Description
Mr. Jamieson describes the Germans in Normandy and discusses the impact that rumours of Canadian POW's being executed by German soldiers had on the Canadian Infantry.
Douglas K. Jamieson
Mr. Jamieson was the oldest of two boys in the family and was born in Toronto on April 3, 1919. At the age of sixteen he moved to Montreal. While in university Mr. Jamieson joined the Canadian Officer Training Corps. His unit was converted to a regular force unit and he was shipped overseas as part a reconnaissance unit in the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division with whom he served in England, France, Holland and Germany.
Transcript
They were under orders not, you know, to hold every inch of the land. There was no, there was no retreating for them, they were tough, they were tough, they were young. The troops in front of us early on were the Kurt Meyer's 12th Hilterjugend Division, they were fanatic young SS people, 17, 18, 19, they were tough, very tough.
We didn't have specific knowledge, in my sector we did not have specific knowledge. We knew there were captives that had been, their bodies had been found later with their hands tied behind their back, and shot in the back of the head. We didn't know how many, we had just, there were a hell of a lot of rumours, and you couldn't help but be cognisant of those rumours. You didn't know whether to believe them or not, but your inclination was to believe the rumours. You say the affect on the troops, the affect on the infantry was, yeah it was, well there was one unit in the 3rd Canadian Division, the Regiment de la Chaudiere, and they picked up the nickname and it was the Germans that gave them to, gave them the nickname, they were called the Canadian SS. They were very effective, and tough, very tough unit.