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The'fightin'est'canadian General: Brigadier Christopher Vokes And u Ottawa L'Universitg canadienne Canada's university mn FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES 1^=1 FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTOCTORALES U Ottawa POSDOCTORAL STUDIES I .'University canadiennc Canada's university G. Christopher Case AUTEUR DE LA THESE / AUTHOR OF THESIS M.A. (History) """GRADE /'DEGREE "~ Department of History FACULTE, ECOLE, DEPARTEMEM7 FACULTY, SCHOOL, DEPARTMENT «The 'Fightin'est' Canadian General:» Brigadier Christopher Vokes and his Approach to Military Command, June 1942 - August 1943 TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS Dr. Serge Durflinger DIRECTEUR (DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS SUPERVISOR CO-DIRECTEUR (CO-DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS CO-SUPERVISOR EXAMINATEURS (EXAMINATRICES) DE LA THESE/THESIS EXAMINERS Dr. Galen Perras Dr. Jeffrey Keshen Gary W. Slater Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes superieures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies "THE 'FIGHTIN'EST' CANADIAN GENERAL:" BRIGADIER CHRISTOPHER VOKES AND HIS APPROACH TO MILITARY COMMAND, JUNE 1942 - AUGUST 1943 By G. Christopher Case Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the MA. degree in History Universite d/Ottawa/University of Ottawa © G. Christopher Case, Ottawa, Canada, 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-59904-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-59904-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. ••I Canada ABSTRACT "THE 'FIGHTIN'EST' CANADIAN GENERAL:" BRIGADIER CHRISTOPHER VOKES AND HIS APPROACH TO MILITARY COMMAND, JUNE 1942 - AUGUST 1943 Gordon Christopher Case Supervisor: University of Ottawa, 2008 Professor Serge Durflinger This thesis evaluates the manner in which Brigadier Christopher Vokes dealt with the technical and human aspects of command while commanding the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade from 25 June 1942 until the end of the Sicilian campaign in August 1943. It seeks to promote a greater understanding of brigade-level command and to rehabilitate Vokes's reputation as a commander, which has largely been based on certain negative personality traits. The author argues that Vokes was a successful commander because he maintained a good balance between technical skills such as planning and directing operations and his ability to understand, motivate, and lead soldiers, and because his actions were guided by a sound philosophy of command based on personal leadership and teamwork. These elements allowed Christopher Vokes to train and lead a highly effective and cohesive fighting force that defeated some of Germany's best troops in the physically demanding environment of the Sicilian battlefield. n ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This analysis of Christopher Vokes's performance as the commander of the 2n Canadian Infantry Brigade during the Second World War has been produced with a great deal of assistance. Three outstanding military scholars were particularly helpful. Dr. Steve Harris, the senior historian at the Department of National Defence's Directorate of History and Heritage, helped me to choose my topic. He asked me, "Which one grabs you by the gut?" I answered, "Chris Vokes," and the rest, as they say, was history. It was also through Steve that I obtained permission to replicate certain maps found in the official history of the campaign. I was equally inspired by Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas E. Delaney (Chair of War Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada), a superb historian, fellow officer, and a friend who analyzed Major-General Bert Hoffmeister's approach to military command on the basis of examining how that officer handled both the human and technical aspects of the job. With his permission, I borrowed his analytical method, as well as several volumes of material he has gleaned from British and other archival sources. Doug also gave me access to Dr. Bill McAndrew's papers, which are held at RMC, and he offered advice on some of the infantry-specific aspects I came across in the course of writing this account. Thanks for everything, Doug. Without a doubt, the most important member of the academic side of my team has been my thesis advisor, Dr. Serge Durflinger. A talented operational military historian in his own right, Serge was there from the very beginning. He put me in touch with Steve Harris, and it was Serge who steered me to the Research Centre at the Canadian War Museum, where I found an invaluable four-volume set of unpublished speeches and lectures delivered by Vokes after the war. Serge always challenged me to question the iii evidence that I was collecting; he listened patiently when I had problems, and rejoiced with me when I made new discoveries. Most importantly, Dr. Durflinger encouraged me to develop my own thoughts. In my view, I have become a far better historian for it. There were, of course, many others who have helped me. John Russo, a staff member at Library and Archives Canada, allowed me to photocopy much of Vokes's military personnel file. Catherine Woodcock and Lara Andrews, both archivists at the Canadian War Museum, gave me access to copies of wartime doctrinal manuals. Equally supportive was Terry Tuey at the University of Victoria's Special Collections Section, which has a treasure trove of oral history interviews with some of the main players in Chris Vokes's story. The University of British Columbia Press allowed me to use Doug Delaney's diagram of a reverse slope position. Mark Zuehlke, a popular historian who published a book on the Sicilian campaign in October 2008, provided letters and interview notes from various veterans. A surviving veteran of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Colonel (retired) Sydney Frost, favoured me with two telephone interviews that shed valuable light on some of the lesser-known aspects of Vokes's personality. Angus Brown, the president of "The Friends of the Canadian War Museum" charity, put me in contact with Mr. John Maclean, who co-authored Vokes's memoirs. A different John Maclean, a brother officer, helped me with editing the maps. Above all, though, I owe my family a debt that I will never be able to fully repay. For two and a half years, my wife, Natasha, and our two daughters, Annemarie and Sara, have graciously put up with my extended stays at my desk in our basement, endless nights and weekends at the archives, and frequent dinnertime discussions about Chris Vokes. This history would not exist had it not been for their love and encouragement. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents v List of Maps vi List of Figures vii List of Abbreviations viii INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1 PRELUDE: SEPTEMBER 1939-JUNE 1942 13 CHAPTER 2 FORGING AN EFFECTIVE TEAM .....24 CHAPTER 3 PREPARING FOR BATTLE 58 CHAPTER 4 LEARNING THE ROPES 74 CHAPTER 5 BATTLEWORTHY Ill CODA: AFTER SICILY 148 CONCLUSION: CHRISTOPHER VOKES AND BRIGADE COMMAND 149 Appendices: Appendix 1 Canadian Army Organizations and Rank Structure, 1939 - 1945 158 Appendix 2 First Canadian Army Chain of Command, 24 April 1943 159 Appendix 3 The Allied Chain Of Command for Operation HUSKY 160 Bibliography 161 I. Primary Sources 161 II. Secondary Sources 164 v LIST OF MAPS Map 1 The 2nd Brigade's Operational Area, England, June 1942 - April 1943 26 Map 2 Combined Operations Training Centre, Inverary, S cotland 53 Map 3 Operation HUSKY: The Allied Campaign in Sicily 73 Map 4 The Canadian Landings at Pachino, 10 July 1943 77 Map 5 The Advance Towards Enna, 14-18 July 1943 87 Map 6 The 2nd Brigade's Area of Operations, 18 July - 06 August 1943 89 Map 7 The Leonforte-Assoro Position 93 Map 8 The 2nd Brigade's Assault on Leonforte, 20-22 July 1943 99 Map 9 The Battle of Agira 115 Map 10 The 2nd Brigade's Operations in the Salso River Valley 131 VI LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 1st Canadian Infantry Division, June 1942 15 Figure 2 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade, June 1942 17 Figure 3 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade Headquarters, June 1942 18 Figure 4 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade Task Organization, Operation HUSKY 64 Figure 5 A Reverse Slope Position 117 vn LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Term Abbreviation Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General AA&QMG Brigade Bde Brigade Major BM Brigadier Brig.
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