7th Medium Regiment, Canadian Artillery??

After just getting my Grandfathers Service records, it appears (although not sure) that he served in the 7th medium regiment) in WW2. I've looked on the net, and can't seem to find any real facts on what they did and where. Don't get me wrong I've seen some sights state that they have fought here and there, but I'm looking for a bit more detailed info.

It's unfortunate that my family knows very little, on what he did, and where he did it. All that is really said when I talk to my uncle and aunt is that he was in the artillery, and saw service in UK, France and Germany. Some say he was a Gunner, but after looking at his records it states that his rank was "gunner" and that it appears to me that he was a "driver". Reading the service records is tough as most of it is hand written.

Anyway if any one can help me..that would be great as it's my mission to find out what, where and how he fought this terrible war!!!

Thanks in advance

 

Oh yeah, here is a quick lowdown on the regiment.

7th Medium Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery

The 7th was one of six Canadian medium regiments which saw
service in Britain and continental Europe in W.W. II, the others
being the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Medium Regiments.
(There was no 6th Medium).

The 1st, 2nd and 5th Mediums served in Italy, while the 3rd, 4th,
and 7th were in North West Europe. Three of these units (1st, 4th, and 7th)
were each equipped with sixteen 5.5 inch guns, firing 100 pound shells
while the other three had 4.5 inch guns firing 60 pound shells.

Medium regiments were not part of the artillery component of the
individual infantry or armored divisions as were most field
regiments (25 pounder guns) but were classed as "Army"
troops and were available to support any formation which
needed the fire of heavier guns.

The 7th Medium Regiment was raised in September 1939 with
the mobilization of four Ontario militia field batteries - the 12th
(London), 45th (Lindsay), 97th (Walkerton) and 100th (Listowel).
In the period from then until February 1941 during which time
the Regiment was at Petawawa there were a number of
organizational changes from which emerged the 7th Army
Field Regiment RCA, consisting of the 12th, 45th and 97th
Batteries.

The 7th continued its training at Petawawa and in New Brunswick
until November 1941, when it went overseas, to England, where it
spent over two an a half years in constant training. A major
change occurred in November 1943 when the regiment was
converted from Field to Medium, and gave up its 25 pounders
for the much bigger 5.5s. In the process it became a two battery
regiment and the 97th Battery was disbanded, most of its
personnel, however, being absorbed by the other two larger batteries.

The war for the 7th Medium became the real thing when it crossed
the Channel in the second week in July 1944, and from then until
the end of the fighting in the first week of May 1945 it took part in
all the major battles and actions in which the Canadian Army was
engaged: Normandy, the Seine crossing, the Channel ports
(Boulogne and Calais), the Scheldt, Bergen op zoom, Nijmegen salient,
the Rhineland, the Rhine crossing, the advance through central
and northern Holland, and finally across the Ems river into north
west Germany.

The 7th Medium fired its first round in anger at Rots, near Caen,
Normandy shortly after 1800 hours on 13 July 1944, and its last,
also shortly after 1800 hours from its last gun position at Veenheusen
in Germany, a short distance from Emden on 4 May 1945.
(Historical Document, as it was written down in 1945)
(Historical Document, last target position)
In the course of 10 months in action, the 7th occupied about 60 gun positions, fired nearly 70,000 rounds of 100 pound shells in support of three
Canadian divisions, most of the British divisions and the Polish
armoured division, all of 21 Army Group.

The major battles in which the 7th was engaged were of course
Normandy, the Scheldt and the Rhineland. The fire program
for the opening of the latter is reported to have been the largest
in the West during the war: at 0500 hours on 8 February 1945,
1,400 British and Canadian guns of all calibres opened fire at once
in support of the British 30th Corps, consisting for the opening of the battle
of four British divisions and the 2nd Canadian Division attacking east
from Nijmegen into Germany. Included in the preliminary bombardment
Which ended at 0930 hours, were 16 medium regiments (13 RA and three RCA)
This was followed at 1000 hours by the 2 1/2 hour barage in support of 30
corps infantry attacking into Germany.
In the ten months in which the 7th Medium was in action it had 124
casualties, of which 35 were killed and 89 wounded (some of the
latter returned to the unit on recovery).

 

JTF-2, when I get a change I will look up if I have anything on them on their time in Holland.

 

That would be great, thanks!!

 

Hmm...this is frustrating. I went through all the indexes of my books related to the ground war in Holland and then what I have found in articles, on line, etc. but haven't found even one reference to the 7th! The 3rd is mentioned several times and I have a 1945 book on the 17th Field Regiment RCA.

When I come across anything i will let you know but I think a nice research-project is in the making for you here!

Stevin

 

JTF-2,

I have the books "Gunners of Canada". I will look through them for the 7th Medium Regiment, in order to see if I can cite some specific dates and actions for you. Do you know which Battery he was with. If you look at his Service and Casualty Form and his Statement of Service you will probably see a chronological list of significant dates during his service from time of enlistment through his discharge.

It was not unusual for a member of an artillery unit to have more than one occupation. They were cross-trained. My Dad's rank was Gunner. He served as a gunner, but was also trained as a Driver and a Signaller. He actually had a trade certificate when he left the forces as a Radio Operator. Dad also has an artillery compass, and if I am now guessing correctly, some items for siting the guns (didn't used to know what they were!). Some artillery also served as infantry. When the LAA were redistributed at times perform infantry duties after they entered Belgium, my Dad was acting as Driver and Op C Signaller at RCA HQ 21 AG. I suspect it may have frustrated him at times and relieved him at others that he was not in the line. I didn't even know he was a Gunner until after he died and I saw his Soldiers Service and Pay Book.

Michelle

 

Michelle,

Thanks for the info!! My Grandfather didnt' become a "Gunner" until the closing months of the war. Looking at his Casualty Form I see that he was a "Driver". But I having troubles finding what Division/ Battilion etc. I never have been so fustrated at something this long. Every where I look, I come up with a dead end. I find what Corps he was in, then I find something in his records that makes me think otherwise. Say can be said with his Regiment. I find some dates, and records of him in the "7th Med" but that I can't 100% determine what that "7th Med" is. Everyone I talk to says it's the 7th Medium Regiment, but any information I find that involves the 7th does not list him in it.

I can even go one more step farther. I found a website that states the members of the 7th medium regiment. And I find that yes there was a Lambert (my last name) in the regiment, but the 1st name is wrong, aswell as the SIN number. So as you can see, everytime I find something, it becomes a dead end....man...I"m getting mad.

Any help would be GREAT
Thanks

 

I have finally confirmed my Grandfathers role in WW2!!!!!!!!!!!!

It turns out that he was with the 7th Medium Regiment Platoon in the Royal Canadian Army Service Coprs (RCASC) and not in the 7th Medium Artillery! So in review it looks like the 7th Medium Regiment Platoon was attached to some artillery Regiment (possibley the 7th Medium Artillery) and supplied them with ammo etc.
After the German Surrender he was struck off strenght to the 2/14th Canadian Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA) as part of the Canadian Occupation Force.

So I"m happy that I found all this out after working hard on it for a year or so. But I do feel kinda sad, as my family (dad included) always thought he was in the RCA all a long and had a much more "glorious" role in WW2. So when I was sharing my research to my dad and uncles I sensed a bit of dissapointment from them. All and all I"m happy I finally know what he did and where.

Just thought I'd spread the news...sorry for blabbing!

P.S. I want to thank the guys that offered there assistance!

 

Hi JTF,

I've been looking for info on the 7th (this is just the 1st) so will still add here if you like:

The Gunners of Canada Vol II Colonel G.W.L. Nicholson, C.D.

Page 122-123

From 5th Army Field Brigade to 5th Army Field Regiment, to 21st Army Field Regiment, to 7th Army Field Regiment, to 7th Medium Regiment – that was the success of designations given to the unit that would complete the roster of designations given to the unit that would complete the roster of Canadian medium regiments in the Second World War. Its war story begins with the mobilization of four Ontario N.P.A.M. field batteries on 1 September 1939 – the 12th from London, the 45th (Howitzer) from Lindsay, the 97th from Walkerton, and the 100th from Listowel. The four met in May 1940, when the 5th Army Field Brigade concentrated at Petawawa under Lt.-Col. G .H. Ellis. On 1 June came reorganization into the 5th Army Field Regiment, the four batteries being paired into two 12-gun batteries. But because the new designation caused confusion with that of the 5th Field Regiment, it was changed in July to the 21st Field Regiment – and a month later to the 7th Army Field Regiment.

In February 1941 reorganization to conform with the British War Establishment for a field regiment left the unit with three 8-gun batteries (the 12th, 45th and 97th) – the 100th Battery taking personnel left over from the shuffle to become part of the 4th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, then forming for the 3rd Division…In late June a week-long journey by road took the 7th Army Field to Sussex, to train under command of Headquarters R.C.A. 3rd Division. After a frustrating two-month wait for shipping space to become available, the Regiment sailed from Halifax in November 1941. For its first “static” camp in England, the unit took over Dunley Hill from the 1st Survey Regiment (which, it is reported, surrendered the muddy site with no regrets.) In the next two and a half years the unit was to occupy half a dozen semi-permanent stations in southern England. The most prolonged stay was a the camp in the woods outside Oxted – a site to be long remembered from the amount of labour expended in putting down tons of rubble into the mud to make roads and firm wagon line and vehicle standings. In the late summer of 1943 the 7th Army Field found itself attached to the 5th Armoured Division, and rumours went around that it would accompany that formation overseas. But such was not to happen. Early in November orders reached Lt.-Col. W. J. Myatt – he had succeeded Colonel Ellis as C.O. in June 1942 – that the unit would be converted to a medium regiment. The reduction to two batteries meant the end of the 97th Field Battery. The 25-pounders were turned in, not without regret, and were replaced by the 5.5.s of the 5th Medium Regiment, which was off to the Mediterranean. The conversion may be said to have been complete when, in the words of the regimental historian: “We came to think of the 25-pounders as mechanized hat badges, and it wasn’t long before a really true feeling arouse between the gunner and his great big gun.”


Also, on page 290 it says, "Some indicators of the artillery's contribution in 'Charnwood' appears in the fact that the first 24 hours of the ooperation involved the handling of no less than 27,000 lb of shells at each gun of the Canadian divisional artillery. As always, the work of the R.C.A.S.C. in supplying such huge quantities of ammuniton had been magnificent."

From all I've been reading, often the difference between carrying on an action or being able to have a battle plan approved was whether there could be sufficient supplies sustained. Maybe its because I'm always in a "support" role in my work that I appreciate that the guns couldn't do their job without the ammunition or the tires or the multitude of other items they needed. Sometimes the guns would actually glow red from the firing, and it would be necessary. I expect that there wasn't a gunner in those regiments who didn't appreciate the RCASC attached to them.

 

Michelle,

Thanks so much. Every bit helps!! And also interesting aswell

 

At some point the 7th Med Regiment was in Bude Cornwall (or located nearby) possibly Cleave Camp...My mum passed away in 2009 but she remembered both Canadian and American servicemen. She remarked that many were very young, little more than "boys" and that many of them were cut down in the Normandy landings and never returned. Today I came across an old wooden shoe brush on it was scratched "7th Med Regt 1943 Bude"...

 

Am new & just came across Forum on 7th Medium. Anyone that served in the 7th was given a book titled "History of the 7th Canadian Medium Regiment R.C.A. from 1st Sept, 1939 to 8th June 1945. Excellent book inc. maps, locations, dates, list of those served +....have my Father's who was a Gunner in the 7th.

 

Member in Jan 2006 pretty much summed up the creation of the 7th. The book is full of maps, dates, lists those in the 7th. Dad enlisted in Walkerton 1939, have original pic of the men but unfortunately no names to the faces.