Guy Simonds
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Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds, CC, CB, CBE, DSO, CD, (April 23, 1903 - May 15, 1974) was a Canadian Army officer who commanded the II Canadian Corps during World War II. Additionally, he served as acting commander of the First Canadian Army, leading the Allied forces to victory in the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944. In 1951 he was appointed Chief of the General Staff, the head officer of the Canadian Army. He was the youngest officer in the history of the Canadian army to be promoted to the rank of general.
Born in Bury St Edmunds, England on April 23, 1903, he emigrated to Canada with his family. He studied at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario between 1921 and 1925 (College Number 3521).
On September 27, 1944, Simonds temporarily took charge of First Canadian Army from General Harry Crerar and led the liberation of the mouth of the Scheldt River. When Simonds resumed his command of II Canadian Corps for the liberation of North-Western Europe, Crerar resumed command with the First Army.
In 1944, Simonds devised the "Kangaroo", an early armoured personnel carrier converted from non-operational armoured vehicles.
He returned to Canada in 1949 to take a role as Commander of the Royal Military College of Canada. He was also the Commandant of the National Defence College and the Canadian Army Staff College in 1949 and 1950.
In 1970 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. He died in Toronto on May 15, 1974.
In his book "The Normandy Campaign" Victor Brooks lists Simonds as the most effective corps-level commander of the Allied Forces in Normandy. He wrote
The corps commander among the units that comprised the 21st Army Group who most likely had the largest personal impact on the Normandy campaign was Lieutenant General Guy Simonds. This senior officer of the II Canadian Corps created one of the most effective tank-infantry teams in the Allied forces through a high degree of improvisation during the drive from Caen to Falais. This general was versatile and imaginative but was not able to generate the momentum that would have more fully closed off the Falaise gap at an earlier date. Despite this drawback, Simonds deserves credit for his effective command.[1]
[edit] References and footnotes
- The Price of Command: A Biography of General Guy Simonds / Dominick Graham (1994) ISBN 0773726926
- Brooks, Victor (2002). The Normandy Campaign : from D-Day to the liberation of Paris. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306811494.
- Lieutenant-General Guy G. Simonds. Juno Beach Centre. Retrieved on February 13, 2005.
- Neillands, Robin (2005). "Chapter 7: The Battle for the Scheldt", The Battle for the Rhine. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0297846178.
- ^ Brooks (2002), p.276
[edit] External links
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Foulkes |
Chief of the General Staff 1951-1955 |
Succeeded by Howard Douglas Graham |
