Canadian General Officers List

[Ken McCanliss]

List of the 68 Canadian General Officers in WWII -

http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/generallist.htm

[mikerock]

"Canadian Army Pacific Force - B.M. Hoffmeister, CB, CBE, DSO, ED

While General Hoffmeister did take an active part in the planning phases of creating the CAPF in the summer of 1945, the division was never fully formed in the wake of the Atomic Bomb attacks on Japan in August and their subsequent unconditional surrender in September"

I had no idea that we were to be involved in the planned invasion of Japan. Would that have not stretched the resources of Canada's military too thin?

--Mike

[Wm. Harris]

War in Europe ended on May 8th, 1945, but it went on in the Pacific. Canada planned to dispatch an infantry division to fight against Japan. Some 1,024 officers and 20,829 other ranks joined the Canadian Army's Pacific Force (6th Infantry Division) under Major-General B.M. Hoffmeister. The men who volunteered but were still in Europe were brought back as a priority; they got a 30-day leave and were told to show up at one of nine training centers in Canada. Since the Pacific Force had to operate jointly with US forces, it changed its structure to be regiment-based, rather than brigade-based. But Canadians did not fight in the Pacific, as Japan surrendered on August 14th, 1945, after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the first atom bombs. The Pacific Force had no longer a purpose and was officially disbanded on September 1st.

http://www.junobeach.org/e/2/can-eve-pea-e.htm

Since many of the men who made up the CAPF were already veterans, and since the division was to have been fighting hand in hand with the Americans, using a lot of American equipment, I doubt our commitment to the Pacific would have seriously strained our abilities.

There's tons more info here: http://www.dnd.ca/hr/dhh/history_archiv ... .asp?cat=1 Just go to item 16.