This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(December 2018) |
Pacific Command | |
---|---|
Active | During the Second World War, 1940–1946 |
Country | Canada |
Branch | Canadian Army |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Maj.-Gen. George Pearkes, VC |
Pacific Command was a formation of the Canadian Army created during the Second World War to strengthen and administer home defence facilities on Canada's Pacific Coast against possible Japanese attack. A second major function was to train reinforcements to be sent to the Canadian divisions in Europe. Pacific Command combined the pre-war Military District No. 11 (British Columbia and the Yukon Territory) with Military District No. 13 (Alberta and the District of Mackenzie of the Northwest Territories). The command headquarters was initially housed in Esquimalt Fortress near Victoria, but on 30 November 1942 it was moved to the Old Hotel Vancouver in downtown Vancouver.
After the United States entered the war in December 1941, Canada and the U.S. coordinated their defence of the west coast of North America. Thus Pacific Command operated in close cooperation with Western Defense Command to the south and with Alaska Defense Command to the north.
The troops of Pacific Command were concentrated in the three strategic coastal centres:
By the middle of the war a significant proportion of the troops of Pacific Command were conscripts under the National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA) adopted in June 1940. This act precluded the use of conscripts in overseas operations. However, a plebiscite held in April 1942 released the Canadian government from this restriction (see the Conscription Crisis of 1944). Even after the plebiscite, the government was reluctant to send conscripts into combat outside of North America. The Terrace Mutiny occurred in November 1944 among troops of Pacific Command when it was learned that the government of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King had decided to start sending conscripts to Europe to reinforce depleted combat units.[ citation needed ]
In August 1943 troops of Pacific Command participated in Operation Cottage, in the final stages of the Aleutian Islands campaign. However, that campaign ended without a shot being fired at the enemy when it was discovered that the Japanese occupiers of Kiska had already evacuated the island. The only "enemy" the Pacific Command troops inflicted upon physically were American forces, after a Canadian soldier mistakenly shot at American lines, causing a sporadic friendly fire incident between the two forces that left 28 Americans and four Canadians dead, with 50 others injured. [1]
Apart from one incident when Japanese submarine I-26 shelled the lighthouse at Estevan Point on 20 June 1942, and the arrival of ineffectual fire balloons launched from Japan between November 1944 and April 1945, the feared military threat from Japan never materialized. The two home defence infantry divisions attached to Pacific Command were thus broken up and their personnel were redistributed to other formations.[ citation needed ]
General Order Number 21/1946, dated 28 January 1946, effective 23 January 1946 authorized five commands, among which was the new Western Command, which appears to have absorbed the area of the former Pacific Command. [2]
The following three generals served as General Officers Commander-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Pacific Command:
The 3rd Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of all army units in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as Northwestern Ontario including the city of Thunder Bay.
The 4th Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army. The division was first created as a formation of the Canadian Corps during the First World War. During the Second World War the division was reactivated as the 4th Canadian Infantry Division in 1941 and then converted to armour and redesignated as the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division. Beginning in 1916 the division adopted a distinctive green-coloured formation patch as its insignia. In 2013 it was announced that Land Force Central Area would be redesignated 4th Canadian Division. It is currently responsible for Canadian Army operations in the Canadian province of Ontario and is headquartered at Denison Armoury in Toronto.
The 5th Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of most army units in the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador; as well as some units in Kingston, Ontario. The division is recognized by the distinctive maroon patch worn on the sleeve of its soldiers.
The Aleutian Islands campaign was a military campaign fought between 3 June 1942 and 15 August 1943 on and around the Aleutian Islands in the American Theater of World War II during the Pacific War. It was the only military campaign of World War II fought on North American soil. At the time of World War II, Alaska was a territory of the United States.
Major-General George Randolph Pearkes was a Canadian politician and soldier. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy awarded to British and Imperial forces; and the 20th lieutenant governor of British Columbia.
The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
15th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA, is a Primary Reserve Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA) regiment based in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the Bessborough Armoury. 15th Field Regiment is part of the 39 Canadian Brigade Group of 3rd Canadian Division.
The Rocky Mountain Rangers is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army, one of only four infantry regiments in British Columbia, and the only infantry unit that recruits in Northern BC and much of the Interior. The regimental headquarters are at JR Vicars Armoury in Kamloops, with an additional rifle company in Prince George. The Rocky Mountain Rangers are part of the 3rd Canadian Division's 39 Canadian Brigade Group, the brigade responsible for Canadian Army organization in British Columbia.
The 7th Canadian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Canadian Army, mobilized in the spring of 1942 and assigned for home defence within Atlantic Command, during World War II.
The Malaya Command was a formation of the British Army formed in the 1920s for the coordination of the defences of British Malaya, which comprised the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States. It consisted mainly of small garrison forces in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Taiping, Seremban and Singapore.
Operation Cottage was a tactical maneuver which completed the Aleutian Islands campaign. On August 15, 1943, Allied military forces landed on Kiska Island, which had been occupied by Japanese forces since June 1942. However, the Japanese had secretly abandoned the island two weeks earlier, and so the Allied landings were unopposed. Allied forces suffered over 500 casualties in total during the operation from Japanese landmines and booby traps, friendly fire incidents, and vehicle accidents.
The 6th Canadian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Canadian Army, formed in 1942 during the Second World War. It was attached to Pacific Command. The division had a brigade sent to the Aleutian Islands Campaign, particularly at Kiska, but never saw action. The 6th Division was to have been part of a proposed Commonwealth Corps, formed for a planned invasion of Japan, but was disbanded on 31 January 1946, after the surrender of Japan in August 1945.
Atlantic Command was a formation of the Canadian Army created during the Second World War to strengthen and administer home defence facilities on Canada's Atlantic Coast. A second major function was to train reinforcements to be sent to the Canadian divisions in Europe. Most of those soldiers received and trained with their personal weapons in Camp Debert before being transported by train to Halifax where they embarked on troop ships that took them to Britain.
The First Canadian Army was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 until May 1945. It was Canada's first and, so far, only field army.
In September 1939, the British Army was in process of expanding their anti-aircraft and mobile assets. Among these new changes was the formation of Anti-Aircraft Command which was formed on 1 April 1939, and the 1st Armoured Division formed in 1937. The list below will include the British Army units, colonial units, and those units which were in the process of formation.
The Irish Fusiliers of Canada (The Vancouver Regiment) was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It was placed on the Supplementary Order of Battle in 1965. In 2002, it was taken off the Supplementary Order of Battle and amalgamated with The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own).
The 5th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery is a Canadian Army Reserve artillery regiment based at the Bay Street Armoury in Victoria, British Columbia. It is part of the 3rd Canadian Division's 39 Canadian Brigade Group. Although having served for nearly one-hundred and sixty years as a field artillery unit, the early history of the regiment is inextricably intertwined with the defences of the naval base at Esquimalt. The regiment is currently equipped with C3 towed 105mm gun-howitzers.
The following is a hierarchical outline for the Canadian Armed Forces at the end of the Cold War. It is intended to convey the connections and relationships between units and formations.
Malta Command was an independent command of the British Army. It commanded all army units involved in the defence of Malta. Once mobilised the Command deployed its headquarters to underground hardened shelters and its combat units were deployed to fixed points in the Maltese countryside, from where they operated. This mobilised, but largely static, army garrison would be tested by aerial bombardment and naval blockade during the Second World War. Whilst Malta Command was already a functioning command structure before 1939, the Second World War would see the Command operate as a genuine war-fighting headquarters, albeit in a static defensive role.
The 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade was a formation of the Canadian Army that served in both World Wars. During World War I, the brigade formed part of the 5th Canadian Division. However, the 13th Brigade never saw combat as the brigade along with the 5th Canadian Division was broken up to provide reinforcements to the 4 other divisions of the Canadian Corps. During the Second World War, the brigade formed part of the 6th Canadian Infantry Division serving on the west coast in the home defence role and in June 1943, the brigade took part in Operation Cottage on Kiska during the Aleutian Islands campaign.
Originally Published in Esprit de Corp Magazine, Volume 9 Issue 4 and Volume 9 Issue 5