CANLOAN-Story
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A special, almost forgotten, group: '' de Canloans'. The efforts of the Canadian contingent during the liberation of the Netherlands may assumed to be known. Less well known is that a group of younger, mostly subaltern, officers had signed a contract for voluntarily serving in regiments of the British Army. They remained in the service of the Canadian government, Canada was responsible for their pay. They were lent to the British government. Therefore, the term "Canloans", that means: "borrowed from Canada". In the course of 1943/1944 the British armed forces, especially the infantry regiments, had a great shortage of lieutenants and captains. The British fought on several fronts. You encounter the mentioned ranks in the infantry as a platoon commander (PC) and as a company commander (CC). Officers who, due to the virtue of their function in an infantry unit, often had to take the lead in combat actions to motivate the troops and to get them willing to follow and they were a wanted target for enemy snipers. Therefore, the number of young officers killed in that group was large, which led to the shortage. A difficult situation with the planned invasion in northwest Europe in prospect. In Canada there was a surplus in this category of officers at the time. In Canada, the economy did not turn out well in the late thirties and early forties. Many young people had therefore chosen for a career in the armed forces. The officers' training continued and the Canadian army was only active on one front in Italy during the first years of the war. As a result, few officers were in active units. Many had a function in staffs and basic or advanced training centers. At the end of 1943, the British and Canadian governments signed an agreement. In Canada the ambition to actively participate in the struggle in Europe was considerable. Majors reverted to the rank of captain and officers converted from other corps to infantry. The motivations were different. A number of the officers saw the Canloan scheme as an opportunity to serve over sea. Others had an extra connection with England, Scotland and Ireland and their regiments because of their roots. For some of them it meant that they could continue a family tradition. A small number later admitted that they had signed up for adventure. They had one thing in common: an incredible eagerness to get into action. The Canloans were paid by Canada, but were at the disposal of the British Army. They were given special registration numbers preceded by '' CDN ". A prominent example of the "eagerness" to actively participation was Donald M. Findlay, a lawyer in Toronto since 1931. He had served in the Queen's York Rangers. When this unit was mobilized in 1939, he was a major. In 1943 this unit was disbanded and Findlay was assigned to the General Staff in Ottawa. He was considered to be too old for "overseas service". Because of his position in Ottawa, he was alerted to the Canloan scheme at an early stage. He instantly signed up, reverted to captain to qualify. Donald Findlay received the registration: CDN / 1. He was posted to The Queens Royal Regiment, (West Surrey). At the first conference, the British Army indicated that they wanted to have two thousand officers. The Canadian Cabinet authorized 1.450 men, under the condition that the officers, in case the Canadian Forces would need them, could be recalled. However, the number of applications was disappointing. After an extensive screening and additional training 673 officers made the crossing to England in nine flights. Of the total of 673 men, 623 were posted to the infantry. Fifty officers came from the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps. The British War Office had requested that. The first flight, with fifty-two officers, arrived on the 6th of April 1944 in Liverpool. On April 8 they travelled by train to London for dispersal to their new units, if possible, a British regiment affiliated with their Canadian. In April 1944 two flights, in total 150 men, arrived in England. In May 1944 another 298 officers made the crossing and on the 2nd of June once more 34 men. 139 Canloans only arrived after D-Day (6th June 1944) in England. About the first group of 52 men the following, recorded in an interview with CDN/29 Lieutenant John (Jack) McBride: As soon as we had arrived at Liverpool a deck of cards was ‘’borrowed” from the ship’s lounge. Each of the flight members drew a card. We became rather busy for a while for everybody had to sign everybody else’s card. We agreed that the card should be shown if someone from our group asked for it. In case someone could not show his card, it would cost him a round of drinks. In 1992 the surviving members of the club insisted that they were still carrying the original card and never had to buy a round of drinks. (later this group was known as: ‘’Club 52” or ‘’Deck of Cards Club’). The Canloan officers participated in many fierce battles in Northwest Europe. A relatively large number of them were posted to an airborne unit. Not everyone had realized that, when they applied for placement at a Scottish regiment, they would be posted to an Airborne Division. CDN / 478 Lieutenant Tom H. Anstey told how he was "enlisted": Who wishes to join the 2nd Battalion of The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Airborne Division?” A British officer launched this call upon our arrival. My hand was up. Not because I myself reacted, but because Jim Cochrane [CDN / 409 Lieutenant James C.] grabbed my hand firmly and raised our hands. Before we knew it, we were on the train to Bulford. Twenty Canloan officers were involved in the airborne landings and battles around Arnhem. Only two of them were evacuated. Another specially story is the posting of 5 Canloan officers to the Grenadier Guards. It was assumed that Canloans would not be posted to the regiments of the Brigade of Guards. Winston Churchill had suggested to bring up to strength these regiments from line regiments. General Montgomery had rejected this; his vision: ... "the disciplines of the line reinforcements are too different from those of the Guards, that is not going to work". Mid-July 1944, nevertheless, the War Office received a request from the Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion of Grenadier Guards. He asked for the posting of 5 Canloan officers, a list with name and CDN number was attached. CDN / 606 Lieutenant Frederick W. Burd later explained the background of this application. I was often asked how I ended up in an elite unit like the Grenadier Guards? My truthfully answer was: because my surname starts with a ,,B,,. Our names were lined up in alphabetical order and divided into fifths. The top fifth was posted to No 40 RHU. (reinforcement holding unit). The personal for al the Guards Regiments passed through this unit. The Commanding Officer was a Colonel in the Coldstreams. He was a bridge player and an avid one. Lieutenant William J. Burnett, CDN/670, was a bridge player too. After several evenings playing together, the Colonel said: ‘’I think that the Guards should have some of your chaps”. No sooner said than done, the next day the Colonel visited in turn the five Guards Regimental Headquarters in London. The Grenadier Guards, reacted very efficiently and intended for five Canloan officers. The War Office reaction was rather frosty. They pointed out again that it had not been intended to post Canloans to the Guards. For these five officers a one-time exception was made, but that there would be no more postings to Guards Regiments. Because, in the alphabetical position above me, there were several officers who had expressed a preference for a regiment, I moved some places on the list and was assigned to the Grenadier Guards. Most Canloans noticed that integration in their new units was relatively easy. There were some language problems with the troops from Wales and Scotland, but also the different regional accents, for instance the Cockney, caused raised eyebrows and flapping ears. The platoon sergeants, however, were good interpreters. The traditional boundary between the ranks in the British Army was significantly greater than the Canadians were used to. The unorthodox way of dealing with other ranks and the troops by the Canadian officers, sometimes provoked criticism. Ranging from raised eyebrows to informal or formal reprimands. An example of the latter: buying a round of drinks for the sergeants in the pub. For the troops, however, the approach of the Canloans was right. The batman of Lieutenant Bushell said: "he treated me like a friend, we were not just officer and soldier". Not only the troops but also many officers had expected the Canadians to be a peculiar mixture of First Nations, Mounties and Bushmen. Good guys, working hard and drinking a lot. Perhaps you think these were miraculous prejudices. How can it be explained that a very great number of combat patrols and reconnaissance patrols were led by Canloan officers when it was NOT their First Nations image? This column is not the place to describe the experiences of the Canloan officers from D-Day on up to VE-Day. The efforts and performances of the Canloans were beyond any doubt. Assessing their actions is unfair, they cannot be measured either. There are two questionable parameters: promotions and awarded decorations. That’s why we want to mention these: Of the group of 623 officers for the infantry, 118 lieutenants were promoted to captain; 10 lieutenants reached the rank of major and so did 27 captains.