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The History of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada: Volume 2, 1939–1945
9780228017141
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eBook Available
The definitive history of Canada’s Black Watch Regiment, whose legendary status was forged in battle across three centuries.
In three volumes spanning centuries, Lieutenant Colonel Roman Jarymowycz recounts the story of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, the oldest Highland regiment in the country. He traces its history from the roots, when soldiers, settlers, and militia volunteers rallied to defend the southern borders of their adopted country against invasion from the United States. Drawing on diaries, letters, classified documents, and the regimental archive, Jarymowycz weaves the strands of a complex story into an epic narrative of a resolute collective of officers and men.
Since its birth in 1862 as the 5th Battalion, Volunteer Militia Rifles of Canada, thousands of citizens have served in the unit. In addition to securing Canada’s borders, Black Watch soldiers have fought in the South African War, both world wars, and the Korean War. They have bolstered NATO operations and United Nations peacekeeping missions, and they provided aid to the civil power during the 1997 Quebec and Eastern Ontario ice storm disaster and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Montreal-based battalion continues to serve Canada in its traditional role as a reserve infantry unit, and to this day, Black Watch soldiers frequently deploy on dangerous missions abroad.
In volume 2 we are offered the story of the bloody battlefields of the Second World War, when the Black Watch joined Commonwealth regiments to defeat the Axis Powers. After a quick mobilization in 1939 and a long wait in England, the Black Watch experienced a baptism by fire at Dieppe. Landing in Normandy after D-Day, the regiment fought in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, its distinguished service earning numerous honours. As well as discussing these military engagements, Jarymowycz reveals the many difficulties with recruiting, training, recovering from devastating battles, communicating with higher command, and the quality and scarcity of reinforcements.
This monumental history of Canada’s oldest Highland regiment is at once a record of Scottish heritage, a portrait of Montreal rising as an industrial giant, and an examination of the emergence of a military culture from the Western Front.
Since its birth in 1862 as the 5th Battalion, Volunteer Militia Rifles of Canada, thousands of citizens have served in the unit. In addition to securing Canada’s borders, Black Watch soldiers have fought in the South African War, both world wars, and the Korean War. They have bolstered NATO operations and United Nations peacekeeping missions, and they provided aid to the civil power during the 1997 Quebec and Eastern Ontario ice storm disaster and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Montreal-based battalion continues to serve Canada in its traditional role as a reserve infantry unit, and to this day, Black Watch soldiers frequently deploy on dangerous missions abroad.
In volume 2 we are offered the story of the bloody battlefields of the Second World War, when the Black Watch joined Commonwealth regiments to defeat the Axis Powers. After a quick mobilization in 1939 and a long wait in England, the Black Watch experienced a baptism by fire at Dieppe. Landing in Normandy after D-Day, the regiment fought in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, its distinguished service earning numerous honours. As well as discussing these military engagements, Jarymowycz reveals the many difficulties with recruiting, training, recovering from devastating battles, communicating with higher command, and the quality and scarcity of reinforcements.
This monumental history of Canada’s oldest Highland regiment is at once a record of Scottish heritage, a portrait of Montreal rising as an industrial giant, and an examination of the emergence of a military culture from the Western Front.
Details
360 Pages, 8.5 x 11
115 illustrations, 18 maps, full colour
ISBN 9780228017134
May 2023
Formats: Cloth, eBook
Roman Johann Jarymowycz (1945-2017) was a decorated Canadian soldier-scholar, military historian, mentor, and educator. Born in Vienna, he lived most of his life in Montreal.
List of Appendices | x
List of Maps | x
Part IV The Royal Highlanders of Canada in the Second World War 1939-1945
Chapter 1
Mobilization and Guarding Canals, 1 RHC Mobilized - August 1939 | 3
First Division Mobilized | 3
1 RHC Mobilized for 2nd Canadian Infantry Division | 5
5th Brigade, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division | 6
The Provisional Officers Training School | 8
Struggles at the Home Front, 1940 | 10
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir | 11
Waiting to be Mobilized, 2 RHC, 1940 | 12
The Summer of 1940 - Modern War Realized | 13
Colonel Hutchison and the Home Front | 15
The 2nd Battalion RHC: March 1942 to July 1943 | 17
2 RHC 1942 | 19
2 RHC Disbanded July 1943 | 20
Wartime Training 1943 to 1944 - Nothing to Snuff at … | 21
Montreal and the Second World War | 22
Hutchison’s Highland Mafia | 24
Ravenscrag, Beer and Highland Cadets | 25
Retrospect: The Home Front 1939-1944 | 26
Chapter 2
Regimental Commanders, 1939-1944: Dieppe, Italy and UK | 27
The Battalion in Aldershot, England | 27
Dramatis Personae | 28
Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Gault Blackader and his Regiment, 1940-42 | 29
Six Out-Sourced Black Watch Officers in the Mediterranean | 31
Lieutenant Colonel Jim Weir, The Cape Breton Highlanders | 31
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Boyd Somerville, The Cape Breton Highlanders | 33
Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Doucet OBE, The Perth Regiment | 34
Yugoslavia Jones, Commando | 35
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Petch OBE, NNS, 4th PLDG | 36
Lieutenant Colonel John Bourne, FSSF | 38
1 RHC in Great Britain 1942-1944: Four Commanders, Three Colonels | 39
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Douglas Cantlie | 39
Operation Jubilee - Dieppe 19 August 1942 | 41
The Black Watch Mission | 42
The C Company Grenade Incident | 43
Edward Force - Blue Beach 0545 hrs | 44
Captain MacLaurin’s Mortars on Red Beach - 0530-1230 hrs 19 August 1942 | 46
Trapped Aboard LCT 127 | 49
Captain John Alexander Kenny - MIA | 50
Recognitions for Gallantry | 50
Post-Dieppe Training for War 1942-1943 | 51
Musical Chairs: Cantlie, Henderson and again Cantlie - 1 RHC April 1943 to January 1944 | 53
Criticism: The Farewell Address | 54
En passant: Lieutenant Colonel Henderson | 55
A New RSM - Stuart Cantlie Prepares for Normandy | 57
“Worthy” - Black Watch in the Armoured Corps | 58
July 1944 - Dress Rehearsals Done, War at last | 58
Chapter 3
Normandy - The Battles for Verrières Ridge: July-August 1944 | 61
Upholding Their Good Name | 61
Into Normandy | 62
The Tactical Situation Circa July 1944 | 64
Verrières Ridge: The First Battle 18-24 July - Operation Atlantic | 66
Lieutenant Colonel SST Cantlie and His Battalion | 66
Operations Atlantic and Goodwood, 18 July-21 July “The Best Tank Country West of Paris” | 70
Counterattack vs. Counterattack: 21 July, 1 RHC, Operation Atlantic | 74
The Purgatory of Verrières Ridge 21-24 July 1944 | 76
Verrières Ridge: The Second Battle 25-26 July - Operation Spring | 79
Germans Facing Simonds | 80
Planning 5th Brigade’s Portion of Spring | 82
Black Watch Planning for Spring | 83
The Enemy: The 272nd Wehrmacht Infantry Division | 84
Lying in Wait: 9th SS Pz and 2nd Pz Kampfgruppen, Plus the 10th SS Aufklärung Abteilung | 86
Securing the Start Line: Operation Spring, 25 July 1944 - The Calgary Highlanders | 88
“Monty’s Moonlight” - Leichenlicht | 88
Lieutenant Colonel Cantlie, 0500 hrs 25 July | 89
Lieutenant Colonel Cantlie Killed: 0530 hrs 25 July | 91
The Duffield Patrol | 93
Radio Orders from Above | 94
Major Griffin’s Attack Plan | 95
B Squadron, 1st Hussars | 97
Captain Gordon Powis, The Senior Forward Observation Officer | 98
Griffin’s Meeting with Brigadier Megill | 99
Chapter 4
Normandy - The Black Watch Assaults Verrières Ridge, 25 July 1944 | 101
The Attack | 101
Forward, Without Tanks - H Hr 0930 | 102
1st Battalion RHC, Verrières Ridge - Reorganized, 25 July 1944 | 102
The Hell of Verrières Ridge | 104
The Supporting Armour | 108
The Whirlwind of Fire: Panzer Counterattack | 110
Major Phil Griffin and The Black Watch - Into the Bloodied Wheat | 113
Major Griffin Killed: 9th SS Overruns the last of The Black Watch: 1700 hrs | 115
Wer die Höhe überschreitet ist ein toter Mann | 116
Captain Gordon Powis - Officer Commanding 1 RHC | 116
Holding the Line: Captain Ron Bennett’s Rearguard | 117
Shell Alley | 120
Sergeant Vernon Blake MM | 121
The Last Effort to Reach Griffin: R de Mais Attacks, Evening 25 July | 122
Command Shake-Up and Finale | 123
Conclusion | 124
The Shock of the Lost Battalion: Censorship and The Simonds Critique | 126
The Motzfeldt Report: Report on Battle of St-André and May-sur-Orne 25 July 1944 | 127
The Question of Griffin’s Victoria Cross | 130
The Apotheosis of the Regiment | 131
Chapter 5
France, Holland and the Scheldt - August to December 1944 | 135
Rebuilding the Battalion - August 1944: Once More into the Breach … | 135
The New CO - Lieutenant Colonel FM Mitchell: Less Than Four Days … | 137
Delicate Diplomacy and Martial Ill-Boding: Mitchell vs. Megill | 139
Verrières Ridge. The Third Battle, 5 August: Attacking May-sur-Orne | 140
After Action Accountability | 142
Operations Totalize and Tractable - A Battlefield Pause | 143
The Battle of Bourgtheroulde - 26 August 1944 | 147
Good-bye to Normandy | 150
Montreal: The Aftermath of Verrières | 151
Back to Dieppe and the Channel Ports - September 1944 | 152
The Battle of Spycker 12-13 September 1944 | 153
Post-Spycker Confrontations: Mitchell vs. Megill | 158
The Scheldt | 160
Brigadier WJ Megill and The Black Watch | 160
Training Replacements | 162
Fall 1944 - Two Bloody Months | 164
The German Infanterie Division 346 - The Antwerp-Turnhout Canal Line | 165
St-Leonard and Brecht, 29 September-1 October 1944 | 166
Hoogerheide, 8-9 October 1944 | 168
“Black Friday” - Operation Angus, 13 October 1944: The Black Watch vs. The Blue Baron | 169
Goes - 28 October 1944 | 176
The Walcheren Causeway: 31 October 1944 | 177
November to December 1944 | 180
D Company Raid - Grafwegen, 7 December 1944 | 181
Regimental Sergeant-Major Leitch | 184
Chapter 6
The Last Year of War: January to May 1945 | 187
Hogmanay, 1945 | 187
Ave Atque Vale - February, 1945 | 190
The Rhineland: Ops Veritable and Blockbuster, 8 February to 11 March 1945 | 192
Commendations in the field of battle: The Hochwald 25-26 February 1945 | 194
Fighting through March, 1945 | 197
Black Watch COs and their Brigadier | 198
Spring, 1945: Lieutenant Colonel Motzfeldt | 199
Clearing Germans: Terborg, Groningen and Stenum: 1 April to 4 May 1945 | 200
Laren Attack: Motzfeldt Wounded, 5 April 1945 | 201
Colonel Sydney Thomson - “An Outstanding Stranger” | 202
Groningen: Civil House-Clearing | 204
Stenum, 26 April 1945 - The Last Act | 205
Lieutenant Colonel VE Traversy | 206
Resolution - A Regiment’s War | 207
A Highland Melting Pot | 209
Notes to Part IV | 211
Part IV -Illustrations | 243
Part IV - Maps | 277
Appendices | 295
Index | 319
Appendices
Appendix A - 1 RHC Battle Honours and Decorations Second World War | 295
Appendix B - 1 RHC Command Structure: Operations, Second World War July 1944-May 1945 | 299
Appendix C - The Canadian Army in Normandy | 300
Appendix D - 1 RHC Black Watch as at 25 July 1944, Normandy | 304
Appendix E - Battle Casualties and Fire Plan | 306
Appendix F - Operation Spring Trace / Reference Map | 308
Appendix G - Motzfeldt Report | 309
List of Maps
The Dieppe Raid, 19 August 1942 | 278
The Black Watch Campaign in Europe, July 1944 to May 1945 | 279
Operational Situation Normandy, 8 July 1944 | 280
First Battle Normandy: Operation Atlantic, 18 July 1944 | 281
Operation Atlantic: Black Watch, 18-21 July 1944 (Map 1) | 282
Operation Atlantic: Black Watch, 18-21 July 1944 (Map 2 - Counter Attack) | 283
1 RHC area Tactical Ops: Verrières | 284
2 Cdn Corps Operation Spring, 25 July 1944 -Simonds’s Plan | 285
Tactical Analysis of Lt Gen GG Simonds’s Operational Art / Black Watch role in Spring | 285
Black Watch Role in Operation Spring, 25 July 1944 - Phase 2 | 286
Bourgtheroulde, 26 August 1944 | 288
The Battle of Spycker: First Phase | 289
The Battle of Spycker: Second Phase | 289
Woensdrecht “Black Friday” 13 October 1944: First Phase | 290
Woensdrecht “Black Friday” 13 October 1944: Second Phase | 291
The Walcheren Causeway, 31 October 1944, 1300 to 1900 hours | 292
The Walcheren Causeway, 31 October 1944, 1930 hours to 1 November 1944, 0100 hours | 292
The Rhineland, 8 February to 11 March 1944: Operation “Blockbuster” | 293
List of Maps | x
Part IV The Royal Highlanders of Canada in the Second World War 1939-1945
Chapter 1
Mobilization and Guarding Canals, 1 RHC Mobilized - August 1939 | 3
First Division Mobilized | 3
1 RHC Mobilized for 2nd Canadian Infantry Division | 5
5th Brigade, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division | 6
The Provisional Officers Training School | 8
Struggles at the Home Front, 1940 | 10
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir | 11
Waiting to be Mobilized, 2 RHC, 1940 | 12
The Summer of 1940 - Modern War Realized | 13
Colonel Hutchison and the Home Front | 15
The 2nd Battalion RHC: March 1942 to July 1943 | 17
2 RHC 1942 | 19
2 RHC Disbanded July 1943 | 20
Wartime Training 1943 to 1944 - Nothing to Snuff at … | 21
Montreal and the Second World War | 22
Hutchison’s Highland Mafia | 24
Ravenscrag, Beer and Highland Cadets | 25
Retrospect: The Home Front 1939-1944 | 26
Chapter 2
Regimental Commanders, 1939-1944: Dieppe, Italy and UK | 27
The Battalion in Aldershot, England | 27
Dramatis Personae | 28
Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Gault Blackader and his Regiment, 1940-42 | 29
Six Out-Sourced Black Watch Officers in the Mediterranean | 31
Lieutenant Colonel Jim Weir, The Cape Breton Highlanders | 31
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Boyd Somerville, The Cape Breton Highlanders | 33
Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Doucet OBE, The Perth Regiment | 34
Yugoslavia Jones, Commando | 35
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Petch OBE, NNS, 4th PLDG | 36
Lieutenant Colonel John Bourne, FSSF | 38
1 RHC in Great Britain 1942-1944: Four Commanders, Three Colonels | 39
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Douglas Cantlie | 39
Operation Jubilee - Dieppe 19 August 1942 | 41
The Black Watch Mission | 42
The C Company Grenade Incident | 43
Edward Force - Blue Beach 0545 hrs | 44
Captain MacLaurin’s Mortars on Red Beach - 0530-1230 hrs 19 August 1942 | 46
Trapped Aboard LCT 127 | 49
Captain John Alexander Kenny - MIA | 50
Recognitions for Gallantry | 50
Post-Dieppe Training for War 1942-1943 | 51
Musical Chairs: Cantlie, Henderson and again Cantlie - 1 RHC April 1943 to January 1944 | 53
Criticism: The Farewell Address | 54
En passant: Lieutenant Colonel Henderson | 55
A New RSM - Stuart Cantlie Prepares for Normandy | 57
“Worthy” - Black Watch in the Armoured Corps | 58
July 1944 - Dress Rehearsals Done, War at last | 58
Chapter 3
Normandy - The Battles for Verrières Ridge: July-August 1944 | 61
Upholding Their Good Name | 61
Into Normandy | 62
The Tactical Situation Circa July 1944 | 64
Verrières Ridge: The First Battle 18-24 July - Operation Atlantic | 66
Lieutenant Colonel SST Cantlie and His Battalion | 66
Operations Atlantic and Goodwood, 18 July-21 July “The Best Tank Country West of Paris” | 70
Counterattack vs. Counterattack: 21 July, 1 RHC, Operation Atlantic | 74
The Purgatory of Verrières Ridge 21-24 July 1944 | 76
Verrières Ridge: The Second Battle 25-26 July - Operation Spring | 79
Germans Facing Simonds | 80
Planning 5th Brigade’s Portion of Spring | 82
Black Watch Planning for Spring | 83
The Enemy: The 272nd Wehrmacht Infantry Division | 84
Lying in Wait: 9th SS Pz and 2nd Pz Kampfgruppen, Plus the 10th SS Aufklärung Abteilung | 86
Securing the Start Line: Operation Spring, 25 July 1944 - The Calgary Highlanders | 88
“Monty’s Moonlight” - Leichenlicht | 88
Lieutenant Colonel Cantlie, 0500 hrs 25 July | 89
Lieutenant Colonel Cantlie Killed: 0530 hrs 25 July | 91
The Duffield Patrol | 93
Radio Orders from Above | 94
Major Griffin’s Attack Plan | 95
B Squadron, 1st Hussars | 97
Captain Gordon Powis, The Senior Forward Observation Officer | 98
Griffin’s Meeting with Brigadier Megill | 99
Chapter 4
Normandy - The Black Watch Assaults Verrières Ridge, 25 July 1944 | 101
The Attack | 101
Forward, Without Tanks - H Hr 0930 | 102
1st Battalion RHC, Verrières Ridge - Reorganized, 25 July 1944 | 102
The Hell of Verrières Ridge | 104
The Supporting Armour | 108
The Whirlwind of Fire: Panzer Counterattack | 110
Major Phil Griffin and The Black Watch - Into the Bloodied Wheat | 113
Major Griffin Killed: 9th SS Overruns the last of The Black Watch: 1700 hrs | 115
Wer die Höhe überschreitet ist ein toter Mann | 116
Captain Gordon Powis - Officer Commanding 1 RHC | 116
Holding the Line: Captain Ron Bennett’s Rearguard | 117
Shell Alley | 120
Sergeant Vernon Blake MM | 121
The Last Effort to Reach Griffin: R de Mais Attacks, Evening 25 July | 122
Command Shake-Up and Finale | 123
Conclusion | 124
The Shock of the Lost Battalion: Censorship and The Simonds Critique | 126
The Motzfeldt Report: Report on Battle of St-André and May-sur-Orne 25 July 1944 | 127
The Question of Griffin’s Victoria Cross | 130
The Apotheosis of the Regiment | 131
Chapter 5
France, Holland and the Scheldt - August to December 1944 | 135
Rebuilding the Battalion - August 1944: Once More into the Breach … | 135
The New CO - Lieutenant Colonel FM Mitchell: Less Than Four Days … | 137
Delicate Diplomacy and Martial Ill-Boding: Mitchell vs. Megill | 139
Verrières Ridge. The Third Battle, 5 August: Attacking May-sur-Orne | 140
After Action Accountability | 142
Operations Totalize and Tractable - A Battlefield Pause | 143
The Battle of Bourgtheroulde - 26 August 1944 | 147
Good-bye to Normandy | 150
Montreal: The Aftermath of Verrières | 151
Back to Dieppe and the Channel Ports - September 1944 | 152
The Battle of Spycker 12-13 September 1944 | 153
Post-Spycker Confrontations: Mitchell vs. Megill | 158
The Scheldt | 160
Brigadier WJ Megill and The Black Watch | 160
Training Replacements | 162
Fall 1944 - Two Bloody Months | 164
The German Infanterie Division 346 - The Antwerp-Turnhout Canal Line | 165
St-Leonard and Brecht, 29 September-1 October 1944 | 166
Hoogerheide, 8-9 October 1944 | 168
“Black Friday” - Operation Angus, 13 October 1944: The Black Watch vs. The Blue Baron | 169
Goes - 28 October 1944 | 176
The Walcheren Causeway: 31 October 1944 | 177
November to December 1944 | 180
D Company Raid - Grafwegen, 7 December 1944 | 181
Regimental Sergeant-Major Leitch | 184
Chapter 6
The Last Year of War: January to May 1945 | 187
Hogmanay, 1945 | 187
Ave Atque Vale - February, 1945 | 190
The Rhineland: Ops Veritable and Blockbuster, 8 February to 11 March 1945 | 192
Commendations in the field of battle: The Hochwald 25-26 February 1945 | 194
Fighting through March, 1945 | 197
Black Watch COs and their Brigadier | 198
Spring, 1945: Lieutenant Colonel Motzfeldt | 199
Clearing Germans: Terborg, Groningen and Stenum: 1 April to 4 May 1945 | 200
Laren Attack: Motzfeldt Wounded, 5 April 1945 | 201
Colonel Sydney Thomson - “An Outstanding Stranger” | 202
Groningen: Civil House-Clearing | 204
Stenum, 26 April 1945 - The Last Act | 205
Lieutenant Colonel VE Traversy | 206
Resolution - A Regiment’s War | 207
A Highland Melting Pot | 209
Notes to Part IV | 211
Part IV -Illustrations | 243
Part IV - Maps | 277
Appendices | 295
Index | 319
Appendices
Appendix A - 1 RHC Battle Honours and Decorations Second World War | 295
Appendix B - 1 RHC Command Structure: Operations, Second World War July 1944-May 1945 | 299
Appendix C - The Canadian Army in Normandy | 300
Appendix D - 1 RHC Black Watch as at 25 July 1944, Normandy | 304
Appendix E - Battle Casualties and Fire Plan | 306
Appendix F - Operation Spring Trace / Reference Map | 308
Appendix G - Motzfeldt Report | 309
List of Maps
The Dieppe Raid, 19 August 1942 | 278
The Black Watch Campaign in Europe, July 1944 to May 1945 | 279
Operational Situation Normandy, 8 July 1944 | 280
First Battle Normandy: Operation Atlantic, 18 July 1944 | 281
Operation Atlantic: Black Watch, 18-21 July 1944 (Map 1) | 282
Operation Atlantic: Black Watch, 18-21 July 1944 (Map 2 - Counter Attack) | 283
1 RHC area Tactical Ops: Verrières | 284
2 Cdn Corps Operation Spring, 25 July 1944 -Simonds’s Plan | 285
Tactical Analysis of Lt Gen GG Simonds’s Operational Art / Black Watch role in Spring | 285
Black Watch Role in Operation Spring, 25 July 1944 - Phase 2 | 286
Bourgtheroulde, 26 August 1944 | 288
The Battle of Spycker: First Phase | 289
The Battle of Spycker: Second Phase | 289
Woensdrecht “Black Friday” 13 October 1944: First Phase | 290
Woensdrecht “Black Friday” 13 October 1944: Second Phase | 291
The Walcheren Causeway, 31 October 1944, 1300 to 1900 hours | 292
The Walcheren Causeway, 31 October 1944, 1930 hours to 1 November 1944, 0100 hours | 292
The Rhineland, 8 February to 11 March 1944: Operation “Blockbuster” | 293
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