February 1945 – Operation Goldflake and Stepping on a Landmine
The Winter Lull continued in February 1945, for both the Eighth and Fifth armies. Patrolling and sporadic attacks were constant, though large scale actions were not attempted by either side.
But the big news for Canadian troops came in mid-month, when they found out that they were de-camping from Italy and being moved to join their Canadian comrades in Northwestern Europe, where it was hoped that the reinforcement of that theatre would help shorten the war. The original idea behind including Canadian troops in the Italian theatre had been:
· to participate in the Allied effort in Italy, with the hope of driving the Italians out of the war.
· to help pin down significant numbers of German troops so that they couldn’t be used against the D-Day landings and subsequent battles or in the Russian theatre.
· to give Canadians troops and officers practical battle experience before the invasion of Northwestern Europe.
Clearly, those criteria had been met by early 1945, if not earlier. I imagine that the troops must have had mixed feelings in the matter. On the one hand, they would have to leave allies that they had fought and died beside for more than 20 months. On the other hand, they would re-join their Canadian comrades (and British and Americans) on what most people considered the decisive theatre.
The troops moved out towards the end of the month, eventually being transited through southern France, on their way to Belgium and the Netherlands, where Canadian forces were fighting, along with the British. This move was termed Operation Goldflake and was very successful, in terms of the administration of such a large movement of men and material over a great distance.
In order to fool the enemy into thinking the Canadians were still there, another plan of deception was conceived and executed during the move. False radio traffic was created, conspicuous Canadian markings were shown on vehicles and shoulder patches, and a cover story about training in Southern Italy was leaked to “explain away” the large scale movements to German Intelligence. The strictest secrecy about the real nature of the move was also maintained. The troops themselves were kept in the dark, until just before leaving Italy.
During February, engineers continued to improve and maintain routes and bridges, construct and repair buildings for various purposes and attempted to undo some of the things that the enemy had done in the months before the ground was taken (e.g. destroying tunnels that had been built into dykes). By mid-month, however, they were also packing up for the move.
Following is a condensation of the 12 Fld Coy War Diary notes for February 1945.
February 1 to 5 – Ravenna, Italy
1 Platoon began the period by fixing up billets in Riccione, then moved to Ravenna where they worked on more billets. They ended the period by bringing pontoon equipment to Tower Bridge, then cutting down trees for pilings.
2 Platoon maintained Bailey Bridges from Ravenna to the Lamone River. They also worked on general route maintenance and recceed a pine forest northeast of Ravenna, presumably also to locate trees to cut down.
3 Platoon worked on dykes along the Montone River, filling in gaps via the use of several bulldozers and scrapers. They also worked on sand-bagging some walls along the dyke and swept for mines. The War Diary notes that “the job is progressing favorably”.
Clearly, 3 Platoon did find some mines at the dykes, as this was about the time that my father was wounded by a mine (probably a Shu mine), so he might have disagreed rather intensely with that statement. Another sapper was also reported as wounded during this time, on the Casualty List. Neither of these misfortunes is reported in the War Diary. It is not clear what the second man’s wound was from, but the abbreviation in the Casualty List would indicate that it was something other than a mine.
Lt Anderson and Lt York took a 2 day leave, for a ski trip at San Marino. War can be a funny activity – messing around with land mines and being shelled while building bridges one day, then taking a skiing vacation the next.
February 6 to 9 – Ravenna, Italy
During this period, 1 Platoon began by doubling a 220 single-single Bailey bridge a few miles northwest of Ravenna, bumping it up to a Class 30. They then built a 60 foot Bailey a little south of that location. After that, they did some route maintenance in Ravenna and removed some railroad tracks near the station in Ravenna.
2 Platoon did maintenance on several Bailey bridges between Ravenna and the Lamone River, along with some general route maintenance in these areas.
3 Platoon continued working on the dykes. That included blowing in tunnel roofs in the dyke wall on the Montone River (I believe that the tunnels within the dykes had been dug by Germans for defensive positions). They also continued filling in gaps in the dykes and removed charges that had been set on some bridges. Rain hindered the work.
February 10 to 15 – Ravenna, Italy
The platoons carried on with their jobs, mainly bridge maintenance and skin-decking, route maintenance and working on the dykes, including blowing in more tunnel roofs. One officer was sent to England, while a sapper got leave for Canada.
By the end of this period, word came down about an impending move, though no location was immediately given. The company was just told to be prepared to move, within two days.
February 16 to 23 – Ravenna to Naples, Italy
It was now revealed that the move was to be across the Italian peninsula, to Naples. So, the company re-traced much of its journey during the hard slog north, taking Highway 16 south, passing Ancona (region of the Gothic Line battles), re-crossing the Sangro River (region of the Ortona battles) and then across to Naples, where they were told that they were to embark for southern France. Going to Naples meant that they skipped re-visiting Monte Casino and the Liri Valley, though.
February 24 to 28 – Naples, Italy to Marseilles France
The company embarked onto the ship M.V. Empire Pride and spent a peaceful and enjoyable time on the Mediterranean Sea, before reaching Marseilles on the 27th. Now that the Italian navy was out of action and the Luftwaffe was far away in Germany, this trip was considerably less stressful than their initial convoy trip to Sicily, some 16 months previous.
They then moved on to a transit camp about 20 km north of Marseilles and waited for their vehicles and further orders. This was also an opportunity for a medical inspection.
Speaking of medical inspections, I should note that by this time, my father, who had been wounded by a mine while working on the dykes, was no longer physically with the unit (though he was still formally attached to it). He would be making the rounds of various field hospitals, before eventually being sent back to England in April 1945.
Other Notes and Observations from February 1945
Following are some selected quotes from the report on Operations during February 1945 in Italy, written by the military (Report Number 181, Operation "GOLDFLAKE", the Move of 1 Cdn Corps from Italy to North-West Europe, February-March 1945):
1 – The Decision to Leave Italy
Canadians’ attitudes towards their troops being in Italy were in flux during the war. At first they were enthusiastic, as the Canadian army had spent years training in the U.K. but had not done much fighting, until the invasion of Sicily and Italy. But after a while, they did swing over preferring to see the army all together, fighting in the primary theatre of northwestern Europe, all the way to Germany. So, the men in Italy were given a lot of coverage at first, but then became rather secondary in the eyes of the public after the D-Day landings.
“It had long been the wish of personnel of the Canadian Army and the intention of the Government of Canada that all Canadian troops serving in operational theatres should be under a single Canadian command. The dispatch in the summer of 1943 of 1 Cdn Inf Div to Sicily, followed by 1 Cdn Armd Bde and later 5 Cdn Armd Div to complete 1 Cdn Corps serving under command of the British Eighth Army was in certain respects a sad blow to the hopes of First Cdn Army, for it meant that when the long expected day should come for the invasion of North-West Europe, some of our best troops and units would be fighting in a different theatre under command of other forces. It was the original plan, however, when Canadians were first destined for the Mediterranean theatre, that as soon as possible they should return to command of First Cdn Army.” (page 3)
2 – To Move to the Vital Front
It was no doubt difficult for Eighth Army to lose 1 Canadian Corps, but Northwestern Europe was now definitely considered “the vital front”. As it turned out, the Allies did defeat the German Army on the Italian front, at roughly the same time as the surrender in Germany proper.
“To make matters worse, Eighth Army was deprived of a number of its best divisions for the forthcoming campaigning season; after the shock of the Ardennes, I Canadian Corps (two divisions) as well as 5th Division were transferred from the Mediterranean to strengthen Eisenhower’s armies on the march into Germany. As Brooke put it in a letter to Alexander, ‘we must concentrate on one main effort, and that main effort must be on the vital front’. Operation ‘Goldflake’, the movement by sea of 110,000 men, 28,800 vehicles and 1,200 tanks to North-West Europe (a force the same size as the original assault on Normandy), was planned in no less than twelve days; it represented a stunning administrative achievement.”
Fennell, Jonathan. Fighting the People's War (Armies of the Second World War) (p. 595). Cambridge University Press. Kindle Edition.
3 – The Move Across Italy
It must have seemed strange, to retrace the steps in a few days, that had taken over a year of struggle to attain.
“On 13 Feb the first flight of wheels set out from Ravenna. To get a clear picture of the move, which is typical of all formations, it is necessary to follow this convoy from start to finish. From Ravenna the convoy followed Highway No. 16 south along the coast through Rimini, Pesaro and Ancona to Porto Recanati, the first staging camp on the journey. There was no indoor accommodation and the bivouac area being very muddy, personnel slept either in vehicles or in pup tents on the beach. Then the move went on along the coast through San Benedetto, Pescara, Ortona, San Vito, Recca San Giovanni, (where Corps Headquarters first took command of operations more than a year before) to a staging camp on the flat and desolate feature near Mozzagrogna (C3593). Nissen huts provided the accommodation here, but guards had to be strengthened to drive away the dozens of Italian civilians who infested the camp to beg or steal anything available. From here the route led to Termoli, and bending away from the coast, angled down to Foggia, passing on a short distance to Giardinetto, where the staging camp was situated in a group of buildings erected during the Fascist regime as a community farming centre, and until a short time before, used as a C.A.C. training school. This was the last staging camp on the route, which now struck westward to pass through Ariano di Puglia and Avellino into Naples and the tented accommodation of Lammie Camp. Vehicles went to Texas Camp in the Naples dock area, for personnel were to voyage to Marseilles separately by normal troop ship routine.” (page 20).
3 – A Successful Deception
It is amazing that the German army did as well as it did in Italy, during these last months of the war. They, too, must have wondered what the point of fighting in Italy was, when their homeland was under the threat of invasion from both the east and west. So, it is no wonder that its intelligence units in Italy weren’t up to their usual high standards.
“There is no record to show that the German High Command in Italy was immediately aware of the withdrawal of 1 Cdn Corps, probably due to the effective way in which the deception and cover plans were carried out in that theatre. Nor is there any indication that any of the units or formations were identified by the enemy during 1 Cdn Corps' operations in North-West Europe up to the date of the official announcement being made. This apparent lapse on the part of German Intelligence may be attributed to the fact that operations had entered the last phase leading to the defeat of the German Armies in the west, and that their intelligence at this time was not functioning at this normal rate of efficiency.” (page 54)
4 – With 18th Field Company in Northwest Europe
Here’s a bit from 18 Fld Coy, indicating that they too were having trouble with dykes and waterways in the Belgium/Netherlands area (Feb 56-14):
“The Coy was being prepared for its part in operation Veritable…The weather turned against us and the roads turned very bad. The enemy flooded the low country and Columbia Bridge which we had just converted to class 40 became entirely submerged. All roads across the low country became impassable or non-existent and this necessitated last minute changes in the commitment of our troops for operation Veritable.”( page 35)
A little later in February (week ending Feb 17” it is noted:
“No. 1 platoon were employed all night assisting in blowing an 800 [foot?] hole in the dyke at MR 728632”. (page 38)
And here’s a parting story from the Engineers’ perspective, as found in “The History of the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers”:
5 –A Final Ghostmaker in Italy
One wonders how long that Tellermine had been there. Was it there for years, or was it a recent addition by “die-hard” Italian fascists? For what it’s worth, the movie was a comedy based on a story by Oscar Wilde, but it has a military angle. It’s been remade a couple of times since the 1944 original.
“The 3rd Field Company carried on its mine-lifting right to the last.. In Harrod’s Camp (Livorno), while most of the men were watching a film, “The Canterrville Ghost”, one of the sappers discovered a ghost-maker within the bounds of the camp – an overlooked “Tellermine about 20 feet away from 1 Platoon’s transport lines”. Exposed by Lt GA Hickson, it was found to be booby-trapped; pulled, it failed to go off, and so was taken apart.” (page 262)
Orders and Documents Archived with the 12 Fld Coy War Diary, February 1945
Following are some selected quotes from the documents associated with the 12th Fld Coy War Diaries during February 1945:
1 – Carbon Monoxide
This is rather sad, but it’s just another way to die during a war. It is an easy way to go, too, you really don’t notice it as it is happening.
February 4, 1945
1 The attention of all ranks is drawn to the dangers of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Recently five cases occurred in a billet, four of the five being dead when discovered.
2 Carbon Monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas that gives no warning of its presence. In high concentrations, death occurs in a very few minutes. It is present in coal gas and exhaust fumes, and is produced by all slow-combustion stoves and braziers.
3 It is therefore essential, when stoves are used for the heating of quarters, that great care is taken to ensure adequate ventilation. Medical advice will be sought if any doubt exists. In no circumstances will braziers be used in any enclosed space.
4 If a case, or suspected case, is discovered, the patient will be immediately removed from the poisonous atmosphere and artificial respiration will be applied without waiting for the arrival of a Medical Officer, who will be sent for without delay.
2 – Bomb Disposal
This seems a bit odd – an Engineer company calling upon a civilian bomb disposal unit. But, why not, if the fire department is willing.
February 2, 1945
1 A modern and up-to-date fire department is now available in Ravenna. The equipment is very good and in good condition. The staff is well trained and also efficient as a bomb disposal unit.
3 – Canadian Legion Membership
For anyone who doesn’t know, the Canadian Legion is a social club for ex-military members and family. My dad was a founding member of the Legion in the city in which we lived and visited various branches of The Legion fairly frequently. Beer, darts, shuffleboard and conversation were the main attractions. I spent many hours in my young adulthood listening to the boys swap stories about their army days and other things (mostly work, family, sports and politics). I imagine that the Legion did more for helping veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder than psychologists ever did.
February 9, 1945
1 Due to the shortage of cards, it has not been possible to handle applications for membership to the above. Arrangements have been made by the Auxiliary Services Supervisor to accept application from those interested. The following information is required:
Regimental Number
Rank and Name
Unit – Home Address
Provincial Command
Branch
4 – Packing up for the Move
At this point, the company wouldn’t have known the purpose of the packing, perhaps they thought it was just another relocation within northern Italy. But the list of things to do, especially as related to “disposing of” company pets must have given them the idea that this might be something big. Disposing of dogs and cats must have been tough on some of the men.
February 11, 1945
1 All Thompson machine carbines, with magazines emptied, will be returned to the C.Q.M.S. stores by 1800 hours Monday 12 Feb 45. All T.M.G. ammo will be returned to C.Q.M. stores.
2 Effective immediately and to be completed by 1200 hours Wednesday 14 Feb all excess equipment such as tables, chairs, barrack boxes, stoves, etc. are to be stored in the M.T. park. Sgt Oates will arrange for transporting this equipment to A.M.G. at Consorzio Alimentarie – No 6 via Porta Aurea – Ravenna.
3 All Italian personnel employed in kitchens will be discharged immediately and kitchens will be out of bounds to all civilians.
4 All dogs, cats and other animals must be disposed of. This is to be completed by 1200 hrs Friday 18 Feb 45
5 All ammo in excess of the following scales is to be collected in platoons and disposed of in accordance with instructions to be issued later. (a) 50 rounds per rifle (b) 750 rounds per Bren gun
6 Platoons will ensure that all tents are complete with pegs and poles. If these items are short, arrange to manufacture them.
7 Platoons will arrange to waterproof all tents in accordance with instructions from the C.Q.M.S.
5 – An Incident at the Montone Dykes
This is the place that my dad received his wound. I don’t know if this is the same incident or not. It is possible that there was more than one injury on this job, but the writer didn’t get all of the information, or perhaps the injury to my dad came a little later. My dad’s record has him going to 1 Cdn Hospital on Feb 3, so it seems likely that this report may be a bit incomplete, as it was prepared as a “summing up” of the job on the dykes.
G.C. stands for Gelignite Cartridge and an 808 charge is Nobel’s Explosive No. 808. And yes, that explosive does say “Alfred Nobel” – I guess that’s why he instituted the Nobel Peace Prize, he’d already won the unofficial war prize. His firm made a lot of company from war, though he originally developed TNT to aid in mining and civilian engineering projects.
“The Chief Engineer ordered work to be carried on with repairing dyke walls along the main rivers in the 1 Cdn Corps area and Number 3 Platoon was given the responsibility for this, the Montone River. Italian contractors were already working on this problem and we were to assist them with transport and sweep any areas in which they were working, for mines. The main break in the dyke was just beside Tower Bridge at m.r. M-433287 on the south bank of the river and was taken on by 3 Platoon. The following mechanical equipment was at the disposal of the platoon, namely 1 D-4, 1 D-6, 2 D-8s, and 2 8 yard scrapers. The hole in the dyke was 160 feet in length and a depth of 20 feet to just slightly above water level in the river. Any rise in the water level would be fatal and the job once started had to proceed in all haste. Major Rivers contacted the searchlight battery in the area and arranged for the site to be lit up at night and work was ordered to be carried on 24 hours a day. Work consisted of a sand bay wall revetment along the river face of the dyke to a height of 7 feet. Behind this went a dirt fill to the critical height of the dyke with the face revetted with a double layer of hessian covered, with wire mesh and held down with salvage bars and iron pickets. It was felt that due to rising water in the river, the sand bay wall would be undercut, and so 20 foot piles were driven in front of the wall in the water, revetted with corrugated metal and backfilled with rubble. Mine sweeping consisted of clearing the top of the dyke for 8 miles from Tower Bridge at m.r. M-483237 to San Marco on both sides of the river as well as sweeping all paths leading from the top of the dyke to slit trenches and dugouts. Schu mines and R mines were found in great quantity and all were destroyed in situ by placing a G.C. or a 808 charge on each. One casualty, L/Cpl Banyard, resulted when the last mine which was detected exploded.
6 - What they Watched
Here are a few of the movies that the sappers got to see in February 1945. It looks like these movies were primarily lighter escapist fare, with the exception of “Mask of Demitrios”. At this point it is not clear whether the military had much say in the selection – it seems to be a privately owned movie house in Ravenna that was showing these pictures.
Feb 1 Hail the Conquering Hero, Eddie Bracken
Feb 4 Navy Blues, Ann Sheridan, Jack Oakie
Feb 7 Mask of Demitrios, Peter Lorrie
Feb 9 Harrigan’s Kid, Bobby Reddick, Frank Craven
·
“Hail the Conquering Hero” was another movie with the sultry Ella Raines and Eddie Bracket. It sounds like a ‘comedy with a message’ type of movie.
· “Navy Blues” sounds like another forgettable military comedy, but it did have Ann Sheridan, who was another beauty of the era.
· “Mask of Demetrios” was another Film Noir murder mystery. It starred Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorrie, who also teamed up in the more famous “The Maltese Falcon”. It sounds like a rather interesting film.
· “Harrigan’s Kid” is a horse-racing flick, and sounds a bit moralistic. But I like horse racing (as did my dad) so it might be ok.
Some Family Stories Related to February 1945 Events
Stepping on a Landmine
While growing up, we didn’t get many details about our father’s war wound – just that he had stepped on a landmine at some time. Apparently, that was while working on the dykes along the Montone River in Northern Italy, repairing and maintaining them up and de-mining them. The details of that incident will forever be unknown.
It was a Shu mine that he stepped on, which was known to usually do a lot more damage than just breaking a toe (the photo above is of an entirely different type of mine). The army discharge records mention that he had a “fracture of left toe and scar on left thigh”. By the time that I remember seeing his foot, it wasn’t too bad. But, some of the toe was gone and there was no toenail. It was always kind of troublesome for him, though he did get a small pension from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs for his troubles. He always considered it to be laughably small, though.
All things considered, the Schu mine incident doesn’t sound all that bad (in the sense that it could have been a lot worse), but I imagine that it made for one hell of a bad day. Perhaps he was a fair distance from the mine’s detonation or maybe it just didn’t go off properly. Maybe it was dumb luck.
I recently read an obituary for Howie Meeker, a well-known Canadian hockey player and television hockey commentator. It said that he was also in the R.C.E. and was injured during wartime while training troops in the U.K.:
“In one training session, a live grenade exploded at his feet, sending shrapnel into both legs. He recovered, and by war’s end was playing hockey for army teams in England”. Globe and Mail, Nov 9 2020.
So, I suppose somewhat miraculous brushes with death do happen, especially in wartime. I should note that Howie Meeker had a successful hockey career after the war, but was plagued by injuries, including foot and leg injuries. It seems reasonable to speculate that these injuries may have been related to the earlier grenade mishap.
Anyway, the Schu mine injury didn’t slow my dad down very much. After the war, he worked construction for 25 years, mainly in concreting, tile and terrazzo. No doubt he picked up a lot of his skills in these areas as a sapper. He also worked for several years at an age when many would be retired, as a security guard. This was with an outfit that mostly hired veterans, at that time. And he also raised seven kids (along with my mother, of course).
He drove a car, but he always preferred to walk if he could. Perhaps that was a legacy of the landmine incident – I suppose you value that ability all the more, if ever you nearly lost it.
Here's a description of the period of static warfare from the point of view of the medical services. Casualties were neither light nor especially heavy, which seems like a symbolic turn of phrase, for the period in which my dad stepped on a landmine and many more were wounded or died.
Except that the D.D.M.S. came eventually to control a mixture of Canadian, British, and Italian medical units, little occurred during these last two months in Italy that is of interest to the history of the medical services. If battle and non-battle casualties together could not be described as light, neither were they especially heavy. With a few minor modifications, the scheme of evacuation in effect when the Corps reached the Senio sufficed for the whole of the subsequent period of static warfare.
Official History Of The Canadian Medical Services 1939 – 1945 Volume One: Organization And Campaigns (page 210)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Some other books of potential interest
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A Ride on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail
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The Kettle Valley Rail Trail is one of the
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stretch of the south-central interior of British Columbia, about 600 kilometers
of scenic countryside. British Columbia is one of the most beautiful areas of
Canada, which is itself a beautiful country, ideal for those who appreciate
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The trail passes through a great variety of geographical and geological
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What follows is a journal of two summers of adventure, biking most of the trail
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After reading this account, you should have a good sense of whether the trail
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A Drive Across Newfoundland
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Newfoundland, Canada’s most easterly province, is a region that is both fascinating in its unique culture and amazing in its vistas of stark beauty. The weather is often wild, with coastal regions known for steep cliffs and crashing waves (though tranquil beaches exist too). The inland areas are primarily Precambrian shield, dominated by forests, rivers, rock formations, and abundant wildlife. The province also features some of the Earth’s most remarkable geology, notably The Tablelands, where the mantle rocks of the Earth’s interior have been exposed at the surface, permitting one to explore an almost alien landscape, an opportunity available on only a few scattered regions of the planet.
The city of St. John’s is one of Canada’s
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This account focusses on a two-week road trip in October 2007, from St. John’s
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awe-struck by these other-worldly landscapes.
On the Road with Bronco Billy, A Trucking Journal
Some time has passed since this journal was
written and many things have changed since the late 1990’s. That renders the
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We were fortunate to have an eventful trip - a mechanical breakdown, a near
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The travelogue is about 20,000 words, about 60 to 90 minutes of reading, at
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Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK
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