Not sure if this will be of interest to people but...

[Private Bluebottle]

I came across mention of this on the Tanknet webboard. I thought it might be of interest to people here as another primary source:

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Divisional MG regiments in Commonwealth service used Universal Carriers simply to transport the guns, basic load of ammunition and crews; while the gun COULD be fired from its traveling pintle mount atop the carrier's engine deck, it was meant to be dismounted and emplaced where it was less visible to the enemy and less vulnerable

to incoming fire. They usually worked in sections of three guns plus a command/support carrier to transport ammunition, and could be used in support of any divisional regiment as required. In this role they were really quite effective, being able to lay down an effective beaten zone which could be maintained almost continuously.

BTW, the logistics of carrying any gun larger than the Vickers would have seriously undermined the carrier's capabilities. There's really

very little space inside once you clutter them up with gun, ammunition, personal weapons and kit, rations, spare parts and four crew.

If you're seriously interested in learning more of these unique regiments, I would recommend the following highly. I published this review here and elsewhere in February 2002 (scroll down to the bold bits as required):

Entitled A CANLOAN OFFICER, this large-format, soft-cover book (8 1/2 x 11, 321 pages, loaded with photographs and maps reproduced from the

originals the author carried), was written, compiled and self-published by Reginald F. (Rex) Fendick, CDN 453, a Canadian lieutenant who served as "Sometime OC No.1 Platoon, A Company, 2nd Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment (DCO), 1944-1945" as part of the CANLOAN scheme.

The CANLOAN scheme, as you may remember, was the arrangement by which Canadian junior officers were permitted to volunteer for service in

British Army infantry regiments, in order to make up for Britain's shortfall in qualified junior leaders due to casualties. Some 673 Canadian officers volunteered and served accordingly (some even taking a reduction in rank to do so), and of that number, 128 were killed in action or died of wounds, 310 were wounded in action and another 27 taken as POWs. As CANLOAN officers they earned 42 MCs, 1 U.S. DSC, 1 MBE, 1 U.S. Silver Star, 4 Croix de Guerre and numerous other citations.

In short, a magnificent group of individuals, whose accomplishments and sacrifices have not, until now, been suitably extolled.

This book is a memoir of one of those officers, and is so well-written and presented that I cannot understated why it hasn't been picked up by a commercial publisher. It should be. This personal memoir, while not in the same category as a regimental history (for example), still strikes me as comparable to Donald Graves' superb

book on the South Albertas in its readability and presentation, and its personal perspective simply adds to the book's attraction.

Lieutenant (later Capt and ultimately LCol) Fendick's book begins with an account of his early service in his father's regiment, the

St. John Fusiliers (MG). He was a part of the regimental shooting team back as far as 1938, even as a high school cadet, due to his

shooting skills, the latter of which ultimately drove him to become a successful, Active Service volunteer in 1942. After more than a

year's service with the Regiment in British Columbia, Fendick and several of his friends learned of the CANLOAN scheme and subsequently

volunteered, embarking on what became the adventure of a lifetime.

For the most part, Fendick's memories are clear, and his prose flows equally clearly and smoothly as he presents to us a cornucopia of detail on all aspects of service life as a young officer. As we progress from his earliest days with the St. John Fusiliers, through enlistment and training in the CANLOAN program to arrival in England and posting as a platoon commander in The Middlesex Regiment (MG), Fendick weaves a colourful tapestry of the experiences of a fresh,

somewhat naive 20 year-old subaltern about to embark on a frightening journey through the already-bloodsoaked battlefields of Normandy, in

command of what turns out to be mostly long-service, experienced British troops.

As his narrative proceeds, we find out, by reading through the lines - Fendick is refreshingly modest and honest about his misgivings - that he is in fact a natural leader of men and an exceptional officer in a time and place which has been otherwise noted by some historians as distinctly lacking in these vital requirements.

As the story continues through Normandy and into Holland, we find for the first time that Fendick's memories desert him from time-to-time,

which serves only to remind us that this is a very real account, written by an aging veteran of a very difficult campaign. However, throughout this section of the story, the author ery skillfully blends in enough tactical and administrative detail for us to understand his experiences against the backdrop of the campaign

itself.

Further to that, as he is an officer in charge of a Vickers Machine Gun Platoon, we are blessed with one of the finest accounts of the

deployment and use of this unique and little-discussed weapon. Not only is his account of the war itself filled with priceless information on the subject, he also includes a 48-page appendix at the end of the book, containing a synopsis of the Vickers, its systems and the employment of an MG Platoon in Northwest Europe. For anyone with an interest in the Medium Machine Gun, this book remains a priceless source of first-hand information.

At the conclusion of hostilities in May 1945, Fendick went on to spend almost a year with the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), before being repatriated to Canada in the spring of 1946, by then a T/Capt. He subsequently applied for, and was accepted into, the Regular Army in Canada, serving in a variety of duties (most within RCEME,

including a year in Korea) until his retirement in 1975 as a Lieutenant Colonel. The book, however, ends with his arrival in back

in Canada, as it is a story about CANLOAN, not about the man himself.

Thanks to Fendick's free-flowing clarity of expression, what we are left with is an outstanding historical document of an era long past and of the forgotten men who contributed so well to Victory in Europe.

Sir, MAPLE LEAF UP salutes you.

A CANLOAN OFFICER,

by Reginald F. (Rex) Fendick

Illustrated Edition Copyright 2000

Many maps, illustrations and photographs throughout.

Available from:

R.F. Fendick

25 Vaughan Drive,

Nauwigewauk, N.B.

Canada E5N 6T9

rfendick@nbnet.nb.ca

Price: $35 CAD or $27.50 USD, Postage Paid in North America.