Elgin Regiment A Squadron_Italy
"A" Squadron, With Good Men and True,
Moved Fast, Far Along the Italian Front
Was in the Initial Assault on Gustav and Hitler Lines;
Worked Part of Time as Unit Under British Command. Kept Constantly
on Move During Winter of 1943-44
By Major E.G. King
Commanding "A" Squadron, Elgin Regiment
During the Italian campaign, doing the east coast the first
winter and then starting from below Cassino and
finishing up in the foothills of the Northern
Apennines. And, if I were asked to name one of the busiest
men in the Squadron during our Italian interlude I think I would
nominate Trooper Doug Keith, the postal clerk. The
amount of mail that passed through his hands was large and usually
about 90 per cent of it had to be re-addressed, which meant a lot
of work for one man - but Doug did a good job of it.
A couple of months after the invasion of the Italian mainland,
the original Elgin squadron, working with the
1st Canadian Armored
Brigade, was reduced in strength by a change in
establishment and another squadron was formed, being "A" Squadron
and the original "B" Squadron. This was because a new system was
being evolved and the two squadrons were found to be necessary.
This was eventually found to be unsound and the original "B"
Squadron was broken up early in 1944.
At this time, the 1st Canadian Armored
Brigade was under the command of the
British 13th Corps, which
was Lord Wavell's original desert corps and now a
part of the British 8th
Army. Thus, during the greater part of the time
they were in Italy, the Elgins, as a unit in the Brigade, were
under British command.
The cold, snowy winter or 1943-44 kept the Elgins on the move
around Ortona, scene of one of the toughest
engagements of the Italian campaign, and Lancieno,
on the East coast.
ALL PART OF A PLAN
It was in March, 1944, that our Squadron got its orders to
prepare to move across Italy to a spot in south Italy. The move was
well-concealed and we learned later that it was all part of the
pattern in a future attack on the Gustav and Hitler
Lines, though nothing was known at this time. Six
weeks were spent in reconditioning armour and arranging for a flow
of tanks from the rear forward through to the brigade. That was our
responsibility.
I guess all of the boys who were in Italy will remember the
night of May 11, 1944, when the attack started and the
Canadian Armored Brigade got into the
initial assault. I can assure you that "A" Squadron was kept very
busy, getting the tanks forward. That was our concern, and every
man in the Squadron really worked hard.
Only a few men from St. Thomas and district
were in the Squadron at this time - Lieut. Bill
Fellows of St. Thomas; Sergeant
Bud Phillips of Aylmer, and
Troopers Doug Keith, Henry Johnston and
Lloyd Chiverton of St. Thomas
making up the representation with myself. However, during the next
month, Sergeants Pat Harris, Ted
Hayes and Jack Marr arrived to join the
Squadron, which increased the St. Thomas
showing.
MOVED FAST AND FAR
By this time, the Germans were on the run and
our Squadron was doing some moving to keep up with them. We moved
fast and we moved far, touring Italy from south to
north by army tank, as it were. Starting from 150 miles south of
Rome in May, 1944, by the first of September we
were outside of Florence (Firenze), 225 miles
north of Rome.
We didn't stop there either. The next move was in October when
the Elgins went farther north, right to the foothills of the
Northern Appenines.
With the coming winter, the front stalemated and our Squadron
didn't move again until the following March when the transfer of
the 1st Canadian Corps to
France began.
They were good men and true in "A" Squadron, men I am proud to
have been associated with during the stubborn campaign when we got
so much firsthand information about Italian terrain, climate and
people.