Front page of The Home-Town News, St. Lambert, Quebec, Vol 11, No 8, November 1, 1945.
The following is a transcript from the front page of The Home-Town News, St. Lambert, Montreal 23, P.Q., Vol. 11, No. 8, November 1, 1945.
More than 800 young men from St. Lambert enlisted during the Second World War. This article is about a few of them, the “Old Originals.”
Perhaps you will recognize some of the names.
My uncle Bert Bennett, a life-time resident of St. Lambert, appears in the photo on the far right.
Old Originals Back Home
Les Withers Highly Respected and Admired by Comrades
ARRIVALS from overseas within the last month or so have seen the return of most of the “Old Originals” who volunteered for Active Service at the outbreak of war, and we are delighted to extend a hearty welcome to them all. They were in the van of well over eight hundred who enlisted from our community and many were on the strength of local regiments for years before the war. Some of them left for overseas in December, 1939, and the majority followed a month later.
Although most of the honoured contingent of “Old Originals” were in action from the invasion of Sicily, in the matter of casualties they have been very fortunate. All have returned safely except two. Don Crichton was killed in England and Don Calhoun died. Ed. MacGregor, Bill Vincent, Les Royle, Albert Quartz, and Doug. Trott were wounded.
The boys who joined the 7th Medium Battery, five of whom appear in our picture together experienced over five years packed with situations that bring the severest test to men. They joined up as friends and returned retaining a fine spirit of comradeship.
An outstanding example of this spirit is the high regard and admiration the boys have for Les Withers. Les was a ranker who became their sergeant — strict but fair. When he was commissioned they found him still the same. It is to his everlasting credit that all are of one voice in saying, “As a man he is tops, as an officer, he was tops, and as a troop commander he was one of the best.”
They admire him because on parade he was a fine soldier; in action he knew precisely what to do and did it with them; off duty, he was one of the boys from the old home town, sociable and an all-round good fellow. That is a wonderful tribute to be paid by comrades, and we now more fully appreciate the phrasing of his Military Cross citation: “. . . consistently exemplary work . . . his enthusiasm, initiative and courage . . . earned the admiration of all ranks of his unit.”
We are proud indeed to salute Captain Les Withers, M.C., and his magnanimous comrades.
Left to right: Albert Quartz, Ralph Hammond, Les Withers, Jack Harrison, Doug Bennett, Robbie Coveney, Art Holmes, Bert Bennett. 1945. Photographer John Oulton.
ARRANGEMENTS were made to get as many of the “Old Originals” newly arrived from overseas who had not already been featured in our columns to meet at The Cave, and when we got to Tommy’s we heard a good deal of banter and good-natured ribbing. If these chaps had not served together they had met in odd places in Britain or the Continent and they had much to say to each other. We found it hard to intrude in order to get short interviews.
Looking at the City Hall records, we discovered that eighteen of the “Old Originals” belonged to the 7th Medium Battery, so it would seem timely to give a brief history of the unit.
When the 7th went overseas in 1940 under the command of Lt-Col. James Aitken Robertson (then Battery Captain of the 7th Medium), it was accompanied by another battery from Kingston, one from Toronto and another from P.E.I. On arrival overseas they were formed into the 1t Medium Regiment, consisting of 323 Battery and 2/7th. The old 7th and the P.E.I. battery formed the 2/7th.
Toward the end of 1941, half ot he 1st Medium Regiment became the nucleus of the 5th Medium Regiment, and were the first Canadians to man the new 5.5 guns. The other half remained with the 1st Medium, and both were reinforced from holding companies. Jack Harrison, E. MacGregor, George Sharp and Doug. Trott stayed with the 1st Medium. Doug. Bennett, Ray Cole, Robbie Coveney, Alf Homes, Art Holmes, Bert Tompkins and Les Withers moved to the 5th, as also did Art Cooper and Ted Sonne.
All the boys sailed for Sicily at the same time and were in the convoy in which the ship carrying Evelyn Horsfall, Norman Peterkin and Ian Carswell were torpedoed. They attributed their safety to the fact that they were on a Dutch freighter too small for German consideration. There would have been little hope of survival had they been struck.
When they landed in Italy the 1st Medium went into action right away on the American front, while the 5th had to wait for equipment. Individual stories of what happened later appear on inside pages.
The following also appeared in this issue of The Home-Town News.
St. Lambert Roll of Honour – 1945
Saint-Lambert’s Sgt. Coveney received two direct hits in Italy during WWII
