World War 2 Talk - View Single Post - Wanted unit books of batts/regts who served in Holland 44/45

canadiancitizen · 03-05-2008, 02:42 PM

As a Canadian and a past serving member of the 48th Highlanders of Canada, who were a part of the First Brigade, 1st Canadian Infantry Division, I reccomend that you do research on that Battalion .

The 48th along with the Royal Canadian Regiment, and the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, made up the first Brigade. They fought from August 1943, the landings in Sicily, to the last day of the war, May 8th of 1945 , at the Rhine , for a total of 21 months in combat.

An other Canadian regiment, the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, should be another unit that you look at. The "Rileys " were at Dieppe, where they were destroyed, with only about 15 men making it back to England, while the rest were either dead on the beach, or walking to a German POW camp. RE-constituted, the RHLI fought thru Belgium, Holland, and to the Rhine. All of the above units still exist in the current day Canadian Forces, with the RCR as a regular force infantry unit, and the 48th Highlanders, the Hasty P's, and the Rileys, as Reserve Force infantry units.

The National Archives of Canada holds the war diaries of all our WW2 units, and they will yield great details.

Jim Bunting. Toronto.

03-05-2008, 02:42 PM	#10 (permalink)
canadiancitizen Junior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 14	As a Canadian and a past serving member of the 48th Highlanders of Canada, who were a part of the First Brigade, 1st Canadian Infantry Division, I reccomend that you do research on that Battalion . The 48th along with the Royal Canadian Regiment, and the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, made up the first Brigade. They fought from August 1943, the landings in Sicily, to the last day of the war, May 8th of 1945 , at the Rhine , for a total of 21 months in combat. An other Canadian regiment, the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, should be another unit that you look at. The "Rileys " were at Dieppe, where they were destroyed, with only about 15 men making it back to England, while the rest were either dead on the beach, or walking to a German POW camp. RE-constituted, the RHLI fought thru Belgium, Holland, and to the Rhine. All of the above units still exist in the current day Canadian Forces, with the RCR as a regular force infantry unit, and the 48th Highlanders, the Hasty P's, and the Rileys, as Reserve Force infantry units. The National Archives of Canada holds the war diaries of all our WW2 units, and they will yield great details. Jim Bunting. Toronto. Last edited by canadiancitizen; 03-05-2008 at 02:45 PM.