Yes, well you see in 1939 when good King George sent an invite for us colonials to come to jolly 'ole Englund, the Canadian government seached far and wide for timid, well-behaved milquetoasts and good-mannered fops, but it turned out that Canada had a severe and appalling shortage. So they sent a bunch of ruff boyz instead. It turns out that my godfather & his Canadian mates were an unruly bunch of ruffians, they spent the whole war in Europe causing mayhem, breaking glass, damaging property & starting fires! (although only in Germany) (RCAF 6 Group) I understand that the Queen's uncle invited a bunch of these canadian louts on a day-trip to the visit the ritzy French beaches (ooh la-la), some of the lads came back with souvenirs (shrapnel) but the ones who stayed in France caused no more trouble to the delicate British sensibilities.
I can only say that Canadian as are all allied servicemen from WW2 are all well thought of here in the U.K. And us Brits are not delicate by the way.. dont believe what you see in old films
Speak for yerself...I'm a delicate flower.... Canadians in UK were no rougher than any other ally...By rougher I mean unrully...The problem was more perception...Our other allies went by their own rules and discipline...the Canadians adhered to British army regs more than any Anzac ever did ant the none commonwealth allies did their own thing...Imposing British regulations on an army of Canadians who were not in fact British and had their own ways was an error of judgement more so on Canadian side for letting it happen. The Canadians had lots of guys in their own military prison here..But it has to be remembered they were here at the time of Dunkirk..messed about pushed everywhere...planned to be sacrificed here there and everywhere, precisely because they were one of the only formed battle ready formations we had in the early days...They were nearly sacrificed a few times...Even nearly sent to France while we were disengaging...The Canadians had much to argue about in Britain of ww2...Rearing and readdy to go and no one to fight...They were on a spring...but no one wanted to release the pin...The atmosphere must have been electric for these guys in Britain of early war days...The Canadians were no more unruly than anyone else...just roughly handled and badly regulated. Tommy this and Tommy that comes to mind..
There were many in Canada, namely in the bureaucracy, and with the forces already overseas, disappointed with the decision to remain unified at the expense of operational necessity, and critical of so many Canadian units remaining in the UK and out of action for so long, waiting for the return to the Continent. One bright individual from some dept. or other, sent a letter to Prime Minister Mackenzie King, containing a famous prophetic quote from King Henry IV to Louis Balbis de Berton de Crillon stating: "Go hang yourself brave Crillon, for we conquered at Arques, and you were not there." King, somewhat ruffled, and certainly aware of the political implications, post-war and otherwise, of remaining on the sidelines too long, subsequently fired off a memo to Andy McNaughton: "We should urge re-examination for 1 or perhaps 2 divisions going as early as possible to an active theatre" i.e. NOT under Canadian operational command. After a measure of haggling, Guy Simonds' Cdn. 1st Div. was assigned to the Sicilian Campaign in the summer of 1943, under the command of the British 8th Army, and then of course there's Italy. The 5th Canadian Armoured was sent, largely unwanted, (a second Cdn. Inf. Div. was preferred), to inherit already worn out tanks, and together they formed the 1st Canadian Corps. under Crerar.
I have a personal issue which I would love to find out more about, if anyone can give me any help or pointers it would be gratefully appreciated. I have just found out that my grandfather was a Canadian serviceman and probably one of the last to leave these shores as my mother (who was subsequently adopted) was born in Hampshire in December 1946 and I know that the last of the Canadian Army left in April of that year. Is there any way I can find out which infantries were the last to stay on in England until April 1946, he must have been here in March and I would love to narrow the field down. I have tried to order the book The Half-Million from my local library but they want £8 for a request (!). I have already read the pages referred to earlier in this thread from Aldershot history. Thank you for any help.
Sara, you will have better luck if you were to redirect your inquiry to the Military Service Record in the Those Who Served section. Good luck.
Hello Sara, Have you applied to the GRO for a copy of your mother's birth certificate? This may reveal the name of said Canadian soldier: General Register Office (GRO) - Official information on births, marriages and deaths Good luck.
Wow that’s brilliant- it’s a long list. A very long shot here trying to find my Grandad. I guess next step is to find where my Gran was stationed at round same time and see if anything matches. Thanks again
Hi Sara, I have exactly the same situation - wondered how your search is getting on - any hints or tips? I know my Mums Birth Cert states unknown for Father name so that's a dead end for me.
Why are you interested. There were a lot of Canadians in the UK. One army HQ, two Corps HQ five divisions and a Bomber group. They were based in lots of places.
Index of /hyperwar/NHC/NewPDFs/UK The files starting with CDN would be relevant. (And don't ask me what "CDN" stands for, I just work here.)