Sorry, not sorry. While Canadians are nowadays subject to the stereotype of hockey-loving,
maple-syrup-chugging, overly polite potheads, their wartime stereotypes in the First and
Second World Wars had their enemies trembling in their boots and making a hot mess in their
trousers. It's as if when Canadians hear the word "war" their insatiable desire for
maple syrup and Canadian beer turns into an insatiable desire for blood. In saying that,
however, they didn't always rush enemy positions with bayonets, meat cleavers,
and spiked clubs, but were some of the most well-trained and formidable soldiers on any
front in any war. In this video, we're going to explore Canadian wartime reputation, keeping our
scope focused on World War II and the heroic feats of individual Canadian soldiers therein.
To get the puck sliding, let's move our scope quickly to the First World War,
in which the Canadians laid the groundwork for their reputation as shock troopers.
Mostly, the troops of the Canadian Corps were known for their savage raids on enemy
trenches and their unwritten "take-no-prisoner and kill-the-wounded" policies. Locked in a stalemate
in opposing trenches, the Canadians devised all manner of strategies and weaponry to flip the
chessboard upside down and clean up the enemy pieces. Cutting through barbed wire, they crept
upon them in the cover of night with painted faces, launching either savage, unforeshadowed
raids or perking up their ears and eavesdropping on enemy plans. In said raids, the Canadians
gorged their bayonets with blood and made good use of improvised melee weapons, paying little
attention to attempts at surrender and skewering bandaged and unarmed men just the same as men on
their feet and with rifles. They even concocted an alchemist's-shelf of homebrew explosives, like
pipe bombs and jam jars loaded with nails and gun powder. I think it's a safe bet to say at least
one grenade made with a maple syrup jar! There are also tales of Canadian troops using temporary
truces, like on Christmas day, as a chance to catch their enemy with his stockings on, sending
him grenades instead of Christmas ham and bullets through the brain instead of seasons greetings.
Now, it could be argued that the Canadians were acting out of vengeance,
but couldn't that argument be used to justify most atrocities in most wars?
Canadian Lieutenant R.C. Germain's letter home to his parents makes the
"revenge" excuse about as clear as the sap from a freshly tapped maple tree:
"After losing half of my company there [the enemy position], we rushed them and they had
the nerve to throw up their hands and cry, 'Kamerad.' All the 'Kamerad' they got was
a foot of cold steel [...] while I blew their brains out with my revolver [...]."
Despite being a little stab-happy with enemy soldiers, Canadians troops were known for being
quite — as we contemporary folk have come to expect — polite to civilian populations.
Before we have a look at Canadian reputation in World War II and some
stories, it might pay to know aboot Canada's involvement in the war.
Canada waited until the 10th of September 1939 to declare war on German because it didn't want
to follow Britain like a Commonwealth sheep. It took Canada until the 11th
of June 1940 to declare war on Italy and the 7th of December 1941 to declare it on Japan.
Overall, about 10% of Canada's population fought for her and the Allies. This amounted
to around 1,100,000 Canadians serving in the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Navy,
and the Royal Canadian Air force. Of this 1,100,000, the majority were volunteers.
Canadians fought almost in every theatre of World War II, notably in the defence of the United
Kingdom, the Battle of Hong Kong, the Dieppe Raid, the invasions of Sicily and Italy, the Normandy
landings and the liberation of France, and the liberation of Belgium and the Netherlands. The
Canadian Navy escorted Allied ships across the Atlantic and maintained a high presence in the
Pacific Ocean, and pilots from the Canadian Air Force flew under the wing of the British Royal
Air Force. German submarines sunk Canadian naval and merchant vessels in the waters of Canada and
Newfoundland and attacked the loading pier at Bell Island, and the Japanese also attacked a
lighthouse on Vancouver Island, though little else occurred in Canadian waters or on mainland Canada.
Of the military operations in which Canadians were involved
their ferocity — and inventiveness — stood out in the Battle of Ortona, the Normandy landings,
and the liberation of Belgium and the Netherlands.
Through the medieval streets of Ortona, Italy, the Canadians and Germans engaged in brutal
room-to-room, hand-to-hand fighting, with the Germans eventually having to withdraw. Here,
the Canadians coined the tactic "mouseholing," which is basically blowing holes in buildings to
allow the passage of infantry rather than running into enemy bullets in the open.
In the D-Day landings, the Canadians landed on Juno Beach, the second most
resisted beachhead besides Omaha. The Canadians penetrated further inland than
anyone else on Juna, coming up against some of the strongest units in the German military.
In Belgium and the Netherlands, the Canadians spent thousands and thousands of Canadian
lives to drive the Germans back and get food the starving civilian populations; they even shared
rations with civilians and gave them blankets. Some of the most intense combat here was in the
Battle of Scheldt, where the Allies fought through flooded terrain against stiff German
defences for about a month; this battle alone cost the Canadians more than 6,000 casualties.
This latter triumph, particularly the part about getting food to the starving civilians,
is certainly in keeping with Canadian tendencies in the First World War,
though the following atrocity paints a bit of a different picture.
Canadian Lieutenant Colonel Frederick E. Wigle was shot dead on approach to the town of Friesoythe,
Germany, and a rumour spread that it was a civilian sniper from that town
who shot him. Back on that revenge train, the Canadians burnt down the entire town,
apparently moving its citizens onward before setting their homes on fire. It
was discovered later that the red Wigle was shot by German soldiers.
Now, the intent of emphasising Canadian brutality in World War I and mentioning
the Friesoythe incident is not to take away from Canadian bravery in either world conflict. Like
I said before, Canadians "were some of the most well-trained and formidable soldiers
on any front in any war," and I think the best way to communicate that is to share
some stories involving some of the most heroic Canadian soldiers in World War II.
On the 14th of December 1943, Canadian Captain Paul Triquet and his company,
supported by an armoured squadron, tried to cross "The Gully" and take the Casa Beradi,
a hamlet on the Ortona-Orsogna lateral, Italy. Under heavy machine-gun and mortar fire,
Triquet ran around organising and inspiring what remained of his men, saying, "There are
enemy in front of us, behind us and on our flanks, there is only one safe place — that
is on the objective," before charging forward and breaking through the enemy line. Triquet's
company and the supporting tank squadron pushed right up to the edge of Casa Berardi,
where he set up defences and fought off a tank-supported German counter-attack with whatever
weapons he could find. He held the defensive perimeter against superior numbers until the
rest of the battalion came in and relieved the company. Triquet's "utter disregard of danger,
his cheerfulness, and tireless devotion" inspired his men, and his "tactical skill
and leadership" facilitated the capture a vital point on the Ortona-Orsogna lateral.
On the 18th of August 1944, Canadian Major David Vivian Currie was in command of a force of tanks,
self-propelled anti-tank guns, and infantry. His task was to block an escape route from the Falaise
Pocket in the village of St. Lambert-sur-Dives, Normandy. Currie went in alone and scout German
defences and free the crew of two Allied tanks which were previously disabled. Under heavy mortar
fire, he succeeded. The Germans then kept throwing counter-attacks at Currie and his men, until,
on the 20th, one final German counter-attack was thwarted by Currie, costing the Germans some 2,900
casualties. Throughout these three days of intense combat, Currie displayed "gallant conduct and a
contempt for danger," and collected and inspired his men. One of his officers said, "We knew at one
stage that it was going to be a fight to the finish but he [Currie] was so cool about it,
it was impossible for us to get excited." Over the three days, Currie barely got an hour's sleep,
and when it was over, he fell asleep standing and then crashed to the ground. Currie's "courage
and devotion to duty [...] had a far-reaching effect on the successful outcome of the battle."
French-Canadian Corporal Leo Major was also in Normandy, where he captured a German armoured
vehicle which held secret codes and lost an eye to a phosphorous grenade. He stayed in service,
saying that he "looked like a pirate." However, it wasn't in Normandy where
Leo earned his first Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), but in the Netherlands in 1945.
Actually, before we go there, Leo single-handedly captured 93 Germans in the Battle of Scheldt when
out on a solo reconnaissance mission in 1944. He escorted all 93 of them back to his camp, where he
would not accept a DCM because he considered the person awarding it to him "incompetent."
Back to 1945 and the real DCM.
After breaking his back, ribs, and both ankles when the car he was in hit a landmine,
Leo went on a recon mission with a friend in the city of Zwolle. His friend was killed, so Major
continued alone, capturing a German solider, making the soldier take him to his officer,
who was in a bar, and then telling that German officer that the Canadian artillery was going to
shell and kill them all. Leo then ran through the city firing his gun and lobbing grenades,
fooling the Germans into thinking the Canadian Army was invading. All through the night,
Major brought captured troops back to his camp, resting in civilian houses whenever he needed to
catch his breath. He then set a Gestapo HQ on fire and assaulted a Nazi SS HQ before meeting
with members Dutch Resistance and informing them that he had liberated the city... by himself.
I've got to say, that last one is pure insanity. What an absolute machine.
Overall — based on the available evidence, at least — I think Canadians
in World War II abandoned their unofficial "take-no-prisoner and kill-the-wounded"
policies of World War I. Obviously this is a generalisation, and the Friesoythe
incident certainly demonstrates that they were at least capable of unjust violence,
though there is no comparing the deeds of the Canadians to, say, the Germans, Japanese,
and Soviets. As evinced by the stories of Paul Triquet, David Currie, and Leo Major,
Canadian courage and formidability was in no short supply, and I believe modern-day Canadians
should be proud of how the Canadian military cleaned up their act after World War I and
made such a brave and significant contribution to an Allied victory in the Second World War.