(Major Rey Hypolito T.) Men, do you remember the days of battle? … Do you even want to remember those days? It all started on Sunday, December 10th, 1939. Canada formally declared war on Germany. The Royal Canadian Navy was such a proud navy of Canada--I believe they lasted from 1911 to 1968. Our contribution to WWII was mind-blowing. We were a part of the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. What were you all apart of?
The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign, of World War II, lasted from 1939 through to the defeat of Nazi Germany all the way to 1945. The Battle of the Atlantic was of the U-boats of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) against Allied convoys. We were able to provide protection, for the most part, for convoys of merchant ships, coming mainly from North America and the South Atlantic and going to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.
Good old Winston Churchill. He was a good and honest man. He joined in 1941. A fight that began on the first day of the European war involved thousands of ships and stretched over hundreds of miles of the vast ocean and seas in a chain of more than 100 convoy battles and perhaps 1,000 single-ship encounters. The British and their allies gradually gained the upper hand, driving the German surface raiders from the ocean by the end of 1942 and decisively defeating the U-boats in a series of convoy battles between March and May of 1943. We lost many grate men in those times but thanks to those men Canada is what it is today. New German tried to fight back by sending submarines in 1945, but they were too late to affect the course of the war. I personally don’t know what the Germans were thinking when they fried their blockade. All they did was waist 3500 merchant ships and 175 warships as well as 783 u-boats.
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Well, I was commander of B Company of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse, which was part of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division. As you may have noticed from the name of my regiment and division, I was a tank commander. While you were sailing through the rough Atlantic to ship Canadian supplies to Britain, I was commanding Canadian tanks first through Sicily, then north up the Italian peninsula, and finally through Holland and Germany itself. And while you mention Canada’s mind-blowing contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic, and while most Canadians think of the landings in Normandy as Canada’s biggest contribution in the Second World War, most forget to mention the Liberation of Italy. After all, not only were the Canadians, but the Lord Strathcona’s Horse the ones who led the assault to cross the Melfa River and break through the formidable Hitler Line that all other Allied units had failed to do. In fact, it was the actions of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse that enabled the Allied forces in Italy to march north up the Liri valley and liberate Rome. Thanks to the Canadians, the city would be the first Axis capital to be occupied by the Allies in the Second World War. Now, I have no idea why the Normandy landings are remembered more than that!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Having lead a new batch of troops, while my old hardened soldiers lead their own divisions, we only landed on and had to secure Juno Beach. The British and American Allies both took care of two beaches each. Still, D-Day was a very stressful but awarding battle (although it may not necessarily be the biggest battle in Canadian history).
ReplyDeleteOn another, more depressing note, I am astonished that the battle of Dieppe was not mentioned here yet. It was by far the worst battle fought. If I were to explain the problem in two words, it would be late. arrival. Thanks to the pointless fight with the convoy on our way to France, we practically gave Germany that win. They were more than ready to kill us all. Hey moron us by killing or arresting people in record time. It is a wonder that my soldiers and I were able to flee before the Nazis got to us.
Being a Naval Merchant, I cannot say that I was directly on the front lines, in the heart of Europe, but I did witness my fair share of battles. The one that is deeply etched into my memory was the Battle of the Atlantic, during the summer of 1942 to be exact. The Germans had occupied up to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which was where I was leaving from on a transportation mission. I was almost clear of the Gulf when suddenly U-Boats emerged from the depths of the sea. That image will never be erased from my mind. Miraculously, I was saved from too much harm by a naval brigade that happened to be in the vicinity. So i say thank you, Major Rey Hypolito T., for your efforts in the war.
ReplyDeleteWell, there was another battle just as bad as Dieppe. This was certainly very tragic to me. This battle was called Operation Market Garden that took place between September 17th, 1944 and September 25th, 1944. It was a very horrible and poor airborne battle fought near the Netherlands. We had a military strength of 80000, 4x more strength than the Germans at this battle. But we lost twice more casualties than the Germans! It purpose was to try to push the Germans back into the Rhineland from Paris in France. I was part of the 82nd Group of fighters and paratroopers. In the beginning, the allies were very successful in slowly pushing the Germans back into the Rhine. However, it resulted in a failure. Due to heavier resistance than anticipated, German traps, blockades, delays and Communication breakdowns our allies suffered a maddening 20000 casualties! The Germans only lost around 10000! I'll never forgot this battle since I lost so many of my friends here... Henry, Jacob, Jim... What a depressing battle...
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