"Few people, except the surviving participants, have ever heard of CANLOAN, the code word for an arrangement during the Second World War by which a number of Canadian Army officers participated in the fighting in northwest Europe between D-Day 1944, and VE-Day 1945, by voluntarily serving in regiments of the British Army. The ferocity of the fighting in which these officers were engaged is indicated by the extent of their casualties (75 percent) and the number of awards for gallantry - nearly 100, more than 40 of them Military Crosses. At the special request of the War Office, a number of RCOC officers also volunteered to serve under the same conditions as the more numerous infantry officers" from Code Word CANLOAN by Wilfred I. Smith, Dundurn Press, Toronto & Oxford, 1992. 346 pages. Includes photo of troops in the 43rd Division at Hill 112 on 10 July 1944. This was a hotly contested battlefield that saw many CANLOAN casualties.
This list of officers served with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.
CANLOAN Roster
Surname |
Name(s) |
Rank |
Honour Roll |
Decorations |
Regiment |
ARTHURS |
Ralph B. |
Lieut. |
k/a 11-7-44 |
|
5 DCLI |
COMOLLI |
Benoit D. J. |
Lieut. |
k/a 11-7-44 |
|
5 DCLI |
GAUTHIER |
Joseph H. J. |
Maj. |
|
MID |
5 DCLI, HQ 214 Inf. Bde. |
HARDY |
Marcel W. |
Lieut. |
|
|
5 DCLI |
RUSH |
Mathew C. P. |
Lieut. |
k/a 9-7-44 |
|
5 DCLI |
Arthurs, Ralph B. on pages vii, 16, 36, 77, 78
Comolli, Beniot D.J. on pages vii, 77-8
Gauthier, Joseph H. J. on pages 77, 83, 92, 129, 262, 265
Hardy, Marcel W. on page 77
Rush, Mathew C. P. on pages vii, 77