Tip of the Spear: An Intimate Account of 1 Canadian Parachute Battalion, 1942-1945: A Pictorial History

312 Pages·2002·30.61 MB·English

by  Lt.-Col. Bernd Horn

TIP OF THE SPEAR
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T IP OF T HE S P E AR
An Intimate Account of
1 Canadian Parachute Battalion,
1942-1945
A Pictorial History
Lieutenant-Colonel Bernd Horn and Michel Wyczynski
THE DUNDURN GROUP
TORONTO • OXFORD
Copyright © Bernd Horn and Michel Wyczynski, 2002
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys-
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Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency.
Copy-editor: Irene Karasavidis
Designer: Jennifer Scott
Printer: University of Toronto Press
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Horn, Bernd, 1959-
Tip of the spear: an intimate account of 1 Canadian Parachute Battalion,
1942-1945: a pictorial history
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-55002-388-8
1. Canada. Canadian Army. Canadian Parachute Battalion, 1" — History.
2. World War, 1939-1945 — Regimental histories — Canada.
I. Wyczynski, Michel, 1953- II. Title.
D792.C2H67 2002 940.54'1271 C2002-901092-6
1 2 3 45 06 05 04 03 02
Canada
THE CANADA COUNCIL LE CONSEII.DES ARTS ONTARIO ARTS COUNCIL
FOR TI IE ARTS DU CANADA CONSEIL DES ARTS DE L'ONTAftIO
SINCE 195" DEPUIS 1957
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario
Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support
of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development
Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the
Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program.
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The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any
references or credit in subsequent editions.
J. Kirk Howard, President
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T A B LE OF C O N T E N TS
Author's Preface 9
Foreword 11
Battalion Commander's Introduction (Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser Eadie) 13
An Overview History 15
PART I - BEGINNINGS 57
PART II - BUILDING A NATIONAL AIRBORNE CAPABILITY 119
PART III - THE BRITISH EXPERIENCE 165
PART IV - THE BATTALION AT WAR 265
PART V - OCCUPATION AND THE END OF THE CRUSADE 289
PART VI - POSTSCRIPT 303
Glossary 305
Bibliography 311
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A U T H O R S' P R E F A CE
When Germany unleashed its offensive in Western Europe on 10 May 1940, it caught the world by surprise in many differ-
ent ways. Specifically, the speed, efficiency and operational boldness of the new German doctrine shocked the Allies who
were completely unprepared. Quite simply, Blitzkrieg introduced the West to an entirely new concept of war, one which was
altogether different from that experienced twenty years prior.
A key component of Blitzkrieg, and one that astonished both the public and the military at large because of their feats
of daring and martial prowess, was the German Fallschirmjager. These intrepid troops very quickly became the epitome of
the modern combat soldier. They introduced the third element, namely vertical envelopment. These German paratroop-
ers were young, fit and audacious. They entered battle by way of parachute and were perceived as invincible. Europe was
gripped by a sense of fear and paranoia. Fallschirmjager were seen everywhere! Even the inimical British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill, in that foreboding summer of 1940, feared an imminent German invasion spearheaded by 30,000
Fallschirmjdger. Simply put, paratroopers became the embodiment of modern war, the embodiment of offensive action and
indomitable spirit. Not surprisingly, airborne forces soon became perceived by military commanders, as well as the public,
as an integral part of a modern army. Although slow off the mark, by 1943, Britain and the United States developed air-
borne forces of unprecedented scale.
Canada was no different despite its hesitant start. It too developed airborne forces. Its effort, namely 1 Canadian
Parachute Battalion, is the subject of this work. This book is a companion to Paratroopers versus the Reich: I Canadian
Parachute Battalion at War, 1942—1945. Whereas the latter forms the scholarly examination of the Battalion, this book pro-
vides an intimate portrait in photographs of the unit's human side. Its title, Tip of the Spear, is derived from the first
Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel G.EP. Bradbrooke's explanation in 1942, that the unit was the "tip of the spear,"
and that its purpose was "to go in first, to penetrate behind enemy lines and to fight in isolated positions."