by The Lorne Scots)

The Commanding Officer of the 36th Peel Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Windeyer, was disappointed that the county regiments would not serve as units. When the 74th Battalion was authorized in June 1915, however, he agreed to raise it, assisted by the company commander from Orangeville, Major A.J. McAusland. It drew mainly from Peel county, which contributed 26 officers and 346 other ranks, but also from the 48th Highlanders, the Queen's Own Rifles and the 10th Royal Grenadiers of Toronto. The battalion trained at Niagara Camp before moving to winter quarters at the Toronto Exhibition. Before leaving Canada, reinforcement drafts were drawn from it. Windeyer was seconded to headquarters staff, and MacAusland promoted to command. At the end of March 1916, the unit embarked on the Empress of Britain. It was broken up to reinforce existing units of the Canadian Corps in France. McCausland served with the 75th Battalion of the 4th Canadian Division, and though he commanded it for a period, ill health prevented him from succeeding when the Commanding Officer was killed in action. In 1924 the colours of the 74th Battalion were deposited in Christ Church, Brampton.

76th Battalion

The 76th Battalion, with an establishment of 1,153, was raised from fifteen militia units of the second divisional area, outside of Toronto, including the Halton Rifles and the Dufferin Rifles of Canada. A former officer of the Halton Rifles, Major J. Ballantine, was chosen to command. Ballantine had been awarded the DSO while serving with the 4th Battalion, CEF, and was home on sick leave. The Halton Rifles contributed one officer and 98 other ranks to the 76th Battalion. The 76th mobilized in Camp Niagara on 30 July 1915. On November 5th the Battalion moved into winter quarters at Barrie, with A Company in Collingwood and B Company in Orillia. A draft of 255 all ranks left for overseas 30 September 1915, and other drafts followed. Route marches and other intensive training were carried out during the winter months. The Battalion moved overseas only to be broken up to supply reinforcements for other units in the field.

126th Battalion (perpetuated by the Peel Regiment, and by The Lorne Scots)

On 12 November 1915, the 36th Peel Regiment was authorized to recruit the 126th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Major FJ Hamilton of Port Credit was made temporary Lieutenant-Colonel, and oversaw an intensive recruiting campaign throughout the winter. By spring the Battalion was up to strength&endash;&endash;over a thousand men, with 32 officers.

The new two company Armoury in Brampton, built in 1912, was utilized as quarters, as was an old school in the west end of Toronto. Early in the summer of 1916 this unit was concentrated at Niagara Camp, later moving to Camp Borden, the large new camp, just completed in Simcoe County. On the 16th of August it embarked for overseas. This Battalion had expected to go to the front as a unit, but the severe casualties suffered by the Canadians during the battle of the Somme made it necessary to break up the unit forreinforcements. 450 men transferred to the 109th Battalion; the band and 350 men joined the 116th Battalion.

The regimental march of the 126th, 'John Peel', was later adopted by the Peel and Dufferin Regiment.

164th Battalion

The 164th Battalion commenced recruiting on January 1st, 1916, in the counties of Halton and Dufferin, with its Headquarters in Milton, the county town of Halton. Brisk recruiting had brought the Battalion up to a strength of about 800 men by the end of March, but it never reached full strength. The Battalion was split up into small detachments scattered through the recruiting area until the June 5th, when it was mobilized at Orangeville, remaining there under canvas until the July 2nd, when it was moved to Camp Borden. On October 29th the Battalion commenced a route march from Camp Borden to Hamilton, a distance of about 150 miles, to take up winter quarters in the Westinghouse Barracks. In February 1917 it was augmented by a draft of 250 men from the 205th Tiger Battalion, although transfers and discharges brought its strength down to about 750 by the time it arrive in England. It became part of the 5th Canadian Division. Eventually the 164th was broken up as reinforcements for Canadian units already in France.

During the stay in Hamilton, the ladies of Halton and Dufferin counties presented the Battalion with a set of Colours, presented by Sir John Hendrie in the Armoury in Hamilton. These colours were subsequently deposited in Saint June's Church, Oakville for safekeeping.

234th Battalion (perpetuated by The Peel Regiment, and by The Lorne Scots)

Lieutenant-Colonel Wellington Wallace was brought out of retirement to raise another Peel battalion, the 234th, authorized in April 1916. The Peel recruiting ground was being depleted, after raising so many drafts and the entire 126th, and special efforts were needed to attract men. In December, a ministerial Patriotic Association urged sermons in every church in the county to plead the need for additional recruits. They also discussed what influence the attitude of the Russelites (Jehovah's Witnesses) might have, because of their refusal to enlist. In March, when 490 men had been raised, one newspaper remarked:

One of the officers closely connected with recriting declares that the sons of farmers in Peel are not doing their fair share, as he knows fully 150 who can be spared from the farms to work in munitions plants, but do not show any disposition to enlist. He states further that there are several instances where four or five unmarried sons are living on large pasture farms of from two to three hundred acres and who are not needed at home.

The unit also issued a 28-page illustrated pamphlet, 'setting forth the work, the expriences, the adventures and aspirations of the Battalion', sold at ten cents a copy by the officers and through the schools. The unit trained at Niagara Camp, and sent off reinforcement drafts. Wallace was too old for active service, and Major WO Morris took the Battalion overseas. It embarked from Halifax on the steamship Scandinavian with 15 officers and 279 other ranks. In England, the 234th was absorbed by the 12th Reserve Battalion.

Peel Regiment (1921-1923)

The county regiments, which had been by-passed during the first world war, were in dire need of revitalization. Lieutenant-Colonel McCausland, who had commanded the 74th Battalion, was appointed to command the 36th Peel Regiment in 1920, and the regiment was disbanded and reorganized as the Peel Regiment. Some of the officers felt they would have to recruit from beyond the bounds of the county in order to be viable, and the Headquarters, A and B companies were located in a large second story flat at the corner of Pacific and Dundas Streets in West Toronto; C Company was in Brampton and D Company in Port Credit. Some of the Toronto regiments had objected to this incursion, and in March 1922, the unit was directed that its officer personnel should reside within the recruiting area. McCausland, who lived in Toronto, resigned, as did numerous other officers. Major RV Conover, who had served with the Halton Rifles, but commanded the company in Brampton, where he now lived, was selected to succeed in command.

The Regiment perpetuated the 74th, 126th and 234th Battalions, CEF. [69th Bn?] It could have been expected that it would also perpetuate the 20th, but some of its veterans could not come to an agreement on the project, so the regiment missed the opportunity to perpetuate a CEF battalion that had seen service in the field.

On Sunday, November 5th, 1922 a memorial window was dedicated in the Church of the Epiphany on Queen Street, West Toronto to the 3200 all ranks who had passed through the Peel Regiment from 1914-1918, and the five hundred who had given their lives.

The Peel and Dufferin Regiment (1923-1936)

The Peel Regiment had had a presence in Dufferin county, in Orangeville and Shelburne. Perhaps the insistence on officers coming from the recruiting area led to the formal inclusion of Dufferin in the regimental title. In 1923 The Peel and Dufferin Regiment was authorized, to draw from both counties. D Company was headquartered at Orangeville. Early that year the Regiment had received permission from Sir Robert Peel (after whose family the county had been named) to use part of his crest as a regimental badge. The crest is 'a demi-lion rampant, gorged and collared, charged with three bezants, between the paws a shuttle' (a bezant in heraldry is a gold roundel, and takes its name from the gold coins 'of Byzantium' which circulated in England in medieval times). The demi-lion was quickly incorporated into the design of the buttons, and in 1925 of the cap badge and collar badges of the new unit.

Annual training in 1925 was conducted at local headquarters, because of fiscal restraints, in three sessions of three days each. Lieutenant-Colonel Conover, who was now on district staff, arranged a three day musketry camp at Long Branch Rifle Ranges over Labour Day, introducing the idea of district training. The three regiments of the 25th Infantry Brigade who attended, however, had to pay for their own transportation and ration expenses. The training exercises now went beyond the drill and rifle practice of earlier days, and during the inter-war years involved attack and defensive positions, inter-arm co-operation (the artillery came out to the farmlands west of Brampton and demonstrated a smoke screen), ground to air signalling, and even ariel bombardment.

The colours of the old 36th Regiment had been laid up in Christ Church, Brampton in 1924, and the following year the Peel Chapter, Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, presented a king's colour to The Peel and Dufferin Regiment. The county of Peel gave a grant in 1924 towards the purchase of a regimental colour, but its production was delayed pending a decision on the granting of battle honours to militia regiments. The battle honours assigned to The Peel and Dufferin Regiment in 1930 were:

The Department of National Defense approved the design for the regimental colour, incorporating these battle honours, and on 22 May 1930 the Governor-General, Viscount Willingdon, presented the colour on behalf of the county council.

Major CM Corkett had served during the first world war as an officer with The Lancashire Fusiliers, and The Peel and Dufferin Regiment sought an alliance with that regiment. The negotiations went slowly because the 2nd Battalion of The Lancashire Fusiliers were serving in India, but eventually they signified their favour and in November 1929 the unit was informed that the king approved of the alliance. To symbolize the link, permission was received to adopt the white facings of the Fusiliers.

The Second World War:

No 1 Infantry Base Depot

As the outbreak of hostilities approached during the summer of 1939, the CO of the Lorne Scots, Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Keene, was offered the opportunity to mobilize an infantry battalion for the 3rd Canadian Division, if and when Canada decided to mobilize three divisions. Rather than wait for this remote possibility, he accepted the alternative of organizing a minor but immediately required unit, No. 1 Infantry Base Depot, CASF (Canadian Active Service Force). While guards were being mounted on the armouries in Brampton, Georgetown, Port Credit, Milton, Oakville, Acton, Orangeville and Shelburne, the Lorne Scots set about forming the headquarters and two companies of the Depot, with two provost sections.

CASF units were distinct from the units of the NPAM (Non-Permanent Active Militia), even when they bore the same name. But they drew from the experience of those units, in the officers and NCOs who volunteered to serve in them.

For three and a half months the unit trained in Brampton, where it graduated 200 cooks. In mid-December it moved to the Automotive Building on the Toronto Exhibition Grounds for a month, before setting out to embark from Halifax for Britain. Here they were at first located at Farnborough, in Barossa barracks.

On the eve of the fall of France, the War Cabinet resolved to send every available division, including the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, to Brittany in a forlorn hope of stemming the German advance. An advance party from the Depot&endash;&endash;Major W.H. Lent, CSM E Ching and Corporal Hiscock&endash;&endash;went to establish a base depot at Isse near Chateaubriand. On their arrival, the expeditionary force heard of the surrender of Paris, and started to return. Major Lent's party, who had set foot on French soil on June 12th, were back in Barossa Barracks by the 18th.

In mid-March 1941 the unit moved to Liverpool, to be near the principal embarkation and disembarkation ports used by Canadians. They were housed at Seaforth Barracks, about four miles from the centre of the city, and a few hundred yards from the waterfront. Just as they were arriving in their new quarters, the air raid sirens sounded. Liverpool and the other towns along the Mersey River would suffer the heaviest raids in Britain, outside of London. Things were then relatively quiet for a month, and the broken glass of the barracks was replaced by tar paper. In mid-April incendiaries landed on the barracks building, but were extinguished before any harm was done. Then in one week in May, over 2,000 bombs were dropped and 1,500 people killed. Many of the soldiers at the depot were men of low medical category awaiting return to Canada, but they volunteered to work throughout the night, night after night. Fires raged through the docks and warehouses; the sky was full of bursting ack-ack shells; flares dropped by enemy planes were floating slowly toward the earth, lighting up everything in the vicinity; bright red tracer bullets streaked across the sky, aimed at the flares in an attempt to extinguish them; the city seemed ablaze. Planes droned continuously overhead; bombs screeched on their way to the targets, and exploded as they landed; guns roared; and workers shouted hoarsely as they tried to communicate with each other. To the sights and sounds were added the smells of explosive and burning wood.

Captain D.C. Heggie, RCAMC, the depot's Medical Officer, spent the night of 3/4 May under fire amid bombs and falling masonry, binding up wounds and relieving suffering. He forced his way into demolished buildings, directed rescue operations and at times crawled into cellars to administer hypodermics to trapped and wounded civilians. Once he was lowered head-first into the basement of a wrecked dwelling to give morphine to a badly-crushed civilian pinned in the ruins. For his 'conspicuous gallantry' on that night, he was awarded the George Medal. Early on the 7th, a land mine was dropped near the First Aid Post, injuring Captain Heggie in the head. Although bleeding profusely, he dragged himself to the injured Nursing Sisters and pulled them clear of the wreckage, and helped bandage their wounds. Then loss of blood forced him to give in, and the following day he was evacuated to a Canadian military hospital.

The soldiers helped civil defence workers remove dead and injured from ruined houses, comforted wouned civilians, helped to extinguish fires, drove supply trucks and acted as guards and traffic guides.

Dieppe

At Dieppe, No. 6 Defence Platoon (6th Canadian Infantry Brigade) were brought by LST (Landing Ship Tank), touching down on White Beach at 1605 hours on the 19th. It was split into two parts. CSM Irvine, with Privates Breault[?], Dubois, Rosenberger and Seed waded ashore with Brigadier Southern --all were reported missing. Lieutenant E.J. Norris, with Privates Hancock, Lane, Moor and Keith Spence accompanied the Brigade Major and signals. Their LST carried three Churchill tanks from the Calgary Regiment and a signal cart. The tanks were to lead off and clear an area to set up the headquarters. Spence was to engage enemy aircraft, but had no tracers so could not observe his fire, and ran out of ammuntion since the craft carrying the stores had been hit. Most if his group were dead or wounded, and when a serviceable craft came along side, he helped Hancock, Moore and Lane on board. As they pulled away, the LST that had brought them in sank. The Germans concentrated their fire on the craft in the water, leaving those on the shore till later, and the group pulled many soldiers of the Fusiliers de Mont-Royal from the water. On the return to Newhaven, the platoon commander and Privates Lane and Hancock were sent to hospital.

Corporal Larry Guator, with Privates McDougall and Stephen Prus, were to act as bodyguard for Brigadier Leth (4th Brigade). They landed on Red Beach at 0550. Prus was beside the brigadier when the latter was wounded in the arm, and carried him on a stretcher to the evacuation craft. Ashore, they fought until 1300 hours, when they were ordered to retreat.

Headquarters First Canadian Army, Defence Company (Lorne Scots)

By 1942, the Canadian military presence in Britain had grown; in that year a 4th Division and second armoured division would arrive. Crerar felt there were too many to be a single corps, and proposed a Canadian Army comprising of two corps, each of two divisions and an armoured division. The Army Headquarters would deal with administrative concerns, freeing the corps commanders to train fighting formations. On 6 April the Headquarters First Canadian Army came into being, and the Headquarters First Canadian Army, Defence Company (Lorne Scots) was established to protect it. Commanded by Captain V.G.H. Phillips, it consisted of six officers and 160 other ranks. It had the task of guarding Headley Court, the stately home near Leatherhead, Surrey, where the corps headquarters had been located. It was a serious business: much time was spent training (there were sessions on aircraft recognition, and on drills in case of gas attack) and on the ranges; once a sergeant was accidentally wounded by a sten gun; and on one occasion a soldier was court-martialed for sleeping on his post as a sentry.

The officers of the units were frequently called to assist at the many courts-martial that took place at the headquarters. The men provided guards of honour when the Minister of National Defence, J.L. Ralston, visited. They were often congratulated by General McNaughton for their deportment on the March Past after the monthly church parade (services were voluntary on the other Sundays, but a soldier had to inform the Orderly Sergeant if he wanted to attend).

Almost every issue of Daily Orders included a section entitled 'Punishments', mostly for being absent without leave, which brought loss of pay and confinement to barracks. The shortages of wartime Britain were also reflected in the Orders: the wasting of bread was to cease forthwith, and the Orderly Sergeant was to take the names of men who left bread on the table. When this measure failed to correct the situation, the men were restricted to half a slice of bread at a time. After exercises, the headquarters received complaints of men shooting game with service rifles. And the arrival of 20,000 American cigarettes for resale to the troops was an occurence of such importance that it was recorded in the War Diary.

The Company was disbanded in April 1944, when its duties were taken over by the Royal Montreal Regiment.

Italy

The Canadian government was sensitive to public criticism that its troops were standing too long on guard duty in Britain, and Canadian commanders wished their troops to gain some battle experience. That came with the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, by British, Canadian and American forced; the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade were part of General Montgomery's force.

McNaughton had only committed Canadians to Sicily for battle experience, and had not planned to break up the Army he had forged for the last great battle in Europe. But Ottawa had agreed, not only to leave the Canadians already there in the campaign, but to augment them with the 5th Armoured Division and First Corps Headquarters.

On 26 October 1943, the Edmund B.Alexander pulled out of Gourock with 4700 troops, including the Headquarters 1st Canadian Corps and its Defence Company. The men had thought that they were going on an exercise, and as the ship joined a convoy of 24, they realized they were going into action, although even on the voyage they were unsure of their desitination. It was in Sicily, at Augusta, that the Alexander disembarked, the men going ashore in landing craft.

The Company took over a defensive position from the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, three miles north of Ortona, from the 15th to the 27th of February 1944. The men immediately began taking part in the constant patrolling that sought out information from the enemy--the Lornes augmenting the more experienced Seaforths. On the 18th, Cpl Tost and two other volunteers joined a fighting patrol that was to try to take a prisoner. They studied the objective on arial photographs--a group of houses that the Germans were thought to occupy during the night.

The fighting patrol passed through one of our standing patrols ... and made its way down into the valley, moving very quietly and in bounds. We stopped very often to listen as it was so dark we had difficulty in keeping the man in front in view. We crossed the bottom of the valley and started into enemy territory. Movement was very difficult due to trip wires, dry bamboo and the darkness. Everyone was extremely tense and our trigger fingers never left their correct positions. After crossing the valley we went to ground and travelled snake fashion for 200 or 300 yds. There was no time to worry about ourselves now because we were working as a Team and each man had a job to do .... Jerry kept up his steady flow of illuminating flares and every time one went up there were 17 living statues out in no-man's land. At 3 or 4 minute intervals Jerry let go with a burst of tracer from his fixed lines of fire and some came uncomfortably close. We advanced as far as a small stream just inside Jerry lines and remained there for some time listening and then crossed it in small groups. We heard some movement that sounded like several men in a group and moving in the direction of our objective. We moved to a position with 70 yds of our objective and flares were now landing within a few feet of us. There was very little M.G. fire at this time.... It was clear that Jerry was trying to draw us into his cross-fire. ... we learned that we had followed a Jerry patrol right up to our objective.

CSM TR Steen had the job of keeping the troops of the front line supplied with ammunition and rum. On one occasion the Sergeant Major brought the rum through under shell fire to his quarters. Waiting for the shell fire to cease, 'he boldly uncorked the bottle and repeatedly assured himself that the quality of the rum was up to the standard required for his men.'

In May 1944, the two Ack Ack [Anti-Aircraft] platoons were becoming familiar with new 20mm Oerlikon Guns. In July, a Lorne Scot concentration was held, then Maj Drennan admitted to 5th Cdn CGS; he was found to have serious injury to his spinal column, and on 3 August Major S. Beatty assumed command. During the summer, the POW cage was only lightly used, mostly for Italian refugees; during the fierce fighting of September, this changed, the busiest day being the 13th (the date of the capture of Coriano Ridge on the Rimini Line), when two German officers and 130 other ranks were admitted.

Daily Orders required Canadians to remove the insignia that identified their nationality. It was felt that the presence of Canadians heralded an offensive, and commanders took the double step of trying to disguise an imminent attack on the Gothic Line, and by sending the 1st Canadian division to Florence, where the Americans were making diversionary prepartations, before sending it to a more active part of the front.

In mid-January 1945, Major Beatty was made responsible for the defence of Ravenna and would become Garrison Commander in event of attack or stand-to. The front had become static for the winter, on a line along the rivers Senio and Seno approximately 10 miles from the city.

With Italy secured, the Canadians began in February 1945, in great secrecy to move to north-western Europe. The 1st Canadian Corps moved to Marseille, then Antwerp, and on 15 March took over the Nijmegen area in Holland.

In northern Italy, defence platoons were reorganized 24-5 February 1944 for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigades, in the last instance by posting the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade support group intact to the Lorne Scots. During April and May they faced the Hitler Line.

Home Defence

Japanese activity on the Pacific coast in 1942 provoked great fears of invasion. In February, a submarine shelled California, and on 20 June, two other submarines fired on Oregon and on an isolated wireless station on Vancouver Island. Although almost no damage was done, it was the only time in either world war that enemy shells fell on Canadian soil. On June 6-7, the Japanese occupied the two Aleutian islands of Aleut and Kiska. There was little likelihood that the mainland would be invaded, but there was enormous fear that it would be. In March the War Committee approved the completion of the 7th Division and formation of the brigade groups of the 8th, for home defence. The 6th and 8th Divisions were disposed in Pacific Command; the 7th later was sent as a general reserve for the Atlantic Command.

No. 6 Defence and Employment Platoon for the 6th Canadian Division was authorized in March 1942, and recruited in Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Orangeville and Port Credit. During the organizational period, because of lack of facilities, the troops were put on subsistence of $1.00 a day. In mid-May training began at 20 CA(B)TC Brantford and at Camp Niagara. Trained personnel were posted to the new brigade defence platoons, and in September one officer and 28 ORs moved to Work Point barracks in Victoria. Recruits were constantly being posted in, and trained soldiers posted out. In May 1943, fully trained active personel were transferred to depot for proceeeding overseas, and partially trained sent to infantry Training Centres to complete training prior to going overseas. Fifteen of the new recruits who arrived the next month were National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA) men, who had been conscripted for service in Canada. In October, the Platoon was in Prince George, BC.

Late in 1944, the need to free fit men for duty overseas was becoming desparate, and the need for coastal defence had abated. Cabinet approved the disbandment of the 6th Division, so that one infantry brigade group and two infantry brigades could be drawn from it. The government also decided to send 16,000 NRMA men overseas. The decision sparked about a demonstration by about 200-300 NRMA men in Prince George, although none from the Division's Defence and Employment Platoon took part. For a few days, there were demonstrations at several camps along the coast. The divisional headquarters ceased to exist on 2 December, and its Defence and Employment Platoon was disbanded on 31 January 1945.

Please send a note if you're interested in the history of The Lorne Scots, or if you have any information, stories or questions, or just to say hello: shepherd@kw.igs.net