Canadian Forces Win Praise on Land and Sea
The first three paragraphs above shine a spotlight on Canadian troops
In late October, the work of transporting troops and all the materiel of war from Messina, Sicily, to Reggio, Italy, was completed as far as the 80th Canadian Flotilla of Landing Crafts was concerned - i.e., the only Canadian flotilla left in The Med. But because the reports by war correspondents about certain events has been delayed by as much as 3 - 4 weeks, my search for reports associated with the 80th Flotilla continues.
And surprise - I did find a news report concerning two of the four Canadian Flotillas of Landing Craft that saw action in Sicily, beginning in July of 1943. So, it pays to be patient! The news article is rare and significant, many names of officers and crews are mentioned - my king of lovely discovery.
As well, another fine article by Sholto Watt appears, with information about Canadian troops on the ground.
Below, readers will again find pertinent news from The Montreal Star involving Canadian troops and sailors, some connected to Combined Operations.
Canadians in Combined Ops are likely on their way back to England
at this time during the war. Their work in Reggio is done.
Combined Ops headquarters (COHQ) was undergoing a change in leadership. Lucky Laycock was in, and Lord Louis Mountbatten was out (and now called Supreme Commander-in-Chief in Southeast Asia):
The year in review, a good way to catch up on Allied progress:
The praise for Canadian Forces continues:
And then there is news about progress made in prisoner of war camps in Germany:
In the previous post there is more mention made of celebrations related to Trafalgar Day. A link is provided at the bottom of this page:
The following article takes us back more than three months to the invasion of Sicily, when scores of Canadians in Combined Ops manned landing crafts under very dangerous circumstances. Sub. Lt. Dick Gordon provides an eyewitness account of some of the action that took place at Catania and Augusta, on the eastern coast of Sicily:
Though there is much work to be done via landing crafts "into East Italian ports", the Canadian Flotillas of Landing Crafts were likely travelling through the Mediterranean Sea on their way back to England, before going on leave and travelling back to Canada:
Here's a weird story about an Eskimo who was really a sailor, but hopefully not one of ours (i.e., RCNVR, Comb. Ops)!
Rare story alert! Canadians in Combined Operations are seen below, back in Canada after serving in the invasion of Sicily, i.e., Operation Husky, beginning on July 3, 1943.
Able Seaman (AB) Fred Turnbull appears in the photo below, is mentioned in the accompanying rare article, and can be heard in an audio file created by The Memory Project.
Above we find the names of a few Canadian officers attached to Combined Operations and in charge of landing crafts that had got their feet wet during the invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch) beginning on November 8, 1942.
One officer mentioned is George Nuttall of Calgary, Alberta. In later years he offered a story by phone to one of the editors of two volumes of stories related to Canadians in Combined Operations. The books were called St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945, Vol. 1 and 2.
And below, we read the sailors are part of the 61st Canadian Flotilla, working alongside the 55th. Both are mentioned in Combined Operations, by Londoner Clayton Marks. The next map below, from the significant book by Mr. Marks, indicates the general location of the four Canadian Flotillas (55 and 61, with assault craft (ALCs); 80 and 81 with the larger landing craft, mechanised (LCMs)).
Original book cover, COMBINED OPERATIONS
Volumes 1 and 2 of St. Nazaire to Singapore are rarely found
but a Volume 2 is for sale at AbeBooks. Go buy it!
The news article from The Montreal Star about these two seldom-mentioned Canadian Flotillas of landing craft continues with the mention of several names of sailors and their hometowns! Good for research!
Importantly, a name is mentioned above of a "chronicler and historian for the Royal Canadian Navy", i.e., Lt. Cmdr. Bartlett. I have located some of his fine articles re the activities of the RCN in various locations, and they appear in earlier posts on the website, related to Sicily and/or Italy. Happy hunting, I say!
Another fine article appears below by Sholto Watt, correspondent for The Montreal Star. As he said in his last submission (presented in an earlier post), he was going to link up with Canadian troops on the ground, and he certainly has done so:
Thanks to the return of POWs at this time in the fall of 1943, we get an inside look at the conditions suffered by some of our troops - some connected to the Dieppe Raid - in their own words. I would say that this is another rare type of article, and though not directly related to solely Canadians in Combined Operations, it is certainly closely linked, as the raid upon Dieppe was the first action for which the first drafts to Combined Ops trained, which included about 90 - 100 young Canadian sailors, including my father.
I am going to continue my search with hopes that the answer is 'yes'.
More news from The Med, soon to follow.
Please link to Editor's Research: Invasion of Italy (22) - Montreal Star (Oct. 20-22, '43)
Unattributed Photos GH
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