Name that MWiF counter - 26

[Greyshaft]

Aged 51 in 1939.
...graduated from the ... Military College with a commission in the field artillery but resigned a short time later. He served during WWI and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General. After that war he served as Director of Military Operations and later as Commandant of the ... Military College. From March 1939 was involved with reorganisation of the ... Militia in anticipation of the upcoming conflict. He was appointed as Chief of General Staff in ... and from ... 1941 commanded the ... Corp. In February 1944 briefly commanded the ... in Italy before returning to England to prepare for the landings in France. ... . He retired from the Army in 1946 and later accepted diplomatic postings in Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands and Japan. He died in 1965.

[buckyzoom]

Bradley?

[wosung]

NZ Freyberg?

[terje439]

Canada
Henry Duncan Graham Crerar

[Greyshaft]

Aged 51 in 1939. General Henry Duncan Graham Crerar graduated from the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario in 1910 with a commission in the field artillery but resigned a short time later. He served in the Canadian Army in France during WWI and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General. After that war he served as Director of Military Operations and later as Commandant of the Royal Military College. From March 1939 Crerar was involved with reorganisation of the Canadian Militia in anticipation of the upcoming conflict. When war arrived Crerar went to Britain to oversee the preparations for receiving Canadian troops. He was appointed as Chief of General Staff in July 1940 and from December 1941 commanded the Canadian First Corp in Britain. The political fallout from the failed August 1942 raid on Dieppe was immense. Canadian troops had suffered 5,000 casualties from an operation that had been planned without input from Canadian officers, and there was no mechanism for complaining about the situation to the British. In February 1944 Crerar briefly commanded the 2nd Corp in Italy before returning to England to prepare for the landings in France. From July 23rd 1944 he commanded the Caen sector of the front line in Normandy and controlled the northern wing of Operation Totalize which created the Falaise pocket and destroyed German resistance in France. Under his command the First Canadian Army worked its way along the French Coast reducing the channel ports of Le Harve, Boulogne and Calais but at a heavy cost in troops and equipment. After the failure of operation Market Garden in September 1944 the Canadians fought their way through the Scheldt estuary to open the port of Arnhem for Allied shipping. From February 1945 Crerar commanded the Canadian First Army as it liberated Holland and fought through the northern end of the Seigfried line. Crerar retired from the Army in 1946 and later accepted diplomatic postings in Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands and Japan. He died in 1965. His best attributes were his undoubted intellect and his intimate understanding of the Canadian military structure (which he had to a large extent recreated in the 1930's). His opportunities were constrained by the subordination of the Canadian Army to the British command structure and his lack of modern battlefield experience. (377)

[dhatchen]

ORIGINAL: Greyshaft

estuary to open the port of Arnhem for Allied shipping. From February 1945 Crerar commanded

The port was Antwerp, and as a historical side note, the Canadians were not represented during the celebrations when the first supply ship docked at the port despite some of the apalling losses they suffered clearing the mud infested islands along the estuary.

He is also known for the successful fight to have the Canadians fight in one army under Canadian command rather than be broken up by division as the Aussies et al were.

Gee, do you think I am Canadian...

[Greyshaft]

ORIGINAL: dhatchen
The port was Antwerp,

Of course it was... thanks for the correction. Getting feedback on my bloopers is one of my reasons for posting this stuff here.