Canadians in The Hague

Discussion in 'Canadian' started by alberk, Sep 22, 2022.

  1. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Hi,
    does anyone have an idea which Canadian units were stationed in The Hague/Netherlands after the liberation? Or which units moved into The Hague on May 8th, 1945?

    Thank you!
     
  2. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    The Princess Irene Brigade took over guarding the palaces of The Hague on May 9th, 1945 while the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade (Royal 22e Regiment, Carleton and York Regiment, West Nova Scotia Regiment) took over guarding the embassies.

    Here is the war diary for the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade for May 1945 from Heritage Canadiana:

    War diaries : T-11138 - Héritage
     
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  3. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Many thanks, dryan67!
     
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  4. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    The 3rd Canadian Inf Bde had been transferred from Italy in Feb/March 1945 - right?
    Is there any possibility that 1st Canadian Corps troops had any (support) units attached that had not come from Italy but had served in NW Europe before?

    A Dutch gentleman I know is looking for information on his father - a Canadian soldier stationed in The Hague in 1945, full name unclear. That soldier had told his mother that he had come through Normandy.
    On the back of the only photo there is just this information. Do the capital letters add up to a meaningful abbreviation of a unit. I can make out HQ on the bottom left:
    Pete-back.jpg
     
  5. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    That question merits more investigation than I can do from my phone but 49th (West Riding) Division was put under 1st Canadian Corps so it wasn't all Canadian troops from Italy during operations.
     
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  6. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    It appears that the abbreviation is CAOF, which is the Canadian Army Occupation Force. This was not formed until June 1st, 1945. It was formed from Canadian troops in Europe who volunteered to remain there as an occupation force. It was organized in Holland and then moved into Germany.

    I have attached a document that contains the CAOF order of battle as well as a list of all war diaries that are available at the Heritage Canadiana site.
     

    Attached Files:

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  7. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    dryan67 - wow, I am impressed. My Dutch acquaintance knows that there is no chance to establish the exact identity of his father - but he is happy about every little detail. He only knows that his father was posted to Germany in September.

    Could the CQM (although the M I am suggesting looks a bit like an N) stand for Company Quarter (M)aster ... the final element of the rank (Sergeant ) would be missing, though.

    The name is Pete (or Peter) and then M....., born 1st July 1922.
     
  8. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    May I suggest, a DNA test) by one of the companies offering this. I know in North America we have quite a few (AncestryDNA, 23 & Me, etc)…….I’ve used AncestryDNA and it was quite amazing on what you will turn up
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2022
  9. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Hi Temujin,

    I think good old Pete was not too generous with information about himself when he left his Dutch darling in 1945... and his son is quite aware of the fact that his father left him (who was not born yet) and his mother without much interest in continuing the relationship. It would not have been difficult even though he was posted to Germany from Holland... or if he had left them his proper address in Canada.
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2022
  10. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

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  11. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    From the War Diaries of the 3rd Cdn Division CAOF……giving locations of all unit in Aug 1945. I’m still going thru them and see if I can find anything like this for earlier in the year. I thought the locations with names may “help” in narrowing down possible units.

    War diaries : T-10539 - Héritage
     

    Attached Files:

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  12. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    Found location statement No 1, 13 Jun 1945, I think this is when the 3rd Cdn Div had NOT moved to Germany yet.

    Still looking for earlier (Apr and May)

    War diaries : T-10539 - Héritage
     

    Attached Files:

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  13. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    I looked up the 3rd Cdn Div HQ with the Grid Reference above E 368977, and it places the location here (red dot, just outside of Amersfoort). I’m not saying he was with 3 Cdn Div HQ, but just confirming they were still in the Netherlands at that time. If we do find a exact unit, then we can find it’s location
     

    Attached Files:

  14. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    The Dutch gentleman tells me that his father supposedly moved to Germany in September. He has no idea what unit he was with, just that he spent enough time in The Hague to date a local girl and to produce some offspring.
    I read somewhere that the 3rd Inf Bde was apparently disbanded in September 1945.
     
  15. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    Let me look thru the War Diaries, and see what I can find on the 3rd Inf Brigade
     
  16. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    War Diary of 3rd Cdn Infantry Brigade showing their location on 8 May, in The Hague

    War diaries : T-11138 - Héritage

    43A3E66A-9880-4DB2-9FC6-DC2A89977B3F.jpeg
     
  17. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    Thanks, Temujin.
     
  18. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    Here’s a map that was in the War Diaries showing the location of the 3rd Cdn Infantry Division and some of its units. The map is clearer if you open it in the link below

    War diaries : T-11138 - Héritage

    1A78CBC4-0007-4899-9728-540730BF7F19.jpeg
     
  19. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    The link below is part of the Brigades Ops Logs. These pages give Map Reference locations to units reporting to the 3rd Cdn Infantry Brigade. I might suggest you may wish to go thru these, look for locations that may be “close” to your friends mother home in that area. From their if we can determine which units were located at that area…….we might be able to go thru unit war diaires to see if we can spot a name…..

    War diaries : T-11138 - Héritage

    By the way, did I mention that I THINK the name may be PETER MERJL…..I did find a record on Ancestry for a Canadian (who emigrated to Canada from Hungary)…..so if the last name is MERJL, its quite possible “Peter” is his Canadian name, and his real Hungarian name may be different. Just a guess on my part…..it just I can’t seem to find any other records that may confirm this name…….so not sure if I have the WRONG NAME, or in Ancestry he is using his original Hungarian name.

    Let me know if any clues pop up from what I’ve given you
     
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  20. klambie

    klambie Senior Member

    I see HQ Sqn C?
    Is there more after those two letters? There is a vertical stroke that may be part of another letter.
    Not seeing the F in CAOF. CAO would be Canadian Army Overseas and I think part of any postal address for overseas personnel.
     
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