Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 71 In December 1943 he received an 'Emergency Commission' to 2nd Lieutenant and went on to serve with the 4/12th (Sikhs) Frontier Force Regiment, of the Indian Army. He fought in the Battle of Imphal-Kohima to repel the Japanese invasion of India during the period of March-June 1944.In August 1945 he was in Karachi with No 7 Technical Training Battalion, Corps of Indian Engineers. He finished service with the British Army as a captain. Arthur died in Ottawa in 1985 at age 70. He and wife Doris are buried in the Saint Paul's Cemetery, Mushaboom, Nova Scotia. H D Smith was from Halifax and had served in the Royal Canadian Artillery from 1936 to 1939. He enlisted in the 2/Mancs on 20 February 1939. After the evacuation from the Dunkirk beaches, in June 1940, he, along with many other seasoned soldiers of 2/Mancs, were transferred to the 8th Battalion of the The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire). The 8th Battalion was transferred to the Royal Artillery, becoming the 93rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, on 15 November 1941. In January 1942, it joined the 42nd Support Group in 42nd Armoured Division. When the 42nd Armoured was broken up in October 1943, the regiment served in Home Forces, joining 80th AA Brigade to train for an assault role on D-Day. The 93rd LAA Regiment landed with Polsten 20-mm quadruple anti-aircraft guns mounted on a Canadian Military Pattern trucks on D-Day, and served in the Normandy campaign. The regiment went on to defend Belgian cities against V-1 flying bombs and participated in the assault crossing of the Rhine. Rex Charles Smith of Halifax served in the 51st Field Battery, RCA, in 1938, as a reservist. He was born at 24 Smith Street, Halifax, on 28 July 1920, to Loraine Otto and Lena Maude (Baldwin) Smith. Rex enlisted in the 2/Mancs in 1939. After the evacuation from Dunkirk, he opted to transfer to the Canadian Army. He served in England and Northwest Europe as a sapper in the Royal Canadian Engineers. Rex took part in the D-Day landings and ended the war in Germany. After the war he worked at the Halifax Dockyards as a heavy crane operator. Rex Charles Smith died in Kentville on 16 January 2001. J Smith of Halifax, NS, enlisted in the 2/Mancs 1939. Joseph South enlisted in the 2/Mancs late 1938/early 1939. Noble Goulding ‘Nobby’ Sproule grew up in Port Credit, Ontario, and was only 17 years old when he sailed from Halifax to England to enlist in the 2/Mancs on 2 February 1939. He was the youngest of the ‘100’. After the evacuation of the remnants of 2/Mancs from Dunkirk in June 1940, Nobby went looking for employment in the special forces of that era. One day he saw a request for volunteers for “special service of an undefined hazardous nature.” Nobby became a commando and served in 9 (Scottish) Commando and 11 (Scottish) Commando. He was awarded a “mention in dispatches” for his actions at the Litani river in Lebanon, where, with a captured heavy machine gun, he held his position against overwhelming Vichy French fascist forces. He was the lone, unwounded, survivor of his troop of 50 men. His bravery at the Litani River prompted the higher command to send Nobby to Cairo for officer training, which was followed by more training with the legendary L Detachment of the Special Air Service (SAS). Second Lieutenant Sproule was then posted to the 4th Battalion of the Green Howards (The Green Howards Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment). In January 1943 he was captured during the fighting around Benghazi, Libya, and remained a POW until the end of the war (he did escape on several occasions but was always recaptured). After the war he served as a major with the Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) in Toronto. Noble Goulding ‘Nobby’ Sproule, MiD, died in 1993 in Newmarket, Ontario, aged 72. continued ... continued ...
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