The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada

Lt Mac Lindsay, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada as a member of the Canadian Army Pacific Force at Camp Shilo, Manitoba in September 1945. He is dressed in battledress and a glengarry. The 6th Canadian Division was reformed as part of the Canadian Army Pacific Force, and was to be a component of the Commonwealth Corps intended to be used in Operation Olympic, the planned 1945 invasion of Japan. The division was to be commanded by Major General Bert Hoffmeister. The Canadian Army Pacific Force was organized on the lines of a standard infantry division, with nine infantry battalions. However, to ease logistic concerns, U.S. military equipment was to be adopted, as well as U.S. Army organization. Therefore, three battalions were formed into "regiments" rather than brigades, and "cannon companies" were formed rather than anti-tank units. The battalions were named in Canadian fashion, rather than numbered, and the division was patterned after the 1st Canadian Infantry Division. The division was disbanded after Japan's surrender made the Corps's use unnecessary. Loose photos with the Photo Album of Major George, 1939 - 1953. The photos pasted in the album are accessioned separately. These photos show Major Robert Nelson (Bud) George while in the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada in Italy and Shilo, Manitoba as part of the Canadian Army Pacific Force in the summer of 1945. There are also pictures of the Seaforth Company of the 1st Canadian Highland Battalion in Germany.

Seaforth Officers at Camp Vernon Summer 1939. Left to right: Unknown officer, Leslie, Hoffmeister, Unknown officer. They are dressed in glengarry, service dress tunics, kilt, hair sporran, dark hose, khaki spats with Sam Browne belts and swords. There is a house in the left background of the photo. Regimental History, p. 48-49: "During the summers of 1938 and 1939 the Seaforths were allowed to take more men to camp, and they were permitted to be in camp for an entire week. The camp at Sidney in 1938 was a modest one compared to the large concentration of all militia units at Vernon in the summer of 1939. Here for the first time since the war, the infantry, cavalry and other supporting units gathered together to engage in fairly extended field manoeuvres. In a sense it represented the epitome of inter-war training at least in numbers and scope. The lines of tents drawn up along the slopes of Mission Hill, the sounds of the pipes, trumpets and bugles of the various bands, the swarms of khaki-clad militiamen on the streets of Vernon in the evening, and the marching columns of armed men out for route marches during the day, all gave an exceptionally martial air to the otherwise peaceful area."

Photo from Page 6 of the Album of Major Robert Nelson (Bud) George, 1939 - 1953. This is a photo of Seaforth officer Captain Bud George in Shilo, Manitoba who was in the Canadian Army Pacific Force. He is dressed in battledress without a glengarry By the time this photo was taken, the Japanese had surrendered and the troops here were getting ready to be demobilized. The Canadian Army Pacific Force was established on 20 November 1944 in anticipation of the impending action against Japan. The question of compulsory service in the force had been an issue in the 1944 general election with the Liberals favouring the use of only volunteers in the Pacific which garnered a large service vote. The Canadian Army Pacific Force (CAPF) or 6th Canadian Division was raised in 1945 as a field force intended to participate in the last phase of The War Against Japan, an anticipated Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands in the last phase of the Second World War. The 6th Division was to have been part of a proposed Commonwealth Corps. The Commonwealth Corps was the name given to a proposed British Commonwealth army formation, which was scheduled to take part in the planned Allied invasion of Japan in during 1945 and 1946. The corps was never formed, however, as the Japanese surrender obviated any need for it. Under the proposals the corps would have comprised Australian, British, Canadian and New Zealand forces. Major General Bert Hoffmeister was named to command the division, and the three Infantry Regiments (the equivalent of a Canadian brigade) had battalions bearing the name of those infantry battalions that had fought with the 1st Canadian Infantry Division in Europe. The Seaforths were designated the 2nd Canadian Infantry Regiment, 2nd Canadian Infantry Battalion (The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada). They were to be commanded by Lt-Col. Syd W. Thomson, DSO, MC;. The battalion existed from 10 June to 5 September, 1945. The first of several C.A.P.F. drafts left the unit on 6 June, 1945 under the command of Major S. Lynch, MC, and by the end of the month about one hundred all ranks had volunteered for this service. The CAPF was made up only of volunteers, and there was an active recruiting drive overseas to get veterans of the European campaign to enlist. Many did. Many of them played the odds, as they figured the war in the Pacific was nearly over and would be before they were needed. It was an odds on bet that volunteering for the CAPF would be a quicker way to get home. The Canadian Army Pacific Force was organized on the lines of a standard infantry division, with nine infantry battalions to increase operability with the Americans. However, to ease logistic concerns, U.S. military weapons and equipment were to be adopted, as well as U.S. Army organization. Therefore, three battalions were formed into "regiments" rather than brigades, and "cannon companies" were formed rather than anti-tank units. The battalions were named in Canadian fashion, rather than numbered, and the division was patterned after the 1st Canadian Infantry Division. The plan was to concentrate the force in Canada and move it to the United States for training. When the atomic bombings brought the war to a swift close in August and September 1945, the CAPF was disbanded without ever having went to the Far East.