Canadians in British regiments during the battle of Normandy.

As some of you may be aware I have been researching what had happened here in Lyons La Forêt, upper Normandy at the time of her liberation.

Some of the locals say that it was Canadians that liberated our village, others say it was the British. Upon speaking to one person who has been studying what happened in this area for many years and he said that all British regiments during the battle of Normandy had Canadians in them. Is this true? If so, where can I read about it?

 

Many regiments had Canadian officers posted to them under the CANLOAN scheme:

Canloan Officers

 

http://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=cmh

 

CANLOAN - Officers with British Regiments - SWWEC gives you a list of officers and which regiments they served with

 

There is also this book: "Codeword CANLOAN"

Code Word CANLOAN: the story of a group of Canadian Army Officers who volunteered to serve in the British Army in Europe between D-'Day, and VE-Day, 1945 by Smith, Wilfred I.: Dundurn Press presumed 1st printing, Toronto 9781550021677 - Barbarossa Books Ltd. (IOBA)

 

Cheers guys for that. Has anyone heard of any Canadians being killed on August 30th in either Touffreville or Lisors in France. I have heard of three deaths but have no names. I have contacted the town hall at Touffreville to see what they have but they have not answered yet. There were three other deaths from 53rd Welsh Reconnaissance in the area (about two miles west). The cause of death for all concerned was the same.....enemy mines.

 

There were three canloans killed on August 30th 1944 in my area here in Normandy. I believe they were is the 53rd Welsh Recce regiment. How can I find their names? Does anyone know?

 

If you do a search on the CWGC database for

France
WW2
30 Aug 1944
Canadian
Army

Then this results in 14 - maybe then you need to check out to see if they have concentration reports noting where they were initially found/moved from

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx?cpage=1

TD

 

Remember that Canloan's were I believe only officers, so not quite sure why 3 officers from Canada would be all together at the same place doing a recce. Maybe this needs a rethink??

TD

 

Well according to a book which quote's an eye witness account, when the first vehicle was about enter Lisors, Eure, Normandy it hit mine killing all on board, the following vehicle drove around and entered the village when they were stopped, the villagers welcomed them in English, the crew said to them "We re not English, we are Canadian". According to locals, the three dead were also Canadians. Apparently they were buried in Touffreville cemetery before being moved to I don't know where at the moment. I have asked in the past about these men and people have confirmed the death of three men at the entrance to the village but so far, no one has given names. I have emailed the town hall of Touffreville asking for the names of any allied servicemen who died in their area during both conflicts as I am a member of the Souvenir Français (like the Royal British Legion) and we want to create a list of all allied 'Mort pour la France' (Dead for France) to make that ALL are remember which also why I am working on the story about the other allied dead in my are i.e the three members of 53rd Recce etc.

 

I am assuming:

1. If they were all Canadian then it would have been a Canadian Regiment - so not 53 Recce Regt.

OR

2. If they were a mix of a Canadian Officer and British troops then its a good chance it was a Canloan Officer and Recce regiment soldiers. If this was the case then perhaps the locals only took notice of the Officers 'markings' and assumed they 'were all Canadian'

So if you are checking for a Canloan officer it would (in my view) be only one death you are looking for from the Canloan database as in option 2.
If however it is option 1 then you are needing to trace at least 3 Canadian deaths on that day (CWGC search) and presumably 1 officer and ? OR's

TD

 

Tricky, I know for certain that the 53rd Recce were there that day because of the deaths of troopers Ware, Dick and Drew. Also I have got a copy of a letter written madame Huguette Verhague, a well known resistant of the area saying that it certainly the Brits that liberated Lisors that day. I have asked the town hall of Les Hogues if they have any info on trooper Upton of the 53rd as he was killed the same day and I am now wondering if he was one of the three.

 

I have ordered a copy of 'Code word Canloan' to understand more about what the Canloan officers did etc.

 

Following TD’s advice, 6 of those that died that day are buried in Calais and one in Marseilles the other seven at Bretteville 25Klms From Touffeville.


BRAZEAU, JOSEPH PAUL EMILE ROLAND

Private

D/63779

30/08/1944

22

Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, R.C.I.C.

Canadian

XXVI. B. 6.

BRETTEVILLE-SUR-LAIZE CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY


MARSH, GORDON G.

Trooper

H/77260

30/08/1944

21

14th Canadian Hussars, R.C.A.C.

Canadian

XVIII. D. 16.

BRETTEVILLE-SUR-LAIZE CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY


PAGETTO, VINCENT

Corporal

B/20294

30/08/1944

24

Royal Winnipeg Rifles, R.C.I.C.

Canadian

XVIII. D. 9.

BRETTEVILLE-SUR-LAIZE CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY


ROGERS, CLAUDE EVERLY

Lance Bombardier

K/25139

30/08/1944

25

Royal Canadian Artillery

Canadian

XIX. D. 10.

BRETTEVILLE-SUR-LAIZE CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY


GRAY, ROBERT

Corporal

B/81134

30/08/1944

33

Royal Canadian Army Service Corps

Canadian

XIV. D. 16.

BRETTEVILLE-SUR-LAIZE CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY


KVAMME, CLARENCE J.

Corporal

L/53445

30/08/1944

22

14th Canadian Hussars, R.C.A.C.

Canadian

XVIII. D. 8.

BRETTEVILLE-SUR-LAIZE CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY


BRAZEAU, JOSEPH PAUL EMILE ROLAND

Private

D/63779

30/08/1944

22

Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, R.C.I.C.

Canadian

XXVI. B. 6.

BRETTEVILLE-SUR-LAIZE CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY



Of these 7, 2, Marsh and Kvamme, 14th Canadian Hussars 8th Recce Regt

 

Cheers RCG, I will look into these. In the meantime, if I get anything back from the Mairie I will let you all know.

 

D63779 Pte JPE Brazeau is listed as "died as a result of accidental injuries"
H77260 Tpr GG Marsh, died as a result of wounds sustained in action against the enemy. Buried Rue de Calleville. Unit shown as "8 Canadian Recce Regt, CAC"
B20294 Cpl V Pagetto, died of wounds
K25139 Gnr CE Rogers, killed by accidental discharge of a Sten by a fellow Gnr.
B81134 Cpl R Gray, fatally injured in motorcycle accident, died at Hopital Hospice de Lisieux
L53445 Cpl CJ Kvamme, died as a result of wounds sustained in action against the enemy. Buried Rue de Calleville. Unit shown as "8 Canadian Recce Regt, CAC"

 

Alieneys, thanks for that. I think I really need to speak to the town hall about this incident. None of the descriptions really fit so to speak.

 

Canloan: Canucks with the Brits in WWII. - Free Online Library

 

Well, the path of 53rd Welsh does certainly seem to have gone through that area, but the Canadian connection eludes me.



from 53rd Welsh Division