Lieut. R.C. Hall, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

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Lieut. R.C. Hall, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

Post by RCEME-Workshop » Sat Aug 24, 2019 6:49 pm

I’m doing research on Lieut. R.C. Hall. He was seriously injured while with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders on August 8 during the battle for Fontenay-le-Marmion, part of Operation Totalize.

I have his military records from the national library and archives and have downloaded the QOCH’s August 1944 War Diary from the Laurier Military History website: http://lmharchive.ca/canadian-war-diar ... -campaign/. The diary entries are briefer than ones I’ve seen for other regiments.

The diary entry for August 8 refers to an Appendix 2 for details of the battle. But the appendix does not form part of the diary as downloaded from the url above. And I’ve had absolutely no success finding even the diary itself on the library and archive’s website or Heritage Canada.

Does anyone know how to locate this Appendix?

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Re: Lieut. R.C. Hall, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

Post by Temujin » Sat Aug 24, 2019 6:59 pm

RCEME-Workshop wrote:
Sat Aug 24, 2019 6:49 pm
I’m doing research on Lieut. R.C. Hall. He was seriously injured while with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders on August 8 during the battle for Fontenay-le-Marmion, part of Operation Totalize.

I have his military records from the national library and archives and have downloaded the QOCH’s August 1944 War Diary from the Laurier Military History website: http://lmharchive.ca/canadian-war-diar ... -campaign/. The diary entries are briefer than ones I’ve seen for other regiments.

The diary entry for August 8 refers to an Appendix 2 for details of the battle. But the appendix does not form part of the diary as downloaded from the url above. And I’ve had absolutely no success finding even the diary itself on the library and archive’s website or Heritage Canada.

Does anyone know how to locate this Appendix?
Let me see what I can find RCEME.......I have a list of all the War Diaries that have been digitized by Heritage Canadiana....I’ll take a look now and see what I can find

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Re: Lieut. R.C. Hall, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

Post by Temujin » Sat Aug 24, 2019 7:15 pm

OK, I checked and Heritage Canadiana has not digitaized or posted ANY Infantry Battalion war diaries YET. You have the option of contacting them by email, and asking “if they have done it” and “if not, will they do it”

Secondly another great source is the Division and the Brigade War Diaries....these sometimes give a lot more detail on “what was happening” during major actions. They probably won’t list his name, but you might get more detail.

Heritage Canadiana has BOTH of these war dairies on line. Below are links to them....unfortunately their “search engine” sucks.....so you have to look manually thru the diaries........and sometimes pages are NOT in order.....or its a challenge sometimes.

W.D. of 6th Canadian Infantry Brigade
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... /1?r=0&s=1
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... 11?r=0&s=1

W.D. of 2nd Canadian Infantry Division....it could be in either of these two
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... 17?r=0&s=1
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... 10?r=0&s=1


I’ll take a peek to see what I can find......good luck

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Re: Lieut. R.C. Hall, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

Post by Temujin » Sat Aug 24, 2019 7:25 pm

Just checked 6th Brigade.....their diary is FULL, but I was able to find the “communication logs” for that day. You should go thru it and see what you can find. The link below takes you to the W.D. and the page it starts on midnight on the 7th Aug 44......theirs quite a few pages and it will probably take time for you to go thru them

http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... 80?r=1&s=1

Good luck

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Re: Lieut. R.C. Hall, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

Post by Temujin » Sat Aug 24, 2019 7:42 pm

Found W.D. for 6th Cdn Infantry Brigade for that period. Link below

http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... 17?r=1&s=1


Pages below......second page may help, explains about casualties to Camerons
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Re: Lieut. R.C. Hall, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

Post by Temujin » Sat Aug 24, 2019 8:02 pm

Op Order for Operation Totalize in 6th Cdn Infantry Brigade War Diaries. Link to start of Orders

http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... 82?r=0&s=3

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Re: Lieut. R.C. Hall, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

Post by Temujin » Sat Aug 24, 2019 8:04 pm

Here’s the map trace for the Order. Using this, you can now decipher where they were in the Comms Logs and in the WD’s
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http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... 86?r=0&s=4

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Re: Lieut. R.C. Hall, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

Post by Temujin » Sat Aug 24, 2019 8:11 pm

Couple of aerial photo’s, not the greatest
DFF5A742-ACB8-4722-9BA9-C7F3CDE92B68.jpeg
DFF5A742-ACB8-4722-9BA9-C7F3CDE92B68.jpeg (443.41 KiB) Viewed 13435 times
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http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... 34?r=0&s=6

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Re: Lieut. R.C. Hall, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

Post by Temujin » Sat Aug 24, 2019 8:16 pm

Map “may” be of interest
EA488FFD-F990-4405-9BC2-EF65602B6336.jpeg
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Re: Lieut. R.C. Hall, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

Post by Temujin » Sat Aug 24, 2019 8:25 pm

You’ve probably seen all this, but posting just in case:

In the meantime, the 6th Brigade battalions had been attacking the villages in the enemy's old front line. Their fortunes varied. The luckiest was The South Saskatchewan Regiment (Lt.-Col. F. A. Clift), which, following close behind the barrage through the blinding dust-clouds kicked up by the armour, found the Germans with their heads still down when it entered Rocquancourt. By 12:45 a.m. the village was ours. Farther to the right things did not go so well. Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal attacked May-sur-Orne, and the Cameron Highlanders of Canada Fontenay-le-Marmion, without artillery support, relying on the effect of the night bombing. This (perhaps because it had been only two-thirds completed) had not been sufficient to quell the defenders. The Fusiliers were pushed back from May by heavy fire; one company got into the village's outskirts only to be cut off. About four p.m. they finally captured the place with the help of flame-throwing "Crocodiles". At Fontenay-le-Marmion the Camerons fought their way into the village in spite of fierce opposition. The Commanding Officer (Lt.-Col. John Runcie) was wounded; Major C. W. Ferguson, the 6th Brigade's Brigade Major and a former secondin-command of the Camerons, took over. He was wounded--fatally--in his turn, and Major J. J. D. Gagnon succeeded him.* German tanks which had been bypassed counter-attacked from the north and the unit was temporarily surrounded. Lieut. R. R. Counsell, the carrier platoon commander, took his carriers out to Ifs, under very heavy fire, and returned with ammunition and "all available reinforcements, including shoemakers and other administrative personnel"; he received the Military Cross, which also went--an unusual award--to a Warrant Officer of the Camerons, C.S.M. Abram Arbour, who took command of "B" Company when its commander was wounded. (C.S.M. Arbour was killed a few days later.) The situation was not cleared up until early afternoon, when two companies of The South Saskatchewan Regiment with a squadron of the 1st Hussars swept the ridge north of Fontenay, taking large numbers of prisoners.59

https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/Can ... ory-9.html
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