The Second World War 1939 - 1945

"Wait for Me, Daddy," New Westminster, British Columbia, 1940.
Private Jack Bernard, British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles), saying goodbye to his five-year-old son, Warren.

On Saturday August 26, 1939, Hitler was demanding that Poland hand over Danzig and its corridor. War was by no means certain at that time. But at 4:15AM that morning the Regimental Adjutant received a call from Ottawa instructing him to call out the Regiment. Soldiers were dispatched to guard vulnerable points around the city. This was two weeks prior to Canada's declaration of War.

Early in November,1939, the Regiment learned it was not selected to be in the 1st Division. Many officers and men were transferred to the Seaforth Highlanders or to the PPCLI to be sent overseas. In the meantime, the Regiment settled down to several years of guard duty which was boring and monotonous. An interesting incident occurred when one young Rifleman on duty at Jerrico Beach decided to create a little excitement. He fired his rifle into the cement and called out the guard claiming that held been shot at by saboteurs. The Guard was doubled. A ballistic expert from Ottawa examined the round which had been dug out of the cement at the Jerrico Air Base and declared it to be 9mm German. The Guard would have remained doubled if Lt Neil Pattullo had not managed to get the "true" story out of the sentry.

Training and Guard duty were the order of the day for many months, until the Regiment received word that It was to move to a secret destination "Overseas." A large crowd saw the Regiment off aboard the SS Princess Joan. The "Overseas" destination turned out to be Camp Nanaimo, where they conducted further vigorous training, as well as providing detachments to man the West Coast of the Island as war with Japan became a possibility.

Guard duty, Niagara-on-the-Lake, 1941.

In May 1941, the Regiment was moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake, where they continued to train and to help to guard the Welland Canal.

By November 1941, the Regiment had been moved to Debert, N.S. where they continued training in the bitter winter conditions.

Training on a Lloyd Carrier.

Two weeks after their arrival, Japan attacked the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, and the United States now joined us at war. In January, it was announced that the Fourth Division would be Armoured, and we were converted from Riflemen to Tankers. We were redesignated as the 28th Canadian Armoured Regiment (British Columbia Regiment). Senior officers and NCO's were sent overseas for training as soon as possible, with the bulk of the Regiment sailing for England on 21st August, 1942.

On arrival, the Regiment was sent to Elstead, Surrey, to continue their armoured training. They also participated in large scale exercises, such as "Spartan", which involved the whole Canadian Corps in March 1943.

In August 1943, command of the Regiment passed on to Lt-Col D.G. Worthington, who had already had some experience in North Africa as a battle observer. By early October, the Canadian built Ram tanks the Regiment had trained on were being replaced by the new Sherman Tanks. These tanks were used by the allied armies throughout the rest of the war.

Following the famous D-Day landings on the 6th June, 1944, the Regiment did not move to France until 23 July 1944, and did not experience action until they participated in the first attempt to close the Falaise Gap, Operation Totalize. The battle for Hill 140.

The plan originally called for Polish armour to be attacking with the 4th Cdn Armd Div (on the left flank), but due to heavy casualties as the Poles had been bombed by the USAF in error, we were ordered to go it alone. Our Regiment was chosen to lead, and the infantry of the Algonquin Regiment accompanied us into battle on the evening of the 8th August, 1944. The next difficulty arose at night when the Regiment reached the town of Brettevill-le-Rabet. The town had not yet been cleared of the enemy, so Col Worthington decided to bypass the town to the left. They wound up taking the wrong road in error, likely confused by an unmarked railroad which was not on the map. This changed their direction away from their objective at Hill 195, and had them heading towards Hill 140,.When daylight came, A and B Squadrons were still in the valley on the approach to the hill, and they experienced severe losses to the fire of concealed 88's and Tiger tanks of Kurt Meyer's 12th SS Panzer Division. RHQ managed to reach Hill 140 where it formed a box defence along the hedge line. The Algonquins dug in alongside the tanks, and the two regiments fought back.

RHQ tanks - Hill 140.

At this crucial time, communications with Brigade HQ failed mysteriously and the Regiment was left without a link to the rear. One by one the tanks were knocked out, with the surviving crews retrieving weapons from their burning vehicles and carried on the fight. Later that morning, Col May of the Algonquins was severely wounded whilst discussing the situation with Col Worthington. Lt-Col Worthington and all of the Squadron commanders were killed in the fighting, and after fighting for 14 hours after being surrounded by the Germans, the survivors fought their way through the Germans. 48 out of 52 tanks had been destroyed and the Regiment received 133 casualties which was its highest single loss during the war. To the credit of Lt-Col Worthington and his men, they fought bravely , with no consideration or discussion of surrender in the face of overwhelming odds.

Lt-Col D.G. Worthington, killed in action, August 1944.

A number of officers and men were always left out of Battle, in case of disaster, to form the nucleus of the Regiment. Our current Honourary Colonel, Col Toogood became one of the new squadron commanders. A week later the 28th attacked again and this time they were successful. The closing of the Falaise Gap destroyed an entire German Army.

During September and October the Regiment joined in the pursuit of the retreating Germans into Belgium.

The Regiment participated in the operations which cleared the Scheldt Estuary and in the stiff fighting along the Leopold Canal. The Germans flooded much of the lowlands and many casualties were sustained fighting along the dykes and roadways.

In October 1944 the Regiment crossed into Holland and advanced to Bergen op Zoom. Finally, to close the Scheldt operations on 6th November, a troop from C Squadron opened fire on four German naval vessels attempting to leave Zijpe Harbour. They sank three of the German vessels and damaged a fourth. The ship's bell was retrieved from one of these vessels and currently resides in our Officer's Mess.

From November until February, 1945, the First Canadian Army held its positions, readying for the planned offensive to cross the Rhine and move into Germany. In April, 1945 the Regiment crossed the Rhine and quickly captured the town of Neuenhaus, including many German soldiers who could not get away in time. For a few days the Regiment administered the town. A Russian prisoner of war camp was also liberated.

The last,major action of the 28th Cdn Armd (BCR) began on the 17th April, 1945, when they crossed the Kusten Canal and by VE-Day on the 5th May, 1945, they had pushed the Germans back beyond Bad Zwischenahn.

The Regiment had lost 122 Officers and men killed and 213 wounded, which was the highest of any armoured regiment in either the 4th or 5th Armoured divisions. Of our tanks, we had lost 105 Sherman's, 14 Stuarts, and one Crusader during the fighting. Sixty-six decorations had been won, including 2 DSO's, 1 MBE, 3 DCM's, 5 MC's, and 10 MM's. Fourteen new battle honours were added to our proud record.

On the 1st February, 1946, under the command of Lt-Col J.W. Toogood, the Regiment returned to Vancouver, and the Dukes marched through drizzling rain and cheering crowds to the Drill Hall.

"Up The Dukes!"

The British Columbia Regiment
620 Beatty Street, Vancouver, B.C., V6B 2L9

Recruiting: (604) 666-4288
Orderly Room: (604) 666-4368
E-mail: history@bcregiment.com