HISTORY
COVER
Inquiry
into Slaughter of Dogs Announced
BOOKS
New Editions from Carr Collection
Bill Reid Lives on in Artistry Debate
BUSINESS
Island-Wide
Haida Protest May Drag for Months
New
Cruise Line Visits High Artic
Female
Urban Planner Sets Eyes on 2010 Olympics
HISTORY
A
Soldier's Story: Frank "Smokey" Stover
MODERN TREATIES
Fraud
and Theft of Saskatchewan Lands Uncovered in ICC Investigation
WOMEN
Pimps and Drug Traffickers
Target First Nations School Girls
By Lloyd Dolha
The Honourable Albina Guarnieri, Minister of Veterans Affairs, has declared 2005 the Year of the Veteran.
"Today, we ask a new generation of Canadians to surrender their
time, volunteer their hearts, and take one year to fully remember a century
of sacrifice. That year is 2005 - The Year of the Veteran."
- Minister Guarnieri
As part of the Year of the Veteran, The First Nations Drum will recognize and celebrate the stories of aboriginal veterans who served this country with distinction and pride.
In the summer of 1943, Canadian troops were sent into action in the Mediterranean
with British and American forces in the successful assault against Sicily
where they carried the campaign to the Italian mainland.
Among
the Canadians was a 17-year-old Métis named Frank (Smokey) Stover,
from Brooks Alberta.
Stover had spent two years in the militia before he joined the army and,
as a result, skipped basic training and went straight to artillery training
in Petawawa. Upon completing his artillery training, Stover joined Able
Troop, of the 7th Battery, Montreal Second Field Regiment of the 1st Canadian
Infantry Division.
Stover was put in charge of No. Two artillery gun. Able Troop was in Scotland
doing water-landing exercises when they got the
order to ship out.
After six days at sea, at about 4:00 a.m., the four-gun contingent was
loaded onto a landing barge for a water landing on what they thought was
Sicily. No. One gun was unloaded, but quickly sank beneath the waves.
It was just a small island off the Sicilian coast.
"So the barge pulled back, went around the little island and hit
shore. No. Two gun was hit dry land, so I asked the (British) Royal Engineers,
'Where do I go?'"
The sapper pointed to a small trail to the right that led to a clearing.
"We set our guns up and pointed toward the enemy. When morning came,
we were in a fruit orchard. So I was the first Canadian to land on (Mediterranean)
enemy shores," said Smokey.
The 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Tank Brigade flanked
the 8th British and 5th American armies in the Sicily landing. None other
than General George Patton and General Bernard Montgomery commanded those
armies.
The first landing craft encountered brisk opposition, but the troops wiped
out machine gun nests and other opposition quickly.
After 38 days of fighting, the Allied armies routed Sicily on August 17,
1943. About 500 Canadians from combined operational units participated
in the fighting. The majority of the Canadians were veterans of the Dieppe
and North African campaigns of the previous summer and included a handful
of fresh recruits out of the United Kingdom.
Italian capture
"We captured Sicily and took another barge to the toe of Italy until
we were 60 miles out of Rome and we started firing again. We beat the
Germans and took Rome. We all had a ten-day leave and I had an audience
with Pope Pius XI."
The capture of Rome took place at the beginning of June 1944, after Allied
forces broke through the GUSTAV line, a battle in which 180,000 men were
killed or wounded. By June 4th, the Allies on two fronts had linked up
and advanced into Rome, as the Germans gave up the ancient city without
causing further damage.
As commander of No. Two gun, Smokey was known for his accuracy. One of
the things that defined the fighting in Italy was the predominance of
valleys and ridges. One day during the battle, the Germans were holding
a house on a ridge, keeping the infantry from advancing. Smokey's captain
used to always say, ' For accurate shooting, go see No. Two gun.'
"He (the captain) showed me the range. It was approximately 6,000
yards on the map. The first shell hit the house just to the right of the
window. The second hit just short of the window. The third shell went
right in the window.
"Well, the Germans came running out and our infantry captured them,"
chuckled Smokey.
Historic Reunion
By April 1945, the First Canadian Corps, veterans of the Sicilian and
Italian campaigns, and the 2nd Canadian Corps, veterans of fighting in
France, Belgium and Holland, were reunited under the command of General
H.D. G. Crerar, with his 1st Canadian Army.
The two corps - five divisions and two armored brigades - was finally
fighting in the same operational theatre.
According to William Boss, Canadian Press War Correspondent, the decision
to link all Canadian units in one theatre was doubly historic. For one
thing, the enemy knew nothing of the move. The Germans were kept entirely
in the dark about the move by the security conscious Canadians.
Shoulder flashes, Canada patches, cap badges and all other insignia were
removed. Vehicle tactical signs were painted out. The men were not fully
informed, but knew something big was on and kept their mouths tightly
shut.
The second reason was, at the time, this was believed to be the first
time that a corps, complete with everything required to keep a formation
in the field, had been taken out of the front line in one theatre and
transferred intact to another front 1,000 miles away, ready for action.
The same guns that smashed the German's Lamone River line in Italy in
December 1944, were in action in northwestern Europe. The same tanks that
cleared the enemy from Valle Di Commanchio were pursuing the beaten foe
in northwestern Europe.
The climax of the war had already come with the Normandy landings in June
1944, in which the Canadian army played an important part. Instrumental
in the capture of Caen, which followed, the Canadians won another major
victory in the closing of the Falaise gap later that summer.
False orders in Holland
In northwestern Europe, Able Troop moved through southern France into
Holland. In Holland, a young 2nd Lieutenant, fresh out of military academy
took command of the 7th Battery.
It was summer and hot. Smokey and his gunnery crew were sitting around
in their shorts, with only their boots and dog tags.
Complete with leather gloves and a swagger stick, the 2nd Lieutenant walked
up to Smokey's gunnery crew and demanded,
"Why aren't you dressed properly?"
Looking up, Smokey replied they were dressed properly. The 2nd Lieutenant
had Smokey placed under arrest and took him to the major.
The major acidly told the young officer to leave him and his crew alone.
"They're good gunners and they keep their gun clean."
That evening an order came through for 200 rounds of shells per gun. The
same 2nd Lieutenant was assigned to load shells in the barrage that lasted
all night.
Soon afterward, the division moved up to closer to the Holland/Germany
border. Looking out from the armored vehicle, Smoky could see they were
ahead of the infantry and called on the driver to stop.
"What's the matter?" asked one of the officers.
"Somebody's got their orders all screwed up. We're ahead of the infantry,"
said Smokey.
Able Troop stopped and set up their gun. They had just completed the task
when a group of Germans attacked driving them back from their artillery
guns.
Calling up British infantry for support, Able Troop recaptured their gun
in a four-hour pitched battle. Smokey grabbed his rifle and dove under
a truck and began firing.
"They (the guns) were all loaded up and ready to fire except we took
the firing pins out. So we turned them around and ejected the cartridges
and replaced the firing pins," said Smoky.
The same young 2nd Lieutenant was court-martialed as a result of the incident.
Normandy Invasion
In June 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy, with the Canadians assigned
one of the five landing beaches. They fought across Normandy, up the French
coast through Belgium until September, when they were assigned to clear
the Schedlt estuary and open up the vital port of Antwerp.
The battle for the Scheldt ended after a month of bitter fighting. The
Canadians had suffered almost 6,400 casualties, but the Allies had accomplished
their goal. The route to Antwerp was safe, and the way was clear for the
final advance into Germany.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, declared later
that victory over Germany was assured "when the first ship moved
unmolested up the Scheldt."
In February 1945, the 1st Canadian Army opened a drive through the Rhineland
and the formidable Hochwald forest and forced the Germans back across
the Rhine. The Canadians eventually liberated much of the Netherlands
before the war ended in May.
"Then the order came out they wanted volunteers to go to the east
because Japan was still fighting, so I volunteered. One of my friends
said 'Christ, Smokey haven't you had enough!' I said I want to get home."
Smokey was on a 30-day leave in Calgary to a hero's welcome when Japan surrendered after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Sergeant Frank (Smokey) Stover served 22 years in the Canadian Army before
retiring and now lives in Vancouver, BC.
"These days I just been enjoying life, spending the government's
money," said Smokey.