From: Geoff Winnington-Ball (gwball@sympatico.ca)
Date: Sun Feb 03 2002 - 08:24:20 PST
######################
PREFACE: If you have no interest in the employment and deployment of the
Universal Carrier-borne Commonwealth Medium Machine Gun Platoon in NW
Europe in WW2, please read no further and hit your Delete key.
Otherwise... consider what I describe below as a priceless historical
record, and please read on, and please pass this on to anyone whom you
think might be interested.
I have no connection to the gentleman named below other than as an
admirer. This veteran has my respect.
Thanks,
Geoff
######################
Gentlemen,
While I haven't quite finished this book yet, and will post it (with
others) on a new page in MLU as soon as I have, I thought I'd give you a
heads-up on what I consider to be a remarkable find for those with any
interest in British & Commonwealth army participation in WW2.
Entitled "A CANLOAN OFFICER", this large-format, soft-cover book (8 1/2
x 11, 321 pages, loaded with photographs and maps reproduced from the
originals the author carried), was written, compiled and self-published
by Reginald F. (Rex) Fendick, CDN 453, a Canadian lieutenant who served
as "Sometime OC No.1 Platoon, A Company, 2nd Battalion, The Middlesex
Regiment (DCO), 1944-1945" [3rd British Infantry Division] as part of
the CANLOAN scheme.
The CANLOAN scheme, as you may remember, was the arrangement by which
Canadian junior officers were permitted to volunteer for service in
British Army infantry regiments, in order to make up for Britain's
shortfall in qualified junior leaders due to casualties. Some 673
Canadian officers volunteered and served accordingly (some even taking a
reduction in rank to do so), and of that number, 128 were killed in
action or died of wounds, 310 were wounded in action and another 27
taken as POWs. As CANLOAN officers they earned 42 MCs, 1 U.S. DSC, 1
MBE, 1 U.S. Silver Star, 4 Croix de Guerre and numerous other citations.
In short, a magnificent group of individuals, whose accomplishments and
sacrifices have not, until now, been suitably extolled.
This book is a memoir of one of those officers, and is so well-written
and presented that I cannot understand why it hasn't been picked up by a
commercial publisher. It should be. This personal memoir, while not in
the same category as a regimental history (for example), still strikes
me as comparable to Donald Graves' superb book on the South Albertas in
its readability and presentation, and its personal perspective simply
adds to the book's attraction.
Lieutenant (later Capt and ultimately LCol) Fendick's book begins with
an account of his early service in his father's regiment, the St. John
Fusiliers (MG). He was a part of the regimental shooting team back as
far as 1938, even as a high school cadet, due to his shooting skills,
the latter of which ultimately drove him to become a successful, Active
Service volunteer in 1942. After more than a year's service with the
Regiment in British Columbia, Fendick and several of his friends learned
of the CANLOAN scheme and subsequently volunteered, embarking on what
became the adventure of a lifetime.
For the most part, Fendick's memories are clear, and his prose flows
equally clearly and smoothly as he presents to us a cornucopia of detail
on all aspects of service life as a young officer. As we progress from
his earliest days with the St. John Fusiliers, through enlistment and
training in the CANLOAN program to arrival in England and posting as a
platoon commander in The Middlesex Regiment (MG), Fendick weaves a
colourful tapestry of the experiences of a fresh, somewhat naive 20
year-old subaltern about to embark on a frightening journey through the
already-bloodsoaked battlefields of Normandy, in command of what turns
out to be mostly long-service, experienced British troops.
As his narrative proceeds, we find out, by reading through the lines -
Fendick is refreshingly modest and honest about his misgivings - that he
is in fact a natural leader of men and an exceptional officer in a time
and place which has been otherwise noted by some historians as
distinctly lacking in these vital requirements.
As the story continues through Normandy and into Holland, we find for
the first time that Fendick's memories desert him from time-to-time,
which serves only to remind us that this is a very real account, written
by an aging veteran of a very difficult campaign. However, throughout
this section of the story, the author very skillfully blends in enough
tactical and administrative detail for us to understand his experiences
against the backdrop of the campaign itself.
Further to that, as he is an officer in charge of a Vickers Machine Gun
Platoon, we are blessed with one of the finest accounts of the
deployment and use of this unique and little-discussed weapon. Not only
is his account of the war itself filled with priceless information on
the subject, he also includes a 48-page appendix at the end of the book,
containing a synopsis of the Vickers, its systems and the employment of
an MG Platoon in Northwest Europe. For anyone with an interest in the
Medium Machine Gun, this book remains a priceless source of first-hand
information.
At the conclusion of hostilities in May 1945, Fendick went on to spend
almost a year with the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), before being
repatriated to Canada in the spring of 1946, by then a T/Capt. He
subsequently applied for, and was accepted into, the Regular Army in
Canada, serving in a variety of duties (most within RCEME, including a
year in Korea) until his retirement in 1975 as a Lieutenant Colonel. The
book, however, ends with his arrival in back in Canada, as it is a story
about CANLOAN, not about the man himself.
Thanks to Fendick's free-flowing clarity of expression, what we are left
with is an outstanding historical document of an era long past and of
the forgotten men who contributed so well to Victory in Europe.
Sir, MAPLE LEAF UP salutes you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A CANLOAN OFFICER,
by Reginald F. (Rex) Fendick
Illustrated Edition Copyright 2000
Many maps, illustrations and photographs throughout.
Available from:
R.F. Fendick
25 Vaughan Drive,
Nauwigewauk, N.B.
Canada E5N 6T9
rfendick@nbnet.nb.ca
Price: $35 CAD or $27.50 USD, Postage Paid in North America.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Regards,Geoff Winnington-Ball MAPLE LEAF UP! ==> Zephyr, Ontario, Canada ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maple Leaf Up - The Canadian Army Overseas in WW2 http://www.mapleleafup.org <sunray@mapleleafup.org> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment http://www.1cacr.org <info@1cacr.org> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Apr 08 2002 - 00:23:24 PDT