UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Thunder in the Mountains: 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in Italy, 1943-1944 by Keith L.G. Donaldson A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY CALGARY, ALBERTA JUNE, 2008 © Keith L.G. Donaldson 2008 ISBN: 978-0-494-44585-3 Abstract This thesis examines and assesses the operations of 1 Canadian Armoured Brigade in the Italian campaign – the first Canadian armoured formation to see combat in the Second World War, but ultimately one of the most overlooked. Few scholars have examined 1 CAB in any detail, leaving many questions unanswered regarding the formation’s operations in Italy, where the nature of the terrain severely restricted tank movement and hence the opportunity to carry out its principal role – the traditional tank function of close-up infantry support. Ultimately, how well did the brigade perform in support of British, Canadian, and Indian infantry? Offering an examination of one of the least glamourous but most indispensable aspects of Canadian armoured operations during the Second World War, this thesis argues that Canada’s deployment of an independent armoured brigade to Italy was a thoroughly practical and appropriate means of providing Allied infantry with flexible and decisive armoured support. iii Acknowledgements I would like to offer my sincere thanks and appreciation for all those who assisted me in this work. In particular, I owe the greatest thanks to Dr. Patrick Brennan, my thesis supervisor, for introducing me to the field of Canadian military history, and for providing both sage advice and unflagging encouragement in the completion of this thesis. Al Judson and Dick Roach of the King’s Own Calgary Regiment Museum have both gone above the call of duty in helping me track down documents pertaining to the Calgary Regiment, and I am thankful for their tireless efforts on my behalf. Finally, I would like to recognise the diligent staff of Library and Archives Canada for cheerfully finding answers to my numerous questions, whether submitted in person or electronically. While this work has benefited from the support of so many others, any errors associated with this thesis are solely the responsibility of the author. iv Table of Contents Approval Page ………………………………………………………………….….….…... ii Abstract ...…………………………………………………………………………..…….. iii Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………….……… iv Table of Contents ……………………..……………………………………….….….….... v List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………….. vi List of Maps ……………………………………………………………………………… vi List of Photographs ………………………………………………………………………. vi INTRODUCTION: AN UNTOLD STORY …………………………….……….....…….. 1 CHAPTER 1: ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES …..………………………………………..... 12 CHAPTER 2: “THROUGH MUD AND BLOOD TO GREEN FIELDS BEYOND” ….. 38 CHAPTER 3: “THEY HAVEN’T TAKEN THE BRIDGEHEAD, YOU TAKE IT NOW” ………………………………………………………………………………….… 61 CHAPTER 4: OPERATION HONKER ………………………………….…………..…. 82 CONCLUSION: PRICE PAID, VALUE ADDED …………………….…………..…... 124 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………….………..….… 141 v List of Tables Table 1. Tank Comparisons ………………………………………………...……………. 34 List of Maps Map 1. The Fighting At Termoli ………………………………………………………… 48 Map 2. Operation Honker ………………………………………………………………... 91 List of Photographs Major Jimmy Walker, B Squadron commander, and his crew …………………………... 60 Recover of the two A Squadron tanks that failed to negotiate the bend ………………… 66 Troops of the Calgary Regiment teaching infantry of 8 Indian Division ...……………… 87 vi 1 Introduction An Untold Story Between 10 July 1943 and 8 March 1945, the Ontario, Three Rivers, and Calgary Regiments of 1 Canadian Armoured Brigade participated in the gruelling struggle of the Italian campaign, supporting the Allied advance from the beaches of Sicily up the boot of Italy. Normally acting individually, but sometimes in concert, in support of infantry assaults on entrenched German defensive positions, these tank regiments were highly praised by the infantrymen and senior commanders alike for their dedication to their infantry support role, and their skill and resourcefulness on the battlefield. Despite their notable successes in this exceedingly arduous campaign, however, few Canadian military historians have bothered to study the men and machines of 1 Canadian Armoured Brigade1 or their contribution to the campaign in Italy. Arguably the most detailed exploration of the operations of 1 Canadian Armoured Brigade has been G.W.L. Nicholson’s The Canadians in Italy 1943-1945, the volume of the official Canadian Army history series devoted to the Italian campaign. Nicholson’s account, however, spends far more time exploring the contributions of 1 Canadian Infantry Division and, later, 5 Canadian Armoured Division to the Allied campaign than to the operations of 1 CAB. In his detailed and illuminating study of the writing of Canadian 1 From its formation on 4 February 1941 until 26 August 1943, the brigade was designated 1 Canadian Army Tank Brigade. Department of National Defence, Record Group (RG) 24, Library and Archives Canada (LAC), microfilm reel T-10630, Vol. 14028, War Diary (hereafter WD), Headquarters 1 Canadian Army Tank Brigade (Hereafter HQ 1 CATB), June 1943, Appendix 30: A Brief History of 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade (February 1941 – June 1943) (29 June 1943); G.W.L. Nicholson, Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War Volume II: The Canadians in Italy 1943-1945 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1966), 276. All war diaries consulted as part of this study, with the exception of the war diary of the Calgary Regiment, are housed in Ottawa at Library and Archives Canada as part of the Department of National Defence’s Record Group 24. The copy of the Calgary Regiment’s war diary consulted for this work is housed in the Archival Collections section of the Military Museums in Calgary. 2 military history, Tim Cook shows that Nicholson was greatly influenced by official historian C.P. Stacey’s view of war history as a top-down study: “the importance was in the overall campaign rather than in the multitude of narratives that formed it.”2 The historical literature must begin somewhere, and Nicholson’s volume remains essential reading for any student of the Canadian involvement in the Italian campaign, including the role of 1 CAB. Particularly in regards to the operations of 1 CAB, a key component of Nicholson’s volume is the placement of Canadian operations and forces within the greater context of the struggle in Italy. For example, his detailed account of 1 CAB’s operations in May 1944 includes a brief discussion of British and Indian operations, since the brigade was placed under the command of 8 Indian Division (British XIII Corps) for the crossing of the Gari River and the breaking of the Gustav Line.3 Since 1 CAB was attached to British or Indian divisions at least as often as it was attached to 1 Canadian Infantry Division, Nicholson’s attempts to provide adequate context for 1 CAB operations are commendable for their level of detail and degree of readability. Aside from Nicholson’s volume, there was little work completed on Canadian operations in Italy until the 1990s when popular historian Daniel Dancocks and scholar Bill McAndrew authored insightful popular accounts of the Italian campaign, but in neither 4 case did the exploits of Canada’s independent armoured brigade receive much attention. 2 Tim Cook, Clio’s Warriors: Canadian Historians and the Writing of the World Wars (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2006), 179. 3 Nicholson, The Canadians in Italy, xiii, 401. 4 Daniel Dancocks, The D-Day Dodgers: The Canadians in Italy, 1943-1945 (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1991); Bill McAndrew, Canadians and the Italian Campaign 1943-1945 (Montreal: Art Global, 1996). 3 Seemingly written in direct response to Nicholson’s omission of the private soldier in his study, Dancocks’ The D-Day Dodgers went so far as to include a collection of soldiers’ reminiscences at the beginning of the book.5 McAndrew’s book, on the other hand, made lavish use of the works of Canadian war artists such as Charles Comfort to provide a moving visual interpretation of the fighting in Italy. Ultimately, neither Dancocks nor McAndrew strayed far from the common belief that the Italian campaign was an unfortunate waste of Allied resources. As Tim Cook has pointed out, at the time that Nicholson penned his volume of the official history (and indeed for decades afterwards), “[i]t was assumed that Italy was only a sideshow to the preparation and fighting of the real battle in Northwest Europe.”6 For Dancocks, “there [was] something inherently unsatisfying about the war in Italy, caught in the middle of the protracted dispute between the British, who exaggerated its importance, and the Americans, who tried to minimize it.”7 For McAndrew, “[t]he effects on Canada and the Canadian Army of sending Canadians to the Mediterranean were less than positive… [and the] costs … anything but negligible….”8 At the same time, academic historians such as J.L. Granatstein, Desmond Morton, David Bercuson, W.A.B. Douglas, and Brereton Greenhous have published more scholarly histories of the Canadian armed forces in the Second World War that offer a comprehensive survey of Canadian operations. While books like Granatstein and Morton’s A Nation Forged in Fire: Canadians and the Second World War 1939-1945, Bercuson’s 5 Entitled “Scenes from a Far-Away War,” this section includes passages by such soldiers