The
Westminster Regiment was fortunate, in its role in the Fifth
Canadian Armoured Division, to be commanded by Major General
Bert Hoffmeister. Like many other general officers,
Hoffmeister was a good strategist and tactician but he was
much more and he had the reputation of being a "soldiers'
general". He listened to his men and when he planned actions
for them he would do so in a way that kept battle losses to
a minimum. The Fifth Division was very much "his" Division,
reflected by its nickname, Hoffmeister's Mighty Maroon
Machine. Maroon was the colour of the shoulder
patches we wore. The Westminster's' patches were unique, in
that they had WESTMR embroidered across them, in green
thread - the only Regiment so designated, I believe.
The good
feeling that the Regiment had for its Commander was
reciprocated and General Hoffmeister on more than one
occasion said that he was proud of the Westminster's'
performance and honored to have them in his Division. The
Regiment's greatest battle honor was won at the Melfa River
crossing, in southern Italy, which opened the way for our
troops to the Liri valley, which was the road to Rome. It
was in this battle that Major Jack Mahony, commanding A
Company, so distinguished himself that he was awarded the
Victoria Cross, the highest decoration of the British
Commonwealth. Major Mahony received his Award in the field,
from the hand of King George VI. There were other places
where the Westminster's distinguished themselves, including
the taking of Coriano Ridge in northern Italy, which opened
the way into the vast Po river valley. Then, after the
Division had been moved to northwest Europe to join the rest
of the Canadian Army, the Regiment played an important role
in the breakout from Arnhem and the bypassing of the enemy's
Grebbe line.
General
Hoffmeister was a citizen soldier and after the War he
intended to leave the Army and rejoin the H.R. MacMillan
Export Company, in the lumber business. But this was not to
be. The Canadian government was asked to provide a Division
of troops in the war against Japan and Hoffmeister was
chosen to command it. But before he left Europe, the General
traveled around to all his units, thanking and praising them
for their efforts and he said that he wanted everyone to see
the mighty machine that they had been a part of. To this
end, he assembled all the troops with their tanks, armoured
carriers, trucks, guns and other equipment on an airfield in
northern Holland, near Eelde. It was indeed an
impressive sight and those who were there will likely not
forget it. I know that I won't.
Ironically, the General
didn't get to take part, himself. He had already been
recalled to Canada, where he was busy recruiting officers
for his Division in the war against Japan. As it turned out,
the Division was never used, since before it shipped out,
the A-bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and
to all intents and purposes the War was over. The
accompanying pictures are of the assembly on the Dutch
airfield.
Photograph one is of the
Westminster Regiment conducting a drive by salute of senior
officers of the division.
Photograph two is the
Lord Starthcona Horse and their tanks assembled for the
slaute.
