South Saskatchewan Regiment
8 Apr 45
MR 074074
Sh 3704
At 1045 hrs Brig JV Allard, DSO and Bar, visited Comd Post and gave Lt-Col V Stott, DSO, infm concenring future ops.
At 1100 hrs Lt-Col M Harris visited the CO in connection with the roudns of arty falling short in C coy area previous to and during the crossing of the SCHIPBEEK CANAL, the night before.
At 1140 hrs Lt-Col V Stott, DSO, held a short adm O Gp. First the general situation on the Cdn front was given and then strenght chits and rfts personell were gone over and allotted to coys.
At 1445 hrs Lt-Col V Stott, DSO, called a “Huddle Green” which means an ops O Gp and to be prepared to move off immediately it is over.
At 1500 hrs the O Gp got under way with the CO giving the general enemy picture. Following this he detailed the intention of the S Sask R, namely to capture and hold main road and railway line area MR 055096. Method – it is to be done by coy infoltration. Code words, objectives and routes were marked on cy comds maps by the Int Sec (see trace). The remainder of the bn supporting arms to report to Comd Post after the O Gp. The leading coy to start fot its objective by 1630 hrs. RAP to remain at MR 084066 and on ordrs from Lt-Col V Stott, DSO, to move to codeword “Lead”. Comd Post to remain in present psn and then move to “Lead” and then on to “Copper”.
Mortars to move to “Lead” with Comd Post and then on to “Tin”. IN support the bn has 2 tps of tks and the 6 Cdn Fd Regt RCA. At 1540 hrs the O Gp ended and the cou comds returned to their coys.
At 1550 hrs Capt HA Osborne, IO, visited LtCol V Stott, DSO, with the latest infm from 6 Cdn Inf Bde.
At 1550 hrs Brig JV Allard, DSO & Bar, visited the CO with infm concerning the 2 Cdn INf Dv activities and to tie in one or two small points.
At 1715 hrs B coy reported on objective “ Lead” with no enemy opposition. There has been a decided lack of enemy shelling during the day and it was expected B coy’s attack would bring it on, but much to everyone’s surprise it still remained quiet.
At 1830 hrs C coy reached B coy objective and reported 1 enemy 40 mm gun firing from MR 059094.
At 1853 hrs A coy reported 2 pls on “Tin” and that Lt Dick Kerr had been wounded.
At 1854 hrs Lt McKenna of Tor Scots Regt reported with his MMG pl to the Comd Post. It is now under comd of S Sask R.
At 1905 hrs A coy reported “Tin” complete and approx 15 enemy inf withdrawing northwest towards “Copper”.
At 2000 hrs A coy reported 1 PW, the first to be captured during this battle. Quite a difference from the crossing of the SCHIPBEEK CANAL.
At 2009 hrs C coy reported on “Lead” and asked for some targets.
At 2030 hrs C coy reported on “Copper” complete and were told to send a patrol 300 yds south of “Copper” to clear any enemy out of the woods in that area.
At 2123 hrs D coy reported “Iron” complete. The Wesp Flamethrowers were used at thier objective. Major F Stiles at one time was OC of Carrier Pl and has a very good knowledge of the proper use of this wpn.
At 2135 hrs the RAP moved to “Lead” and all coys were infm of the new location. At 2210 hrs B coy reported “Silver” complete and that they had captured a German smb. A guard was placed on it until CO and MO could have a look at it in daylight.
At 2313 hrs A coy reported “Gold” complete with no shots being fired. Enemy activity during ths bn operation has been very light with shelling and mortaring nil. At 2330 hrs word was received that Lt RK Kerr had died of wounds. lt Kerr was a sgt with the bn during the DIEPPE Raid and later returned to Canada for his commission. He returned overseas and rejoined the bn in Holland wher he fought up to the present time. His services with the bn will long be remembered by those who knew him.
The rest of the night passed quietly with no fire coming from the Jerry lines. The boys were quite happy to leave things as they were in exchange for a good night of sleep.