April 1st, 1945, is Easter for the 12th Field Regiment. The Padre held a church parade at 1100 hrs in the Legion Barn which was well attended.

Quote from the regiment war diary for April 1st:

Being in Holland we can now fraternize again. This windmill is about the strongest command post we have ever had; the walls are bricked at least 5 feet thick with about 20 feet of earth-filled in at the sides.

From the war diaries:

WAR DIARY
12TH CANADIAN FIELD REGIMENT R.C.A.
Excerpts April 1945

April 1:
To-day is Easter Sunday and the Regiment spent a very quiet morning with no firing. The Padre held a church parade at 1100 hrs in the Legion Barn which was well attended. Received the order to send recce parties forward from the CO at 1500 hrs. Area reported not completely cleared of enemy yet. Capt SYLVESTER of E Troop of the 4 LAA, Regiment showed up to-day having just returned from England. The Regiment moved at 1800 hrs, the 16th Bty moving first. Complete in new area by 2115 hrs. RHQ located in a very picturesque windmill of the old Dutch type. Being in Holland we can now fraternize again. This windmill is about the strongest command post we have ever had the walls are bricked at least 5 feet thick with about 20 feet of earth filled in at the sides. The weather was dull and cloudy with visibility only fair.

April 2:
The Regiment was ordered to have the recce parties standing by at 0600 hrs. New area to be approx three miles due NORTH. 43 Bty started moving at 0930 hrs. RHQ moved at 1300 hrs. The infantry is fanning out at the moment meeting little opposition except from woods in area 9075. Role of 7 Bde is to move WSW towards LEVINAAR. The Regiment fired a number of HF tasks in support of 8 Bde who are heading for the banks of the river ISSEL due NORTH as well as a few Mike targets in direct support of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and C Scot Rs. The weather was dull and cloudy in the morning but cleared up in the afternoon. Visibility was good throughout the day.

April 3:
The Regiment was ordered to prepare to move and to have one Bty ready to move by 0600 hrs. 11 Bty moved first, and were in direct support of 7 Bde. A no firing line in effect EAST of the 84 grid line. Recce parties were called for at 1300 hrs. The whole Regiment moved at 1400 hrs and were ready shortly after. Quite a windy day with the odd showers. Visibility good. Recce parties warned to moot the CO at 0700 hrs.

April 4:
The Regiment received the order to move at 0900 hrs and moved NORTH from WEHL to our new area. The gun positions received some fairly heavy enemy shelling. The Regiment was called on to support the 9 Bde. Bdr RUCK (RUDOLPH ) of the 11 Bty was killed while coming to the gun position. He was killed just as he came through the crossroad at BEEK. Several shelreps were sent in from the Regiment. We made a recce of the sq 0091 in order to be able to support the 7 Bde on their bridgehead across the canal. The Regiment fired several Mike and Yoke targets in support of both the 7 and 8 Bdes. Weather – clear and warm. Visibility goods •

April 5:
During the early morning the Regiment fired several fire plans in support of the 7 Bde. Our FOOs were netted to 2 Div Arty units as well as our own to ensure sufficient fire. The 7 Bde consolidated across the canal EAST of ZUTPHEN. At 1000 hrs recce parties called to sq 0092. At 1115 hrs message came to cancel the move. The Regiment fired a considerable number of ‘M’ targets and fire plans in support of our own Bde as well as the 8th. At 2350 hrs word came down that recce parties would be prepared to move off at 0600 hrs to the, area of 9996.

April 6:
Received the order “Prepare to Move” at 0500 hrs and the first bty moved at 0830 hrs. .When they got into action at ALHKN MR 015965 we were told to move the remainder of the Regiment up and to stay on wheels. Recce parties left at 1300 hrs to go to G0RSSEL and the Regiment took up this position during the afternoon. From this intermediate position the 43 Bty went into action for a short while to fire propaganda shells in ZUTPHEN. The propaganda was brought to us by a rep from Army. The weather continues very favourable and visibility is excellent. We fired a considerable number of targets for our Bde, one sub-unit having cleared the area of 935057. Our OPs reported that our arty fire knocked out two SP guns during the day.

April 7:
To-day we fired a great number of targets into DEVENTER. Had some medium shelling of our guns, no casualties and no damage done. We fired some red smoke for the “tiffies”. The weather has been perfect for our aircraft and they seem to be making good use of it. OPs report the visibility as excellent. Capt L.F. KIRKPATRICK received his majority and takes over command of 16 Bty.

April 8:
At 0450 Lt PEACH was wounded and was evacuated through the RRRs. We fired a lot of counter mortar targets. At 0855 hrs recce parties were: warned to stand by. The Regiment started moving at 1220 hrs. The afternoon was very good for air visibility and as a result we fired three red smoke targets and done an air OP shoot. The Regiment was completely moved by 1600 hrs with RHQ at MR 986052. When we occupied this position vie were less than 3000 yds from the FDLs.

Remembrance journey into the past-

The Netherlands – Liberation remembrance 

From the 12th Field Regiment Documentary

– Belgium & The Liberation of the Netherlands Chapter –

Reflection is the courage to make the truth of our own presuppostions and the realm of our own goals into the things that most deserve to be called in question.

How narrowly bounded is our lifetime.
We see and count the number of our years.
But have the years of nations
Been seen by mortal eye?

 

If your soul throbs in longing
Over its own time, mourning, then
You linger on the cold shore
Among your own and never know them.

Hölderlin

CREDIT:

windmill image graphic- photo credit JDG>>

in retrospect
in history
in memory
for today
for tomorrow!!

Follow the links over time:

>>Perpetual Remembrance for the 12th Field Regiment – 2014

>>Remembrance Day ~ 21 Gun Salute at Queen’s Park -2014

>> 70th to 75th Anniversary of the Liberation on the Dutch – 2015-2020

>>Remembrance Day commemorated by the Orangeville Community, 2016

>>HONOUR ROLL 12TH FIELD REGIMENT R.C.A.

—————————————————————–

At evening the autumnal forests resound
With deadly weapons, the golden plains
And blue lakes, above them the sun
Rolls more darkly by; night enfolds
The dying warriors, the wild lament
Of their broken mouths.
But in the grassy vale the spilled blood,
Red clouds in which an angry god lives,
Gathers softly, lunar coldness;
All roads lead to black decay.
Beneath the golden boughs of night and stars
The sister’s shadow reels through the silent grove
To greet the ghosts of heroes, their bleeding heads;
And the dark flutes of autumn sound softly in the reeds.
O prouder sorrow! you brazen altars
Today an immense anguish feeds the mind’s hot flame,
The unborn descendants.

Grodek
by Georg Trakl

August 14th, 1944 – It was to be the grimmest day of the war for the 12th Regiment R.C.A. The Regiment was the victim of a horrible and ghastly tragedy. The R.A.F. and R.C.A.F. bombed their first target, which was German troops, accurately.
The second wave hit factories near the quarries which brought everyone out to watch. The next wave bombed behind the 12th Field. The following waves bombed the 12th, and many other units located in the area, for over an hour.
There were 16 killed and at least 51 wounded.

August 14th, 1944

Canadians Bombed by 500 R.A.F. Planes
Globe and Mail by Ralph Allen, the War correspondent. 43rd D. RHQ – – excerpts:

Could See it Coming

Before we reached our destination it had already become apparent that something had suddenly gone wrong with the bombing program. British heavies had changed their course slightly and when we heard the next gargantuan blast of heavy bombs and saw the next pillar of smoke belch toward the sky, the area had somehow shifted to our own lines. Bombs appeared to fall on Cauvicourt, a mile northeast of the quarry.

Brigade headquarters was already reporting it to division when we arrived at the operations room, a dugout that had served as a German divisional headquarters only a few days before.

…………..

From the top of the quarry, H.D. Zeiman, correspondent of the Daily Telegraph; Collin Rayment, Montreal, our conducting officer, and I watched the first squadron of Lancasters come in two hours after the Canadian infantry had launched an attack across the Liaison River toward Falaise and drop their bombs with perfect accuracy in the area of Quesney Wood, 2 1/2 miles from our observation post.

………………

Hundreds More Planes Coming

But the next wave of bombers hit due north of us and it occurred to us that perhaps it was time to take note of the fact that bombs had now been dropped on three sides of us and that there were hundreds more planes still in the air coming straight towards us. The planes were flying low. We waited another minute, looking through our binoculars to see if the bomb doors on the leading planes were open. Then the major called out: ” Everybody in trenches or dugouts “.

Pte. Jerome Latour, Toronto driver of our press jeep, jumped in and drove the jeep along the quarry shelf to the front of the dugout, where there was protection for it to one side. Rayment, Zeiman, the major and I jogged along on foot glancing uneasily over our shoulders, but we made just as the first bomb hit the quarry with the deafening, teeth-shattering impact of a rabbit punch from a giant. We spilled inside the dugout, past a narrow runway, down two steps and around a corner into a square room in which eight or 10 privates were already sitting around a kerosene lamp.

The scene in the Dugout

There wasn’t much to the room but a big operations map and a double tier of wooden bunks. The soldiers moved back on the bunks to make room. One of them sat on a box, his head bent over a set of signaller’s earphones. ” Hello, Sarah Two, Hello Sarah Two, we are being bombed. Over, ” he was saying. His voice was firm, clear and decidedly matter of fact.

The rabbit punches were raining down by now, and through the smoke-filled corridor of the dugout every now and then the hot, liquid fingers of blast reached and tugged as though to drag us out of our trembling haven by sheer force.

We had now become the preferred target. The bombs came at us in catching sticks and each time a stick started we held our breaths and covered our heads with our arms….

Excerpt from the book ” Into Action with the 12th Field – Lt. Col. T. J. Bell M.C.

One hour and ten minutes of death and destruction _ and from our own support. It was almost unbelievable and the time seemed interminable. Many prayers were offered that day – not for life itself but that the end might come quickly. The agony of suspense was terrifying and escape impossible. The air after each stick was dropped, would be filled with flying debris and between waves the ammunition from dumps and blazing vehicles was exploding in every direction. The whole area of the quarry was raging inferno and yet strange to relate the dividing line of the bombing between the 11th, 16th and 43rd Batteries was as clean as the cut of a knife. Not that the 43rd felt safe but they were able to watch Lancasters come in an literally blow their brother Batteries to bits _ at least it seemed so at the time. They were only four hundred yards from the target and yet could only watch: any action was impossible.

An Auster air OP eventually put in an appearance and did its best to divert the bombers from us but it was only the last wave that was actually led from our area.

There was so much smoke and dust after the first few waves had passed that even decisive features on the ground had ceased to exist for orientation and from what we could gather the bombers were bent only on dropping their bombs in the same area as their predecessors.

Our toll, when it was over, was thirteen dead and fifty-three wounded to say nothing of the vehicles and guns. The gun position and Wagon Lines of the 16th and the Wagon Lines of the 11th Batteries were hit the hardest while the 43rd escaped untouched. The 16th lost practically all of their vehicles and trailers and most of their guns were damaged. The 11th suffered thirty-three vehicle casualties and it was a miracle that no more lives had been lost. Now we knew how the Germans stood it and the answer was going to ground. Unless a bomb scored a direct hit on a slit trench you were comparatively safe. It was a dreadful experience and the morale of the Regiment was at a low ebb following the raid. The Medical Officer performed miracles in his RAP in one of the tunnels and many casualties from the other Units passed through his hands.

No time was lost once the raid was over in checking vehicle and personnel casualties and the Regiment, less the 16th Battery, prepared immediately to move forward to support our Infantry in spite of our losses. The 16th had no guns or vehicles so they remained behind to refit and reorganize.

Canada’s Phantom Regiment excerpt- CHAPTER Five: Quarry Bombing and The Liberation of France (17 min)

Project links:

Honour Roll

Veteran Russell Kaye recounts the tragic bombing on August 14, 1944, during an interview 

Walter Culhane Bittle KIA on August 14, 1944 near Haut-Mesnil / Falaise

We can no more master the past than we can undo it.
But we can reconcile ourselves to it.
Hannah Arendt

It is, as Goethe has said ( in the Dedication to Faust ):

Pain arises anew, lament repeats,
Life’s Labyrinthine, erring course.