The Battle For Verrières Ridge

Spaniard · Aug 9, 2010

macrusk said:

Kursk in Normandy: Operation ... - Google Books

Transcribed the following excerpt from the site above:

Chapter 8 Goodwood II: Operation Spring, July 25th-26th p 204

"
What the Operation was really meant to be remains a mystery. Monty said it was another attempt to reach Falaise. But to the commanding Canadian General, Simons, it was a "holding attack" designed to draw German divisions away from Operation "Cobra" attack at St. Lo.
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That's not correct at all, a Mystery, LOL. looks like he needs to hit the Archives faster then the wind.
First he can't even spell Simonds or Simmonds properly!

Spaniard; 11. As per Montys Plan, Simonds insistence that the attack was a “Holding Attack” as many complaints from senior Canadians. General Foulkes wet on record and held firm that Spring was presented by Simonds as a “breakthrough” operation with prospects of success.
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LRusso216 · Aug 9, 2010

To all;

Let's keep the negative comments about other posters down and focus ONLY on the topic. If that becomes impossible, this thread will close.

Spaniard · Aug 10, 2010

LRusso216 said:

To all;

Let's keep the negative comments about other posters down and focus ONLY on the topic. If that becomes impossible, this thread will close.
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Not a problem for me Mr LRusso. Now that being said I found the Article I had on the 272 which has more information, It looks like the Majority is Word for Word from the one macrusk Posted. Same still applies there's inaccurate info in this article.

History of the 272nd at Caen, July 1944
By Doug Nash

The 272nd Infantry Division was formed in Belgium beginning on 12 December 1943 from the remnants of the Hanoverian 216th Infantry Division, which had been decimated on the Eastern Front and disbanded the month before. The entire staff of the 216th, its signal battalion, divisional support units, and most of its artillery regiment were simply re-designated with the new divisional number. Grenadier Regiments 396 and 398 were disbanded, except the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Regiment 396, which was re-designated as Füsilier Battalion 272. Its commander, Generalleutnant Friedrich August Schack, was carried over from his previous command of the 216th.

Only Grenadier Regiment 348, under the command of Oberstleutnant Burian, was withdrawn from Russia in its entirety, to be re-designated as Grenadier Regiment 980. Both Grenadier Regiments 981 and 982 were created from reserve and training battalions of the 182nd Reserve Division, consisting almost entirely of native German personnel or Reichsdeutsche. The combat engineer and antitank battalions were formed from scratch using elements forwarded from the Replacement Army.

The new 272nd Infantry Division trained in the Bevern area in Belgium while under the command and control of the Fifteenth Army. In April 1944 it was sent to the French Mediterranean Coast to continue its training plan and to conduct security duties near the Franco-Spanish border while under the control of the Nineteenth Army. By 19 June, it reported that its present for duty strength was 11,211 men and 1,514 Russian auxiliaries or Hiwis, for a total of 12,725 men, close to its authorized strength.

Due to the deteriorating situation on the Normandy Front, the division was shipped via rail beginning 2 July 1944, experiencing numerous Allied air attacks and Maquis ambushes along the way that slowed its movement to a crawl and caused it to arrive at the front piecemeal. Force to unload its trains at the Loire River, the division had to make the remaining 180-kilometer trip to Normandy on foot, marching mostly by night to avoid Allied fighter-bombers. By midnight on 13 July, enough of the division had arrived to begin movement into the front lines, where its first three battalions found themselves placed under the control of the I SS-Panzer Corps and tasked to begin the relief in place of the battered 1st SS-Panzer Division “Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler” (LSSAH). Division headquarters was established in Fresnay.

These three battalions and the supporting artillery battalion, as well as Füsilier Battalion 272, found themselves immediately involved in battle. By the end of 16 July, the division had already suffered 933 casualties. By the 17th of July, most of the 272nd Infantry Division had arrived at the front and was immediately placed into line. Grenadier Regiments 980 and 982 were holding the front line, which stretch from the right flank at the Caen railway station to the left flank at Maltot. The following day, 18 July 1944, the British began their long-awaited offensive, Operation GOODWOOD, designed to allow their Second Army to break out of the beachhead and seize Caen once and for all. Using seven armored and two infantry divisions, the British intended to smash the German defenses and punch a way through to Falaise and open the road to Paris.

On the first day, the British were able to advance seven kilometers with the support of over 2,100 heavy and medium bombers blasting the way clear for the tanks and ground troops. German losses were heavy, but the 1st and 12th SS-Panzer Divisions, 21st Panzer Division, and the 272nd Infantry Division fought back desperately. At one point, the 272nd lost contact with its left and right neighbors, and found itself two kilometers ahead of the German front line, forcing it to conduct a fighting withdrawal back to the new German main line of resistance. The artillery regiment frequently found its batteries placed in the direct fire role in order to keep the onrushing British tanks at bay, its guns frequently firing up to 600 rounds a day. By 20 July, Caen had fallen, but the British advance was held up by the German defenses along the Verrières Ridge, held in part by the stalwart Grenadiers of the 272nd Infantry Division. Most of the division’s infantry battalions by that point had suffered losses between 40 and 50 percent.

The Division’s outstanding performance in the fighting near Caen was recognized in the Wehrmachtsbericht of 24 July 1944, which announced to the German people “In the Caen area, the 272nd Infantry Division, under the inspirational leadership of Generalleutnant Schack, has especially distinguished itself through its tough defense and magnificent counterattacks.”

At 0200 hours on 25 July after a six-hour long preparatory barrage, the British continued their attack and were able to punch a seven-kilometer wide breach in the German line between the Orne River and the Bougebus Ridge. British Shermans were reported approaching the Verrières Ridge at 0700 hours, though the batteries of the 272nd Infantry Division and the 12th SS-Panzer Division, as well as 88mm Flak of the 16th Luftwaffe Feld-Division, slowed the onrushing attack and in some instances forced the British to turn back after inflicting heavy losses.

Counterattacks were carried out throughout the 25th and 26th of July by Heer and Waffen-SS troops and tanks, so that by the evening of 26th July, the tip of the British spearhead had been broken off and the front line pushed back between two and three kilometers. The next evening, the exhausted survivors of the 272nd were pulled out of line and sent to a quiet area on the front line near the town of Troarn to rest, reconstitute and take in replacements. It continued to reorganize until 3 August, absorbing the bulk of the disbanded 16th Luftwaffe Field-Division. This brought the 272nd back up to 50 – 60% of its authorized strength. By being transferred to the Troarn area, it also managed to avoid being trapped in the Falaise Pocket. Though it had managed to emerge victorious after contributing more than its fair share towards the effort to stop Operation Goodwood, much more lay ahead – fighting at Troan, retreat across the Dives, the tank battle at Lisieux, and the retreat across the Seine and the low countries.

Though not as glamorous as their Kameraden from the highly-vaunted Waffen-SS, the ordinary Grenadiers of the 272nd had acquitted themselves very well indeed, helping to stop numerous tank-heavy British assaults even though it lacked armor of its own. Using Panzerfausts, hand grenade bundles, antitank guns, and sheer guts, the 272nd Infantry Division had racked up almost 100 tank kills in ten days of combat, while undergoing some of the fiercest bombardments of the Normandy Campaign, a feat rarely equaled by any other German infantry division at the time.

http://www.dererstezug.com/272ndCaen.htm
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Spaniard · Aug 10, 2010

I found this Article quite informative and the Fact Mr. Stan Scislowski
took the time to write this in memory of his friend, I was quite moved.

The Bill Greaves Story
Location of story: Normandy
Background to story: Army
Article ID: A2805699
Contributed on: 04 July 2004

This is not my story, but that of close legion friend of mine now deceased. I only wrote it for him.

The BATTLE OF VERRIERES RIDGE

A name indelibly etched into the memories of the men of 2nd Canadian Infantry Division who took part in the fierce battle, code named “Atlantic” that swept back and forth across the ridge and in the villages of St. Andre sur Orne, Verrieres, St. Martin de Fontenay and Ifs between July 19 to the 21st, 1944. In these three days, every battalion committed in the battle suffered horrendous casualties in this their first major action of the invasion. The Essex alone sustained 244 casualties, 37 of them fatal.

I’ll not go deeply into all aspects of what had occurred on that blood saturated slope, details have been more than adequately covered and documented in the dozens of books written by noted Canadian and British historians over the many years since that evil day. I want to touch only on the story of one man, a Private in “D” company of the Essex Scottish Regiment of Windsor, Ontario, Bill Greaves, who was wounded in this crucial and soul shattering first battle since the tragedy of Dieppe where the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division landed in assault on the morning of August 19, 1942. It was on on the gentle slope of Verrieres Ridge in Normandy where next blood letting of the infantry battalions of 2nd Division took place. First, however, let me begin with an epitaph written by the late Col. C.P. Stacey in his book, The Victory Campaign, volume III of the Official Canadian History of WW II. It goes like this:

Three miles or so south of Caen, the present-day tourist driving down the arrow straight road that leads to Falaise, sees immediately to his right a rounded hill crowned by farm buildings. If the traveler be Canadian, he would do well to stay the wheels at this point and cast his mind back to the event of 1944; for this apparently insignificant eminence is the Verrieres Ridge. Well may the wheat and the sugar beets grow green and lush upon its gentle slope, for in that now half-forgotten summer the best blood of Canada was freely poured out upon them. An eloquent and fitting tribute indeed.

The South Saskatchewans had gone up the Verrieres slope ahead of the Essex and soon found themselves floundering in a hell dance almost as flaming and body consuming as that of Dieppe. They were forced to pull back or face the reality of annihilation. They left behind them, however, on the grassy slope, a lot of good men, men they’d sorely be in need of in the days ahead. Their casualties numbered 66 killed, 116 wounded and 26 taken prisoner. Four days later in operation ‘Spring’ it would be the Black Watch’s turn to take a beating. They left behind even more men lying dead in the grain than had the regiment from the prairies. In fact it came about as close to being wiped out as had the Royal Regiment of Canada and the Essex Scottish two years earlier on the blood spattered stones at Dieppe. It was another black day for the 2nd Infantry Division.

As the prairie boys pulled back off the ridge on the 21st of June hounded by small-arms fire all the way, they passed through the two lead companies of the Essex Scottish who were already taking casualties from mortar bombs as well as snipers and intermittent machine gun fire. Dog Company, led by Capt. Cy Steele of Chatham, Ontario resolutely pushed on, though the small-arms fire thickened in intensity. All around them, bodies lay scattered about amidst the flourishing grain—their faces in the gray pallor and serenity of death. The wounded were intermixed with the dead. As Bill Greaves describes it, he had to step around and over the bodies of Sasks carpeting the slope. Bill and his buddies had only a moment or two to contemplate what had happened here and what lay ahead for them after seeing all the bodies, when all of a sudden they were hit by a whirlwind of 88 mm shells fired at them by German tanks. Machine gun fire laced into their ranks from several directions. And as they went to ground, mortars zeroed in on them.

Although the two companies had gone to ground, there was no protection for them there. The thick stand of grain offered concealment only. The thin stalks of wheat could not turn aside or stop the streams of .300 calibre steel jacketed rounds from slashing into flesh, bone and sinew. Nor could the grain stop shrapnel from perforating and slicing into their bodies as they pressed hard into the soggy soil in helpless desperation to escape death. The enemy, in full strength and in strongly set-up positions on the ridge, supported by mammoth, 88mm-gunned tanks, knew exactly where the Essex had gone to ground and poured everything they had at them. No amount of bravery could help them in the situation. To move forward was to die.

Early in the advance a sniper’s bullet caught Bill in the upper left thigh, knocking him 'ass over tea-kettle”. All around him his platoon mates were likewise being gunned down. Immediate withdrawal was the only command that could have been given, and so the remnants of the two Essex companies pulled back, leaving the wounded scattered amidst the wheat, to be picked up later when things quietened down or when the Ridge was taken. To the wounded it looked to be a forlorn hope.

Bill lay where he had fallen, drifting into and out of consciousness as the blood from the gouge torn out of his leg soaked his trousers and dripped onto the ground beneath him, made soft and mushy by the sharp downpour of rain earlier that morning. In his waking moments Bill felt sharp pangs of pain coursing up and down his leg. Gritting his teeth to keep from crying out, he managed to tie a shell dressing on the wound to staunch the flow of blood. And then, as if his present predicament wasn’t grim enough, mortar bomb1 frag-ments caught him in a shoulder, his good leg, and upper back. But the wounds, as painful as they were, were not Bill’s biggest concern. What troubled him more was the approach of SS killing squads thrashing about in the wheat on a search for wounded Canadians. He knew only too well what the infamous SS were capable of doing. They were young fanatics totally devoted to Hitler, totally lacking in compassion, who took sadistic pleasure in tormenting and then cold-bloodedly shooting the wounded. Another concern weighing heavy on his mind was the likelihood of tanks, either the enemy’s or his own, crushing the life out of him under their steel treads as they moved about on the slope. Bill had a pistol and for a moment thought seriously of putting a bullet into his brain when he heard the roar of a tank engine and the grating squeak of its treads against sprockets approaching the place where he lay. Quick death by a bullet was more preferable to him than being slowly crushed by the weight of a thirty-one ton Sherman or a fifty-six ton Tiger tank.

Later in the afternoon when tanks of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers rumbled onto the scene, crew commanders were especially alert, not only for the presence of enemy armour and panzer faust-armed 2 infantry tank hunting teams, but they also scanned the terrain ahead to avoid running over the many dead and wounded lying about in profusion in the wheat. Even so, for all their care, some of the wounded did die horribly under the Shermans’ churning tracks. As one tank man put it, in a voice breaking under the strain of what he had just witnessed, “We just couldn’t help it. We’d swerve to miss one man, and damned if we didn’t roll over a couple of others.” It was a bloody, sad, and heartbreaking day for the Essex and all the other battalions that fought for the wheat covered slope of Verrieres Ridge.

Sometime towards evening when the mind numbing clamor of battle subsided, stretcher-bearers made their way forward to pick up the wounded, Bill, along with the other wounded were carried out to the Field Dressing Station for urgent treatment. Although the attack on the ridge had gone disastrously for the 2nd Infantry Division, when placed within the frame of the so-called ‘bigger picture’, it did achieve a measure of success. In all respects, the sacrifices made here on this minor, though fanatically defended elevation, without a doubt had a most important bearing on the outcome of the Yanks’ powerful breakout offensive on the right flank of the beachhead four days later. By tying down 1st Panzer Corps, their seemingly hopeless efforts kept this elite formation from being used against the Yanks, a move which might very well have stopped the attacking American divisions in their tracks or even driven them right back to the beach with heavy losses. What the outcome might have been after that, no one could hope to know or would dare conjecture. Therefore, it can be rightly said, that out of such sacrifices are major battles and even campaigns won. Although grave mistakes in the upper echelons of command had undoubtedly been made, the individual Canadian infantryman, the dead, the wounded, those who by the good fortunes of war came through unscathed only to die in later battles, and those who survived the war, helped make the breakthrough possible. They had given everything within their power to give, and in the end, their efforts and lavish sacrifice paved the way to overwhelming victory in Normandy.

Stan Scislowski
© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author.

BBC - WW2 People's War - Verrieres Ridge
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Slipdigit · Aug 10, 2010

Spaniard said:

First I"m no longer on this Site,
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You were just pulling our collective legs, right?

Billymac · Aug 10, 2010

macrusk said:

Well, I do thank you Spaniard for listing the many valid sources for information regarding Verrieres Ridge. I'd have saluted you, but being insulted in the same post rather nullified that. You are quite mistaken in assuming that knowledge of Verrieres Ridge was new to me; however, your dramatic pronouncements were.

While I may never have served, it did not stop me from learning about the military as I was a child of the Canadian Armed Forces since my Dad not only served in the army for all 6 years of WWII, but also served afterwards as an NCO in the RCAF - being awarded the Canadian Decoration in the days it took more than 10 years service to earn it. His service and lifelong interest and knowledge inspired me to gain whatever knowledge I could myself.

There are many Canadian posters on this website and I hope that they are fully aware that the negative exchanges which occurred with you had nothing to do with your nationality, or that your posts were about a Canadian World War II subject but for the manner in which they were presented. I wish you well at the Canadian site, where I hope you will present yourself and your information in a manner which will allow intelligent and mannered discourse.

To others who read this thread it does actually contain worthwhile data, certainly good reference materiel to review (now!), and it is important to understand the deadly impact of Verrieres Ridge, Carpiquet, etc in Normandy was to have dire effect in its cumulative effect upon the operations by the Canadian Corps and its ability to fulfill demands upon it in successive battles, such as the clearing of the Scheldt.
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Hello, This is an interesting thread , There was a discussion a few months ago about Verriers Ridge. As I only live just over an hour away, I went to the ridge and took a few photos. If you would like to see them, just say and I will post them again. Bill

Spaniard · Aug 10, 2010

Slipdigit said:

You were just pulling our collective legs, right?
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No I want you to get less stress and PM's on Me LOL and since through all the Madness I've stayed out of the Cooler .

No I wasn't When I say something haven't I kept My Word, not like others. I just wanted to clean up this thread and respond to Comments as you see I've Edited and Removed Thread 3 and Two Out of Respect for my Regiment. This is the only thread I've participated in.

Or to Cut and Paste My Threads as information that I found interesting.

But now I need the Next Post Badly so please do understand his Info to me is very Valuable.

Spaniard · Aug 10, 2010

Billymac said:

Hello, This is an interesting thread , There was a discussion a few months ago about Verriers Ridge. As I only live just over an hour away, I went to the ridge and took a few photos. If you would like to see them, just say and I will post them again. Bill
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Bonjour Mr. Bill I'm the OP of this thread go right ahead post all the Pics you want, I also have of the Ridge.

1 hour away from Verrières Ridge you say, I need info if you can help?

I'm mainly on this Site Now Operation Spring Who's To Blame for the Horrific Carnage? - Canada at War Forums

You can post your pictures on that thread also would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time and interest, Bonne journées as Vous Monsieur Bill.

Billymac · Aug 11, 2010

Hello, Pictures of Verriers Ridge as promised.
View attachment 13770

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View attachment 13774

Bill

Billymac · Aug 11, 2010

Few More pics.

View attachment 13775

View attachment 13776

View attachment 13777

View attachment 13778

View attachment 13779

Bill.

Skipper · Aug 11, 2010

Merci Billymac, it's nice to have members who register to share with others. You are a very welcome member on this thread.

Spaniard · Aug 11, 2010

Near the Top Crest of Verrières Ridge looking into May-sur-Orne, The new Chuch is where the Old one Stood. Thats the Assembly of the Calgerian's they never got to, The Ridge is Not very High compared to the Way many have described it, as you can see by the Picture.

Fichier:MaysurOrne enneigÃ©.jpg - WikipÃ©dia

Spaniard · Aug 11, 2010

Thank you for posting the Pictures Mr Bill, as on the other site I just saw.

I think the info provided is not correct they held the Village for 7 days????

Spaniard; for july 25th 1944. On the left flank The North Nova Scotia Highlanders advanced steadily to the outskirts of Tilly-la-Campagne. Their lead companies fired a flare at 04:30hrs, signalling success in reaching their objective. At 05:25hrs, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Petch ordered his reserve companies into the village to mop up and reported “Hamlet” the code word for “on the objective” to division and corps. In the centre, The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry overcame initial opposition and seized Verrières village by 05:30hrs. At 07:50hrs, Lt.-Col. John Rockingham reported that his battalion was firm on the objective.
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In my time we had Photocopies of these Accounts, due to a flood I lost allot of this info Aka Primary Source. Let me look some papers I was able to save, I'll be back

Spaniard for July 25th 1944; 5th Brigade message log reviles a scene of chaos confused fighting on the northern edge of May lasting into the early afternoon. At 16:15hrs a smokescreen was laid across the front of the Canadian line and Brigadier Megill ordered The Calgarians to withdraw into St. Andre. The Fort Garry Horse with The North Nova Scotia Highlanders had been overpowered in their operation against Tilly-La-Campagne, in the centre the success of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry in capturing Verrieres village was short lived as they could not hold the position. The Royal Regiment of Canada and C SQN of the 1st Hussars bypassed Verrieres heading for Rocquancourt as they ran into a “hurricane of fire” and took heavy losses. To their right The 1st Royal Tank Regiment encountered accurate long-range fire as soon as they moved forward.
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Spaniard; In the centre, The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry had fought with Gallantry against overwhelming odds, seizing the Village of Verrières as they deploying their anti-tank guns, repelling off Jerry counter-attacks. Verrières village is on a reverse slope 200 yards further south from the crest. When the 9th SS Panzer battle group tried to attack “The Rileys,” the fire from six-inch and 17-pounder anti-tank guns was so deadly the Germans reported “whoever crosses the ridge is a dead man” and they turned away.
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Sources;

CMHQ Report No. 105, 10.
CMHQ Report No. 105, 61.
CMHQ Report No. 162
Stacey,Victory Campaign, 93-192.

This information can also be found in
Professor Terry Copp's Book
Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy.

.

macrusk · Aug 17, 2010

Great photos, Billymac. I shall have to add those I took in May to this thread or in the gallery with a link here. Perhaps you will be able to clarify a question or two I have regarding the names.

Billymac · Aug 24, 2010

Hello Michelle, Sorry for the delay in replying, If I can help, please ask. I was at Lambert Sur Dives and Montormel. You may be interested in seeing a couple of photos.
View attachment 13966

View attachment 13967
The first photo is the Memorial on the hill overlooking Lambert Sur Dives.
The second photo is The plaque to commemerate Major Currie. This is where he was awarded the VC.
Regards Bill.

John B · Jul 27, 2011

View attachment 13772 Here is a photo of my father, posing with a friend who was obviously in the Canadian Navy, taken shortly after the end of the war. You can just see the cap badge for the Essex Scottish Regiment on his tam, and the wound stripe on the left sleeve of his tunic.

View attachment 13773 My father was a private in the Essex Scottish Regiment who was wounded on the 21st of July, 1944 at the Battle of Verierres Ridge by German mortar fire. (Even when dad was in his early seventies, I could still see the scar tissue from the shrapnel wound to his left shoulder.)

In talking about that day, which was quite obviously one of the most momentous of his life, my father always focused on a few key details: The Germans advanced with several Tiger tanks followed closely by panzergrenadiers....Although it seems quite improbable to me, my father always talked about being able to see the helmets on the heads of the Germans as they advanced in close support with their tanks. He also always talked about the Typhoon fighters that arrived, unleashing their rockets on the German armour and "saving" the Canadians on the ground.

Like many soldiers -or perhaps almost all- who lived through such experiences, my father exhibited signs of emotional scarring as well. He always talked about seeing the bloated bodies of German soldiers, rotting in the sun outside Caen, and about the indescribably horrible smell. (I'm told he had trouble eating Sunday dinner at his mom's house for a year or more after the war, because he couldn't get the smell of the battlefield out of his mind.) I can also attest, that many years after the war had ended, he would sometimes have nightmares about his experience on that hot July day in 1944.

I have always wanted to read a detailed history of the Essex Scottish Regiment. Does such a history exist?

I've read bits and pieces in books about the regiment, often discussing their role in the Dieppe Raid, or in the fighting outside Caen.

I also was somewhat displeased to note that in the recent film made about the massacre of the Black Watch at Verierres Ridge, the Essex Scottish were only mentioned in passing...and with a phrase that suggested their contribution to the battle mainly consisted of breaking and running.

I also remember the film's narrator making the claim that the Black Watch had suffered the highest number of battlefield casualties of any Canadian regiment in the Second World War. (According to my knowledge, this is incorrect. -It was the Essex Scottish Regiment who suffered the highest number of battlefield casualties.)

I am looking for photos of the Essex Scottish from the period of the Battle of Verierres Ridge and have been able to find nothing. Can anyone here steer me in the direction of some archival materials that I am unaware of?

macrusk · Jul 27, 2011

My Dad was also a Veteran, an artillery gunner with the Canadian 3LAA and he too spoke in his later years about the stench and the German dead at Caen and the Falaise Gap. I have posted about him in various threads. Do read Sapper's thread in which he describe Falaise as a British Sapper.

Some posts about the Essex Scottish and Verrieres Ridge, and some other links regarding the Essex Scottish:

WWII: Verrieres Ridge - Canada at War

Verrieres Ridge

Windsor's Scottish Heritage - People - The Essex-Scottish Regiment: World War II

"The Massacre at Verrieres Ridge" - Page 3 - World War 2 Talk

Verrieres ridge: the bloodiest day | Esprit de Corps | Find Articles at BNET

http://www.wlu.ca/lcmsds/cmh/back i...2/Copp - Fifth Brigade at Verrieres Ridge.pdf

Essex Scottish - Veterans Affairs Canada

Essex Scottish

essex scottish - Google Search Images of the Essex Scottish

Videos of the Essex Scottish essex scottish - Google Search

The Essex Scottish Regiment - Canada at War

Veterans Memories - Our Veterans

Essex Scottish Soldiers - Canadian Heritage Gallery

the raid on Dieppe, France - The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment History - Essex & Kent Scottish Regiment

www.canadiansoldiers.com

http://www.wlu.ca/lcmsds/cmh/back i...nt and the Foret de la Londe, August 1944.pdf

History Of The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment

a concise history - The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment History - Essex & Kent Scottish Regiment

DHH - Volume 3: Combat Arms Regiments, Part 2: Infantry Regiments - THE ESSEX AND KENT SCOTTISH

http://www.rangersatdieppe.com/uploads/cmhq108.pdf

The long march of the Essex Scottish regiment, part 3: with a greater chance of escape, members of the Essex Scottish endure the hardships of German work camps | Esprit de Corps | Find Articles at BNET

Duty Nobly Done: The Official History of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment.(Book review) - Ontario History | HighBeam Research

http://www.ekscot.org/REGIMENTAL-MANUAL_2011.pdf

link to Library and Archives where I did a search for photographic material on the Essex Scottish Archives Search Result - Search - Library and Archives Canada

Good Luck with your research and welcome to the Forum. Look for books by Canadian Veterans and other Canadian Authors about NW Europe and you will learn a lot about your Dad's unit and the experience of the other Canadian servicemen. Let me know if you would like me to provide you with some names of writers or their books. Also have a look in the information or genealogy section at the thread with other website links as I have many there for researching Canada's WWII history.

John B · Jul 28, 2011

Thank you so much, Michelle, for your response and for providing that extensive list of links dealing with the Essex Scottish.

By the way, I love your quotation from Oliver Goldsmith, and very much confer with the sentiment.

-John

Marilyn · Jan 25, 2017

macrusk said:

Great photos, Billymac. I shall have to add those I took in May to this thread or in the gallery with a link here. Perhaps you will be able to clarify a question or two I have regarding the names.
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Hello Macrusk, my husband and I will be going to the !00th Anniversary of Vimy in April. I am from Canada and I have been doing research on my Uncle who was in the 1st Battalion Black Watch, RHR of Canada. I have his letters he wrote home to his family and I am now tracing his steps when he landed in France from July 5th onward. I got some pictures of Verrieres Ridge from this forum and other sites but I am wondering if you have anything different. Could you please post them. Thank you - Mariyn

The Battle For Verrières Ridge

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