Dolbec’s Corner is back issue # 1 – Grenadiers to the Pacific – Part 1 (November 3, 2022)

We welcome John Dolbec who for so many years wrote many news articles about unknown historical facts about our Regiment’s history, ‘Dolbec’s Corner’!  The Museum archives have copies of his many articles he wrote and soon they will be part of our new cgg.ca site.  John is quite active on Facebook where he shares his wisdom and knowledge of our Regiment. Look him up and become his friend.

We thank him for now contributing to a new medium.

Alternate history is often mere speculation, and frankly usually of little value. But twice during in WW2, we were almost called upon to fight in the pacific theatre.  I will outline one of them here.  Part 2 will be for my next Dolbec’s Corner Issue.

In May 1945, with the war winding down in Northwest (NW) Europe, it was decided to create a force of special volunteers to fight the Japanese.  The formation so recruited was the Canadian Army Pacific Force.  The infantry for which were to be formed into a new 6^th Canadian Division comprised of special battalions of the regiments of the 1^st Division.  Their sole armoured support was the 22^nd Canadian Tank Battalion (CTB) (Canadian Grenadier Guards (CGG)), to be commanded by our own Lieutenant-Colonel, Ned Amy DSO MC, etc., an RMC graduate who was the most experienced armoured unit commander in the RCAC at the time (including his time in Italy before joining the Canadian Grenadier Guards before Normandy).  12 officers and 118 men from our 22^nd Canadian Armoured Regiment (CGG) volunteered to join him, returning to Canada in late June 1945, earlier than the rest of the unit, to form the core of the new regiment.

Our regimental history sadly does not record the activities the 22CTB (CGG), but the CAPF was to be a component of the new Commonwealth Corp, who were to be committed to operation Olympic, the planned late 1945 invasion of Japanese home islands.  The atomic bombings in August made that invasion redundant, so the CAPF started disbanding in September, finally wound down by November & completely disbanded in January 1946.  It is of course thankful that we did not have to fight in the Pacific.  But with such a strong cadre of experienced veterans from 22CAR, I am sure that they would have acquitted themselves very well.  Nevertheless, if only for a few months in 1945, CGG was the only regiment of the RCAC to have 2 active battalions.

BADGES FOR THE CAPF

Colour Sergeant John Dolbec, retired.