Royal Canadian Armoured Corps - Captain MacDonald, Strathcona Clifton

Discussion in 'Canadian' started by DaveB, Jun 5, 2016.

  1. DaveB

    DaveB Very Senior Member

    Royal Canadian Armoured Corps - Captain MacDonald, Strathcona Clifton MiD (340164 Australian Army)

    Seeking any further info on the wartime service of this officer who died in May 1973 and is buried in Woden, Canberra, Australia – a photo of his headstone on a Facebook war graves group shows his service in various armed forces:

    RCAC - 1941 to 1945 & 1950 to 1955 (if he died in 1973 aged 48 then he was born in 1925 making him 16 when he joined the Canadian Army)

    RAAC - 1957 to 1964

    USMF (United States Military Forces?) - 1966 to 1967

    From a mention on his 1966 divorce in the Canberra Times newspaper on NLA Trove we know his middle name was Clifton. But no reports found regarding his passing in 1973

    I couldn’t locate a Mention in Despatches for him in the London Gazette – no clue on when it might have occurred.

    Having no luck finding anything on him in online Australian records, service files for the post-war period are held by the Defence Department. I am planning on asking a contact there to quickly check for any info on his service.


    Possibly a relative - http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/313730
     

    Attached Files:

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  2. DaveB

    DaveB Very Senior Member

    Canada's Army in Korea: The United Nations Operations, 1950-53, and Their Aftermath

    http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/docs/Korea1956_e.pdf



    "C" Squadron Lord Strathcona's Horse (to June 1952) - "The armoured component, now designated "C" Squadron, Lord Strathcona's Horse, exchanged its self-propelled anti-tank guns for Sherman tanks,"

    "B" Squadron Lord Strathcona's Horse (June 1952-May 1953) - "The last of the original CASF units to depart was "C" Squadron Lord Strathcona's Horse, which was replaced by the Strathconas' "B" Squadron on 8 June."

    "A" Squadron Lord Strathcona's Horse (from May 1953) - "The last component to be affected was again the armour, "A" Squadron of the Strathconas taking over from "B" Squadron on 24 May."
     
  3. BFBSM

    BFBSM Very Senior Member

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  4. DaveB

    DaveB Very Senior Member

    Thanks Mark - I didn't know that resource existed for Canadian awards, this is a great contribution.

    Using that as a reference point I found this:

    Major Jack George of Edmonton was awarded the D.S.O. and Lieutenant Strathcona Macdonald of Vankleek Hill, Ontario and Sergeant George Thwaites of Charlton, Ontario were mentioned in dispatches. Major George, leader of "D" Company of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was the only one listed as being wounded in action. His name was carried in a dispatch of 13 December 1951. The other two are members of the Lord Strathcona's Horse. The decorations presumably were given on the strength of action early in December when Canadian forces carried out several midnight raids



     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2021
  5. BFBSM

    BFBSM Very Senior Member

  6. BFBSM

    BFBSM Very Senior Member

    Dave,

    Just found the image to go with the record mentioned in my original post: image.jpeg
    The image for Jack George: image.jpeg
    And for George Thwaites: image.jpeg
     
  7. DaveB

    DaveB Very Senior Member

    Thanks for that - I suppose what I am struggling with is that Captain Strathcona MacDonald served with distinction during WW2 & Korea with a major Canadian armoured unit, that coincidentally was named after Lord Strathcona way back when. His first name suggests to me some sort of family connection.

    He went on to serve in the Australian Army (& the US Army?) but his passing in Canberra at an early age after a distinguished career seems to have occurred without anybody noticing.
     
  8. Austinrod

    Austinrod New Member

    This is a picture of my father George Thwaites age 32 and C. MacDonald age 31 when they received their "Mention In Dispatch". I have an article as well but for whatever reason will not upload. They were for actions carried out on November 17,18,19 1951. They were the first armoured unit men to be decorated for Korean action with the Canadian Brigade.
     

    Attached Files:

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  9. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

    Presumably, this was his father:

    Strathcona MacDonald - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Veterans Affairs Canada

    [​IMG]
     
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  10. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    Lord Strathcona

    Strathcona is a 19th-century variation of "Glen Coe", a river valley in Scotland.

    A staple in Canadian history classes

    Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, GCMG, GCVO, PC, DL, FRS (6 August 1820 – 21 January 1914), was a Scottish-born Canadian businessman who became one of the British Empire's foremost builders and philanthropists. He became commissioner, governor and principal shareholder of the Hudson's Bay Company. He was president of the Bank of Montreal and with his first cousin, Lord Mount Stephen, co-founded the Canadian Pacific Railway. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and afterwards represented Montreal in the House of Commons of Canada. He was Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1896 to 1914. He was chairman of Burmah Oil and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. He was chancellor of McGill University (1889–1914)[1] and Aberdeen University.

    LordStrathcona.jpg
     
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  11. Austinrod

    Austinrod New Member

     
  12. Austinrod

    Austinrod New Member

    This as well from the same records as mentioned from previous post. Does not mention KIA so possibly had a son after the war and named him after his brother. Timeline would fit for birth in around 1920.

    Macdonald, Sutherland , Vankleek Hill; student; b. Oct. 7, 1895; single; son of Dr. Alexander & Etta Macdonald; joined Aug. 29, 1916 age 20. Listed on Knox Presbyterian Church Memorial
     

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