Elgin Regiment E Squadron_Buzz Bombs
"E" Squadron Is Rigged Up
in Gala Dress Incident at Cleve;
First Experience With the Buzz-Bombs
By Major R.W. Rankin, M.B.E.
Commanding "E" Squadron, Elgin Regiment
I left the Elgins in France to go with the British Army and
Major Stewart Thomson, now in
Toronto, took over command of "E" Squadron. It was
in April a year ago that I learned the Squadron was over the border
in Germany in a town called Cleve. I happened to
be in that vicinity and decided to pay them a call. I arrived in
the midst of one of the most amusing demonstrations I have ever
witnessed.
The town of Cleve was badly bombed. Virtually
all the buildings were demolished or damaged, including business
places. Two of the stores that were hard hit by bombs were a
clothing store where there was a large stock of dress suits and top
hats and a store where musical instruments were sold.
The boys of "E" Squadron really hopped on to that merchandise,
organizing a very formal orchestra - every member in a dress suit
and a topper.
I can still see several of those Elgins; George
Hunter was perched on top of a horse, in all his formal
regalia. He really made an impressive sight. Bill
Morgan of Port Stanley had on a dress
suite and top hat that partially fitted him and was playing an
accordion. Two or three other boys were blowing lustily on
saxophones and trumpets and trying to keep their toppers from
falling off.
NO DISH WASHING
That stay in Cleves was easy for
Corporal Neaves, the cook, and his assistants. The
Elgins were billeted in the wrecks of buildings - in basements, any
place they could find quarters. There were all kinds of dishes in
the wrecked buildings - whole dishes and broken dishes. The Elgins
made free use of them in serving up their food. And nobody
bothering washing the dishes when they finished eating; they simply
tossed the dirty dishes out of the windows and took others that
were clean or fairly clean, for the next meal. Kitchen duties were
light during that stay in Cleve.
BUZZ-BOMB WORRIES
In June, 1944, "E" Squadron was situated on the English coast
near Folkestone, waiting to proceed to Normandy
with 2 Canadian Corps. It was a time of much activity since all the
tanks and wheeled vehicles had to be waterproofed for the trip
across the Channel. One day there suddenly appeared a strange
sounding plane giving out a noise something like a one-cylinder
motorcycle, and travelling at a speed of about three hundred and
fifty miles per hour. When the machine failed to answer recognition
signals all the anti-aircraft guns along the coast opened fire with
everything they had. Puffs of smoke from the exploding shells
appeared around the plane but it kept on coming, without changing
course. Suddenly the motor stopped and it nose-dived right into the
area where the Elgins were. Everybody thought the gunners had
brought down a German plane, but when the machine hit the ground
there was a terrific explosion, which caused the earth to tremor.
Some of the Elgin boys working on a tank, Bill
McMurchie, Bill Turner, of
Talbotville, and Bill Doan, of
St. Thomas, at the sound of the explosion all made
a dive underneath the tank and found themselves all tangled up in a
space about eighteen inches square.
This strange machine later became known as a buzz-bomb, a
German pilotless plane invention which carried a
large amount of explosives. The squadron soon came to know them
well, because they passed over day and night from then on. The men
of "E" Squadron were glad to get to France where things were
somewhat quieter.