What Montgomery Said About the Canadians After D-Day

"I doubt if any other troops would do it so well, and I am very glad the Canadians are on the business." Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery wrote that to Lieutenant General Guy Simonds on October 20, 1944. Months earlier, in private letters, he had called Simonds's superior, Harry Crerar, "very definitely not a commander." This is the story behind that gap. It starts on Juno Beach, June 6, 1944, where the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade pushed farther inland than any other D-Day landing force, at a cost of 340 killed and 574 wounded. It runs through Harry Crerar, Rod Keller, and Guy Simonds — three Canadian generals, all Royal Military College graduates, judged very differently by the British commander they served under. Crerar waited over a month for his army headquarters to take a sector; Montgomery recorded his "first mistake at twelve-oh-five hours, and his second after lunch." Keller was declared "not fit to command" after Carpiquet, wounded by American bombs in August, and never held an active command again. Simonds, rated by Montgomery as "the equal of any British Corps Commander," led II Canadian Corps through Verrières Ridge, Operation Totalize, and then the First Canadian Army itself when Crerar fell ill. The cost shows in the numbers: Black Friday at Woensdrecht, October 13, 1944, when 56 of 145 Black Watch soldiers died crossing an open field; the Scheldt estuary, fought in flooded polder against a dug-in German force; and the note Montgomery sent days later, praising the men Crerar and Simonds commanded. If this is new to you, that's exactly why we tell it. Like the video, subscribe to Canada's Finest, and share it with someone who still thinks the Canadians just followed orders in Normandy. 📚 Further context / historical background: Canadian official military history volumes on the Northwest Europe campaign, Montgomery's wartime correspondence and personal papers, and regimental histories of the units named above (Black Watch, Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, 1st Hussars, Queen's Own Rifles) are good starting points for further reading. #CanadianArmy #D-Day #WW2History