Operation Canuck

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Operation Canuck was an operation of World War II conducted by the Canadian Captain Buck McDonald and a small team of Special Air Service troopers in January, 1945.

Operating in northern Italy, the team trained and organized Italian resistance fighters. In a remarkable event, the team’s partisans captured the garrison of Alba, near Turin.

Captain Buck McDonald was born Robert MacDonald (aka Bob Ace) in NewGlasgow Nova Scotia on November 4, 1920. He was the son of Robert McDonald and Isabel Ross. In the Canadian army MacDonald had a reputation for toughness which earned him the nickname "Buck". Robert was a gifted athlete, winning the 440 yard dash at the 1936 Canadian junior championships in Calgary Alberta. In 1939 he attended Royal Military College in Kingston Ontario and in 1941 he departed for England with the the Royal Canadian Dragoons. He joined the Special Air Service (SAS) in 1943 and served with distinction in Italy. On the eve of the Normandie invasion, MacDonald was a member of the Canadian Airborne Regiment but was injured in a training exercise. On June 7th, the day after the invasion began, he disobeyed orders and chartered a boat to take him across the channel to join his comrades in France. He was charged for being AWOL (Away Without Leave) but the charges were later stayed because he went AWOL to join the fighting. At the end of World War II he was discharged with the rank of Major and attended Dalhousie Law School. He returned to NewGlasgow where he became Crown Prosecutor and where he met and married Jean Foster, the love of his life. Robert was appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in 1985. He passed away on August 16, 1995.