By LCol Don Chipman (Ret'd)
At the end of August 1944, the last major battle of the Italian Campaign began. It would last a month and cost of 4500 killed, wounded and missing. It did not end the fighting in Italy, but it broke the back of Field Marshall Kesselring’s last line of defence on the Italian peninsula.
This article is presented in four parts:
John Edward Rogers Wood was born in Fernie, BC in 1906. He was educated at Upper Canada College in Toronto and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1927 where he was an outstanding member of the football team. He graduated with a degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Toronto in 1930 and worked his profession until he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Engineers in 1940.
The Engineers of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division had been in action since the beginning of August 1944. They had supported the advance along the Caen-Falaise Road and contributed to the closing of the Falaise Gap. The fight had been difficult.
Colonel Malcolm Sutherland-Brown served as Colonel-Commandant of the Canadian Military Engineers October 1982 - October 1988. He died in Ottawa in January 1999.
John Pierce was born in Pembroke, ON. He was a veteran of the Second World War and served with the 12th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers in Italy. He was awarded the Military Cross for bravery during Operation DIADEM, the breaking of the Gustav Line during the Liri Valley Campaign. Days before British forces assaulted the strong German defences, Lt Pierce conducted reconnaissance of cross sites on the River Gari well ahead of the British.
On 12 September 1944, First Canadian Army received orders to clear the areas north and south of the Scheldt so that the port of Antwerp could be open to Allied shipping. The 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions were at that moment clearing the Channel ports of Boulogne and Calais. The 4th Armour Division had the task of containing German forces on the south bank of the Scheldt, roughly delineated by the Leopold Canal running from the North Sea west of the town of Knocke to the Braakman estuary west of Antwerp.
Robert Russell McPhee was born in Minden, ON. Both his parents died when he was a toddler, and he and his two older sisters grew up with his maternal grandparents. He joined the Canadian Army in Montreal in 1939, serving initially with the 4th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers. He likely began training in Camp Petawawa before deploying to the United Kingdom with the 1st Canadian Infantry Division Engineers in 1940. At some point before landing in Sicily, McPhee was transferred to the 3rd Field Company, RCE.
Even as the war was nearing its end, the Germans did not show any sign of giving up. The Canadians had crossed the Issel River at a point southeast of Appledorn. The 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions then turned north parallel to the Issel to capture the town of Zutphen on 7 April and then moving on to capture the town of Deventer about 15 kilometers away. Running west to east and forming a major obstacle in front of Deventer was the Schipbeek Canal.
George Alfred Hickson was born in Kitchener, Ontario in 1915 and lived there most of his life. He was the oldest of five brothers and three sisters. He was educated at St. Mary’s School and the Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate. He was interested in sport and played for one of the collegiate rugby teams. After graduating from school, he was employed at intervals by the Bell Telephone Company where his father is a foreman, and later, he was permanently employed as a linesman by the county hydro company.
On the day of the Dieppe Raid, Lance-Sergeant Hickson was part of Lieutenant-Colonel Barnes’ Demolition Party. He landed on WHITE BEACH with six other Sappers at 0520 hours opposite the Casino. Coincidentally, the seven-man party was dubbed ‘Hicks Party’ and was accompanied by a covering platoon of 35 men from the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (RHLI) commanded by Lt John Webster. They had the task of destroying the telephone exchange in the main post office in the town of Dieppe.