Robert Fisher was the son of John Joseph and Catherine Hughes Fisher of Montreal. His family of six boys and one girl lived in the St. Urbain neighbourhood of Montreal. He left school at 17 and was working at Harper Dye Works as a steelworker in Montreal when he enlisted in 16th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, which was being raised in Montreal, on 11 July 1940.
Robert started his training in Camp Debert, Nova Scotia in a few weeks later. During October and November, he was trade tested as a tinsmith, a carpenter and as a pioneer and qualified Group ‘C’ in all three. He received pay as a Pioneer.
The following summer, the company deployed to the United Kingdom. Landing in Greenock, Scotland on 22 June 1941, they moved south to England to join other units of the 3rd Canadian Division in the Aldershot area. They immediately took part in a massive works program building new camps, roads and airfields, and defense works.
Once released from their works tasks, they reverted back to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Robert’s training now focussed on combined operations, bridging, demolitions, small arms, route and mine clearance, water supply and other field engineering tasks.
On 6 June 1944, the first beach clearance parties from Number 3 Platoon landed at Bernieres-sur-Mer and St-Aubin-sur-Mer with the Queen’s Own Rifles and North Shore Regiment. They touched down at H-Hours and the infantry landed five minutes later. In those first five minutes, the Sappers were expected to have cleared most obstacles to allow infantry to advance with a minimum of casualties and then to continue working their way forward with the incoming tide preparing ways forward for successive waves of landing craft carrying more engineers, infantrymen, guns and tanks. Once off the beaches by mid-morning, they led the infantry inland clearing booby traps and mines along the roadways.
The Battle of Normandy continued until late August when Canadian and US forces closed the Falaise Gap. The 16th Field Company had supported the 3rd Division throughout these battles and continued with them over the Seine in early September. Over the next month, they worked to capture and re-open the Channel ports. By the first week in October, they were near Bruges with orders to prepare for the 7th Brigade’s assault over the Leopold Canal in the coming week.
Early on the morning of 6 October 1944, the 3rd Infantry Division launched Operation SWITCHBACK, the assault over the Leopold Canal, as the first step in clearing the Breskens Pocket. The 16th Field Company had a kapok footbridge across the Canal at 0540 hours for the Canadian Scottish Regiment on the right. On the left, efforts to put in a bridge to support the assault of the Regina Rifles enemy fire held up completion until nightfall. In one of the attempts to get the second bridge across, the sappers launched seven bays before intense mortar, machine gun and sniper fire drove them back behind the dike. Sapper Fisher, one of the original members of the company and still one of the younger members, was killed. Over the day, eight other sappers were wounded, including Sapper Warren Townsend who later died of wounds.
Sapper Robert Fisher was initially buried on the top of the dike on the Leopold Canal and later moved to the Adegem Canadian War Cemetery near Bruges.
Shortly after the war ended, Sapper Robert Fisher’s mother received a letter from the Minister of National Defence informing her that her son had been Mentioned in Dispatches for distinguished service and that the King had recorded his high appreciation for services rendered. The letter went on to express regret that Sapper Fisher did not survive to receive the award so gallantly earned.
Two of Robert’s brothers, Reginald and William also served in the Canadian Army during the war.
Return to Part 5: Tributes to the Fallen Sappers of the Scheldt