Gothic Line, 1st Canadian Corps Sector

Hello all, I am researching the 1st Canadian Corps in the Battle of the Gothic Line, August 25-Sept 25 1944.
Does anyone know have any Aug -Sept 1944 war diaries for units of the 1st, 2nd or 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigades (from 1st Can Inf Div), or any of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division units (5th Canadian Armoured Brigade, 11th and 12th Canadian Infantry Brigades) in electronic format they'd be willing to share? I am also looking for Battle Reports and War Diaries for the units of 21st Tank Brigade and for the supporting arms from 1st Canadian Corps. The Gothic Line Battle reports for 12 RTR, 145 RAC and 48th RTR would be of special interest.
Any help appreciated.

Merlin

 

Hi,

It may help if you list the units you are interested in. I have a few diaries but don't have a clue who was in what Div after 1940.

Cheers

 

Good point, here goes:
1st Canadian Infantry Brigade
Royal Canadian Regiment
The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment
the 48th Highlanders of Canada

2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade:
Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry
The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
The Loyal Edmonton Regiment

3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade:
Royal 22e Regiment
The Carleton and York Regiment
The West Nova Scotia Regiment

Those are the component units for 1st Can Inf Div, will add those for 5th Can Armoured Div shortly.
merlin

 

Merlin
To add to your list - the British Tank support for the 1st Canadian Infantry Div came from the 21st Tank Bde- was before, during and after the Gothic Line battles - generally 12RTR with 1st Bde - 145th RAC with 2nd Bde and 48th RTR with 3rd bde. with a bit of intermingling here and there....

"C" sqdn during the battles were led by Major Chistopher Newton - Thompson M.C. the noted South African Rugby player who had been the 2i/c for "A" Sqdn - then his replacement - Major "Jimmy" Ingram was sent to command "B" sqdn and and was killed in his first action !

"A" sqdn had a complete change of Officers in those Battles

I have - somewhere - the Bde and unit diaries for all 21st Tank Bde - if you need any help.....

Cheers

 

5th Canadian Armoured Division:

Governor General's Horse Guards (Armoured Recce Regt)
5th Canadian Armoured Brigade:
Lord Strathcona's Horse
8th Princess Louise's New Brunswick Hussars
British Columbia Dragoons

11th Infantry Brigade:
Perth Regiment
Cape Breton Highlanders
Irish Regiment of Canada

12th Infantry Brigade:
4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards
Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment
Westminster Regiment

 

Hi Tom, great stuff, thanks very much. I have the 21st Tank Brigade Account of Operations in Italy, the Tank Museum 145 RAC War Diary for the Gothic Line period (which is sadly lacking the Battle Report for the period, which holds nearly all the data about the actions, and is also lacking the maps for the action, which is a double shame, because the C Sqn Battle Diary sent to me by Lt Rowan Hamilton is very detailed but makes constant references to map points and grid references, priceless info but only if one has the maps!), and a section of the Regimental History concerning the 8th Btn... but the latter has at least one major discrepancy, where it reports some of the actions of Aug 29th as having taken place on the 1st of Sept 1944...
I would be happy for any of your help Tom, the battle of Monteciccardo was B Sqn's show and while the C Sqn Battle diary tells the story quite well, I suspect you could tell it better!
Did the documents I sent to your email come through at your end?
Hope you are enjoying your weekend,

Merlin