Forgotten Canadians: The WWII Veterans Guard

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With news that the Canadian military just this week has finally made progress on replacing their WWII-era Browning Hi-Powers, this 80th-anniversary image seems very relevant:

The above shows one middle-aged Corporal A.M. McLean of the Veteran’s Guard of Canada in June 1943. Clad in a  No. 2 helmet and armed with an American-made Reising submachine gun, his unit was tasked primarily with guarding Axis E-POWs in Canada.

At the time the image was taken, the force, composed largely of Great War vets still ready to serve in secondary roles, was at its height, numbering over 10,000 men under arms at a time when the country had a population of just 11 million.

A Canadian “Dad’s Army,” for sure.

As noted by the IWM:

On 23rd May 1940, it was announced in the Canadian Parliament that a Veterans Home Guard was being formed from men between the ages of 40 and 65, mainly WW1 veterans. The idea was to make use, for domestic security duties, of experienced personnel too old for active service overseas. Twelve companies, each of around 250 personnel, were to be formed initially, with a number of reserve companies formed in due course. The name was shortly changed to the Veterans Guard of Canada.

They would be named with a mix of Ross rifles, SMLE .303s, and P14 Enfields. 

Note the Ross rifles. “Inspection of Veteran Guard, Internment Camp 130,” Kananaskis, Alta., photographed by William John Oliver LAC 3514979

Veterans Guard members, including some very aged corporals, training with a SMLE No. 1. MKIII

On the march with American-made P14 Enfields

Members of the Veterans Guard of Canada pose for a color publicity photo in an Ottawa studio via the LAC

Veterans Guard of Canada member poses for a color publicity photo, complete with his Belgian Great War ribbons, LAC

Many stood guard over power plants, factories, and other sites considered potentially vulnerable but most were assigned as guards for prisoner of war and internment camps. Guarding these prisoners was initially the responsibility of the Canadian Provost Corps but in May 1941 full responsibility for them was passed to the Veterans Guard. It was to prove a significant undertaking. Britain had initially asked Canada to accept some 4,000 internees and 3,000 prisoners of war, but this soon increased to the point where, at its peak in October 1944, Canada was holding no less than 34,193 prisoners on behalf of the UK.

With the growth of tasks came the growth of the Guard.

By March 1941 there were 29 active companies with a total strength of 206 officers and 6,360 other ranks. Of these, 98 officers and 2,848 other ranks were guarding internment camps, the balance of personnel being employed in guarding vulnerable points and training. There were in addition 43 reserve companies with a total strength of 183 officers and 3,765 other ranks.

The Guard reached its peak of strength in June 1943, when its Active strength was 451 officers and 9,806 other ranks, which included 37 companies and 17 internment camp staff in Canada.

The Guard also served overseas. One served in Newfoundland, and another went to the UK as the General Duties Company at CMHQ in London.

In the spring of 1942, there was concern that ships carrying bauxite from the mines in British Guiana might be sabotaged while on the Demerara River. The British Government asked whether Canada could provide white officers and NCOs to supervise the locally recruited colored guards assigned to the shipping. No. 34 Company was formed for this purpose, comprising officers and NCOs only, and it reached Georgetown in June 1942. The posting was extremely unpleasant, as the ships were filthy and the weather sweltering. They were not withdrawn until January 1945.

The British Government also requested Canada to provide a guard for the Governor of the Bahamas, The Duke of Windsor. ‘N’ Force, or No. 33 Company of the Veterans Guard, was formed for that purpose in April 1943 and arrived in Nassau in June. They were relieved by a company of the Pictou Highlanders in the autumn.

There were other less routine assignments. In early 1944 the British Army Staff in Washington asked Canada to supply personnel to “conduct” mules from New York to Karachi. Four shiploads of mules were taken by Canadian Army parties between March 1944 and April 1945, four of which were provided by the Veterans Guard.

The last Veterans Companies were disbanded in 1947.

Tornado und der Luftwaffe

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Check out this great AP Archives video from 22 June 1977, right at 46 years ago, showing a then very new aircraft: the Panavia Tornado, in West German service. It includes both a test bird in a bright scheme as well as one in a more standard livery.

At the 1:06 mark, an older man is seen climbing from the rear seat of the ‘Nado is Generalmajor Gerhard Limberg, then Chef des Stabes, 4th Allied Tactical Air Force (4. ATAF) at Heidelberg.

The good general had cut his teeth flying Fw 190 A-3/U3 “Jabo” (Jagdbomber), fast tactical fighter bombers– a direct generational ancestor of the Tornado– with III./ Schnellkampfgeschwader 10 (SKG 10, later S.G. 4), earning the DKiG in 1944. He was in the air and very effective at Dieppe in 1942 and later over Sicily in 1943.

Postwar, he was accepted in the renewed Luftwaffe (Bundeswehr) in 1956 as a 36-year-old Oberleutnant.

He would go on to retire as Generalleutnant, Inspekteur, Führungsstab der Luftwaffe in 1978 and pass in 2006.

Navy picking up more high-speed target boats

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One of last week’s more interesting DOD contracts:

Silver Ships Inc.,* Theodore, Alabama, is awarded a $7,814,630 firm-fixed-price modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-23-F-2201 for the acquisition of 49 additional High-Speed Maneuvering Surface Target (HSMST) craft and accessories, 12 service manuals, 6 spare engines, and 38 sets of deployment spares. Work will be performed in Theodore, Alabama, and is expected to be completed by March 2025. The fiscal 2023 appropriation account for other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,016,330 (51%); and the fiscal 2022 appropriation account for other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,798,300 (49%), will be obligated at time of award; none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

The HSMST is a remotely operated target drone based on Metal Shark’s 26-foot AM800 fire boat.

While the DOD release mentions just 49 hulls, a presser from Silverships details that there are options for 246 HSMSTs that would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $48.25 milly.

The 27-foot custom-built AM800 target boats feature a 9-foot 8-inch beam and include an air or foam collar depending on the boat variant. Each AM800 will be outfitted with a specialized compartment designed for installing remote control systems and electronics. These target boats are fully operational and built to the Navy’s specifications and payload requirements depending on the boat’s specific mission. Vessels can be operated by a one or two-person crew for training purposes but are remotely operated during live-fire training.

Most of the 246 HSMSTs ordered will be powered by twin Suzuki 225HP outboards. The remaining boats included in this contract will be powered by Mercury Diesel Spark Ignition outboards to fulfill Navy fueling requirements. HSMSTs are designed with several uncommon design elements specific to their unique mission, for example, an above-deck fuel tank allowing operators to replace tanks quickly and easily.

The company had previously been awarded a contract in 2013 for 350 HSMSTs to be delivered by 2017. A lot of them wind up getting zapped.

180502-N-EN275-1040. ATLANTIC OCEAN (May 2, 2018) A close-in weapons system (CIWS) 20mm radar-guided Gatling gun aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) disables a remote-controlled high-speed maneuvering seaborne target (HSMST) during Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trials (CSSQT). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jacob Smith/Released)

I’d also like to point out that the HSMST is very relevant in the age of Ukrainian drone attack boats.

For reference, via the recent swarm attack of six such boats against the Russian spy ship Priazovye.

Via Russian MOD. 

America’s Hat Gets its SIGs

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The Canadian Armed Forces have received its first batch of new 9mm pistols from New Hampshire-based SIG Sauer.

The CAF last October announced the planned acquisition of SIG Sauer P320 modular handguns in a $3.2 million deal for 7,000 pistols with an option for as many as 9,500. The SIGs are replacing World War II-vintage Maple Leaf-marked Browning-Inglis No. 2 Mk1* Hi-Powers that had been produced in Toronto during the conflict.

The Canadians adopted the Hi-Power in 1944.

The Canadian Browning-Inglis production was aided during WWII by FN’s exiled staff, with the BHP’s co-designer, Dieudonné Saive, helping with the technical package, making these unofficial clones. Ultimately, an agreement was reached to pay FN a royalty of 25 cents after the war for each gun produced.

The SIG pistols, type classified as the C22 in Canadian service, will equip the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy, and Military Police.

As I have been covering in past years, the country has been trying to replace the aging classics since at least 2007 with the government and military officials running hot and cold on the process numerous times since then.

The C22 is a P320 modular, full-size, 9mm striker-fired pistol. The C22 contract pistol enhancements included an improved ergonomic design, 17-round capacity, and a loaded chamber indicator that is visible to the user at any angle. (Photo: SIG)

Turkish Tiger Inspectors

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Some 80 years ago today: Turkish military observers checking out a brand new PzKpfw VI Ausf. H Tiger tank of the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion (s PzAbt 503) outside of Belgorod, Russia, 26 June 1943. This was just prior to Operation Citadel (Unternehmen Zitadelle) in the Kursk salient.

The tank’s armor likely had a Turkish twist.

Long a fan of Teutonic military gear, strategy, and tactics, besides being an outright German ally in the Great War, the Turks maintained a large group of General Staff observers with the Wehrmacht for much of WWII. In addition, the country’s intelligence service often actively produced background reports for the Germans in regard to the Soviet military, at least early in the war.

Plus, the bulk of the small arms used by Istanbul were German-pattern Mausers and Spandau-type MG08 machine guns, while every naval nerd remembers that the country’s flagship was the old battlecruiser SMS Goeben (as Yavuz Sultan Selim).

Also, fans of armored vehicle technology, the Turkish army had ordered Soviet-made T-26 light tanks, T-27 tankettes, and BA-3 armored cars in the 1930s, as well as Vickers Mk VI light tanks from the British and French Renault R-35s by 1940– the latter a product of a military alliance with Paris and London signed in October 1939. However, after the Fall of France in 1940, the Turks instituted a policy of strict neutrality. 

At the time of the above images, Turkey was the largest supplier of chromite to Germany– a raw material desperately needed for the production of steel armor plates– sending 45,000 tons direct to Krupp in 1942 alone.

As noted by NARA: 

In 1943 Turkey provided essentially 100 percent of German requirements. According to Albert Speer, Hitler’s Armaments Minister, the German war machine would have ground to a halt without chromite ore.

However, eager to join the forming United Nations, closely courted by the Allies, and well aware of Germany’s likely defeat, Turkey halted sales of chromite in early 1944, broke off relations with Berlin four months later, and made a somewhat perfunctory declaration of war in February 1945 with the Soviets across the Oder and the Western Allies in the Rhine.

No Turkish troops saw combat in WWII.

Getting back in the game after 3 years in the penalty box

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80 years ago today, several French Navy warships that had been interned at Alexandria from June 1940 to June 1943 were rearmed, saluted, and welcomed back to the war. Among these was the cruiser Suffren.

French heavy cruiser Suffren leaving Alexandria Harbor, Egypt, 23rd June 1943, after a three-year stay during which she was interned by the British. She sailed out to join the Free French forces- IWM Photo

French heavy cruiser Suffren, shown leaving Alexandria Harbor, Egypt, on 23rd June 1943, after a three-year stay during which she was interned by the British. She sailed out to join the Free French forces- IWM Photo

To students of naval history, the name “Suffren” is quick to jog memories.

An homage to Admiral Comte Pierre André de Suffren, an 18th-century hero who doggedly fought the Royal Navy from the East Indies to the West Indies and off the coast of North America during the Seven Years War and later the American Revolution, more than a half-dozen French ships have carried his name.

These included the 74-gun ship of the line that tangled with HMS Victory directly at Trafalgar, an event that led to Nelson’s death; the early and somewhat innovative central battery ironclad of the late 19th Century; a Great War-era République-class pre-dreadnought that covered the withdrawal from the Dardanelles in 1915 with her 12-inch guns only to be sunk by a German U-boat the next winter; the lead-ship of a four-vessel class of heavy cruisers that saw combat in WWII; and the lead ship of a class of guided-missile destroyers that served during the Cold War.

The WWII-era Suffren, a handsome 12,000-ton CA, survived WWII in Free French service and went on to serve off Indochina and elsewhere, only heading to the breakers in 1974.

In 2019, the eighth Suffren, a brand new Barracuda-class submarine (Q284), was launched. The name was, once again, set aside for the first ship of her class.

The 7th warship to carry the name for France, Suffren (D602), was decommissioned in 2008 after nearly a decade in reserve. The 8th was commissioned in late 2020.

The submarine’s skipper was presented with relics from past Suffrens, including the long-interned cruiser

Working for that ‘Jungle’ tab

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Now don’t roll your eyes but Insider Business actually came up with a really good documentary on the current U.S. Army’s Jungle Operations Training Course (JOTC) in Hawaii. It is current, filmed just a few weeks ago at the 25th Infantry Division’s Lightning Academy, and follows 80 students across the grueling 12-day course with lots of access. Just 51 were able to get the “Jungle” tab at the end.

Don’t let the cringy title turn you off, it is a good doc.

That Carrier Life, Mike Rowe version

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I’ve always liked Mike Rowe’s work and was thrilled to meet him at an NSSF event at SHOT Show a few years ago. Really great storyteller. Probably our generation’s Mark Twain.

On his new “Somebody’s Gotta Do It” show, Mike was welcomed aboard the Norfolk-based supercarrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) while underway with an embarked airwing. The next 18 minutes are decent and give a good window into the current flattop life.

Enjoy.

She deserved better

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65 years ago today. The well-traveled Yorktown-class aircraft carrier, ex-USS Enterprise (CVS-6) awaiting disposal at the New York Naval Shipyard on 22 June 1958. She was sold for scrapping ten days later, on 2 July.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Catalog #: USN 1036995

The new Forrestal-class supercarrier USS Independence (CVA-62), almost twice as large by displacement, is fitting out on the opposite side of the pier. Ships visible in the left foreground include (from the front): the destroyer escorts USS DeLong (DE-684), USS Coates (DE-685), and the diesel fleet boat USS Hoe (SS-258). Ten other destroyers are also present, as is a Liberty-type ship. The Schaefer Brewery is visible in the center background.

The 7th U.S. Navy ship to bear the name, Enterprise was present and in the thick of it at Midway, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Santa Cruz Islands, Guadalcanal, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Leyte Gulf, winning 20 battlestars the hard way. From the period between USS Wasp‘s sinking on 15 September 1942 and USS Essex‘s entrance to the Pacific after rushed builder’s trials in May 1943, she and Saratoga, which earned 8 battlestars, were the only U.S. fleet carriers in the Pacific.

Decommissioned on 17 February 1947, the Big E was scrapped in 1958 though remnants of her have remained aboard both the 8th Enterprise (CVN-65) and the newest to carry the name, CVN-80.

Steel from CVN-65 will be recycled into the hull of the new USS Enterprise (CVN-80) as will the portholes from her Captain’s cabin (which were carried on CV-6 during WWII!) and her bell.

One of six porthole frames and covers removed from the bridge of USS Enterprise (CV-6) in 1958. These portholes were installed in the Captain’s cabin aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65) and are slated to be installed aboard the next ship to bear the name of Enterprise, CVN-80.

One of six porthole frames and covers was removed from the bridge of USS Enterprise (CV-6) in 1958. These portholes were installed in the Captain’s cabin aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65) and are slated to be installed aboard the next ship to bear the name of Enterprise, CVN-80.

 

Builders plaque from USS Enterprise (CV 6) at keel laying of CVN-80

Bomb and kamikaze fragments from USS Enterprise (CV 6) at keel laying of CVN-80

Warship…err, how about Mud Cat?

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On the road this week covering an industry event in Oregon so not enough spare time on hand to do a proper Warship Wednesday.

In lieu, and in a salute to all this rain we seem to be getting, how about this amazing image taken 80 years ago today.

Official caption: “Track at Amchitka on the Heavy Side. A U.S. Navy Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina long-range flying boat raises a veritable cloud of mud as it comes to rest on the muddy landing field at Amchitka, American advance base in the Aleutian Islands, June 23, 1943.”

U.S. Navy Photograph. Photographed through Mylar sleeve. Lot-803-1: Aleutian Islands Campaign, June 1942 – August 1943.

Located about 80 miles from Kiska Island in the Aleutians, Allied forces landed on Amchitka unopposed in January 1943 and quickly built a Marston Matting airfield there to support the recapture of Attu and Kiska. Once the Emperor was driven out of Alaska, Amchitka-based Navy patrol bombers of Fleet Air Wing Four and the 11th Air Force began regular attacks into the Japanese Kurile Islands from there well into early 1944, by which time the war moved further West and left Amchitka again as a backwater. 

With the founding of the USAF’s Strategic Air Command in 1947, the largely vacant base was redesignated the Amchitka Air Force Base and used the lengthened strip as a refueling stop for B-29 and B-47 Bombers being deployed from the United States to Japan. This mission was short-lived, and the base shuttered again in 1950 other than for use as a relay station in the 1960s and 1970s.

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