http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=lincoln%20and%20welland%20regiment%20ww2&source=web&cd=43&cad=rja&ved=0CDkQFjACOCg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.junobeach.org%2Fe%2F2%2Fcan-eve-rod-rhi-agr-e.htm&ei=1NAXUbLFH4rN0wHE84DoCw&usg=AFQjCNE-leA-AICs0Lh_0qlz8rLRAgaiTQ
My Wife's Grandfather was in 'B' Coy of the Algonquins and has vivid memories of this vicious little battle, in which he took over the Bren gun duties of his section after the usual Bren gunner was killed by a sniper. Reading about it knowing someone who was experiencing firsthand what the words were stating is emotional and brings me to a whole new level of respect for him and what he saw and endured.
fyrftr422 Was your wifes Grand father a surviver of Worthington forces Battle At point 111 on the 9th of August 44. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/ww2-battlefields-today/45630-worthington-force.html?highlight=worthington+force Are you getting any of his stories recorded as I'm sure they must be pretty incredible. Matt
He was part of the 2nd Battalion of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment in Belleville, ON at the time of the Worthington Force incident. He joined up as a 17yr old in the late spring/early summer of 1944 with the Hasty P's and after training and transport to Britain, volunteered to go to the Algonquin's since they were in action and needed reinforcements and the Hasty P's were still wrapping up in Italy. He wanted to get into the fight before it all ended. According to the Roll of the Algonquins, he was with them only a couple months till he was wounded on April 24, 1945 (2 days before his 18th B-Day). He swears he was with them earlier and mentions the Hochwald Gap fighting and spending Christmas '45 in Ghent, Belgium. I haven't recorded anything but I have been asking about his service each time we visit them, when the situation is appropriate, and will be approaching him about sitting down and doing a formal interview in the near future. He has spilled the beans on a few good short stories and incidents though and I could sit all day listening to them. His service record will be arriving in a few weeks so that will give me the chance to verify dates and such then we can sit down and do something formal.
The one time he briefly mentioned the Hochwald Gap, he stated that it felt like there was a German hiding behind every tree.
Hi My brother-in-law and I hust spent 2 days at the national Archives in Ottawa photoing the war diary files of the Algonquin Regiment for December 1,1944 through March 31, 1945. My brother-in-law's uncle was part of company D and was killed on March 9. 1945. The file contians the regimental war diaries, the company level war diaries for the 4 companies (A,B,C,D) patrol reports, casualty lists, news clippings and a few other commentaries. Some of the company level diaries are handwritten on variously sized scraps of paper in pencil. With a little digital adjustment they will be readable (I used an the camera on an IPHONE 5 and an app called Scanner pro that converts the photos into an adobe document as the pictures are taken). Am in the process of cleaning up the files. Will complete this over the next few weeks. If anyone is interested .. would be happy to send a copy on a DVD when I finish the cleanup. Just email me an address to mail it to. Also discover a document written by a student at the University of New Brunswick as his master's theses. It deals wiht operation Blockbuster ... mid February to late March in enormous detail. It can be downloaded at dspace.hil.unb.ca:8080/bitstream/handle/1882/43202/MQ87539.pdf?
rhmjon I'd love a DVD of the info you have aquired, especially since those dates run exactly thru my Wife's Grandfather's service (except you'd be missing April). The COmpany level diaries sound particularly interesting. fyrftr422@hotmail.com
