# General Bertram M. Hoffmeister



## Mike Bobbitt (13 Feb 2004)

GENERAL BERTRAM M. HOFFMEISTER
1907 â â€ 1999
World War II Commanding Officer
5th Canadian Armoured Division

by Stan Scislowski

Bert Hoffmeister who passed away in his 92nd year on the weekend of Dec.4/5, 1999 in Vancouver was hailed as one of Canada's greatest soldiers, not only for his proficiency in conducting the operations of a Division, but also for his willingness to share the risks of battle with his men. This most decorated soldier was extremely popular with his men, from Brigadiers on down through the ranks to the Privates in the infantry and the Troopers in the tanks. When the conditions of the battlefield dictated that he be up front close to the action to better be in control of his units, he was there, and his very presence amongst those who were doing the shooting, in itself had a bolstering effect on the men. They knew that if the General himself was up front where the crap was flying, everything would be okay, and they were winning. Which brings me to mention here one small incident in war in this regards that I was witness to, to confirm the above qualities of the man. This is what happened, as taken from my book, NOT ALL OF US WERE BRAVE:

And now back to what went on once we got on the move again: We'd gone another four hundred yards or so in the wide, grassy meadow without running into small-arms fire. Likewise no shells or mortars came our way. Although things were going smoothly on Dog company front, it wasn't as easy going for Baker Company on our immediate right. They ran into some considerable machine-gun fire but worked their way through it and were making tracks for the proposed Liri River crossing site in front of Ceprano. From my point of view I couldn't see anything to stop us from a quick advance to the river, but to my surprise and everyone else's we were halted and ordered to dig in. "Now what the hell are we stopping for?" the question ran through my mind. "For God's sake there's not a damn thing out front, so why the halt?" Now I don't want to sound here like a guy chomping at the bit to get in some 'kick him in the butt' kind of fighting. No sir, not me! But damn it all! When we're moving forward like manure through a tin horn, why stop us? The way I looked at it, "Let's get the damn thing over with while things are going easy. Don't give the bastards time to dig in and make it three times as hard for us later on." So there we sat out in the open, wilting in the broiling sun. . .sat for the better part of the afternoon with our fingers up our rear-ends. What a way to fight a war! Although I knew little about tactics except what I'd learned in battle-drill training, I did know enough to see that someone upstairs was making a big mistake by not pushing us on. It had to be either our CO, Lt.Col. J.S.H. Lind or our Brigadier who pulled off the gaffe. I assumed this, especially after seeing Gen. Hoffmeister come barrelling up in a cloud of dust in a Lynx Scout car to have a look for himself at what the hell the hold-up was.

As much as it impressed me seeing Hoffy right up there with us at the sharp end, I wished the hell he'd haul-ass back to where he belonged at HQ because I knew damn well it wouldn't be long before Jerry OPs would spot him and start shelling or mortaring the hell out of us. And surer than blazes, he did let loose, dropping mortar bombs all over that dusty meadow. The first bombs landed about a hundred yards short, but then he began walk-ing them in till they were falling all around us. I ducked down in my shallow slit-trench, but took several peeks over the lip to see Hoffmeister standing in the little scout car with big binoculars up to his eyes scanning in the direction of Ceprano. He seemed to be oblivious to all the racket and shrapnel whizzing every-where around him. The guy sure had guts, but I wished to hell he'd go back to where he belonged, because, just by chance one of the damn bombs might just happen to plunk right down into my little hole in the ground. Man, was I relieved when the scout car turned around and sped away in a cloud of dust!

The mortaring stopped once he was gone. Hoffmeister must have really blistered somebody's tail when we got back to either Brigade or Div. because within half an hour we were out of our shallow trenches and on the move again. In that moment, the wide expanse of open ground became alive with movement as we approached the Liri River. We commenced the advance, taking Ceprano that same afternoon on a river-crossing assault, and after a brief fire-fight in the town's outskirts, pushed on largely unimpeded in a night advance to take the twin hilltop villages of Pofi, and early next morning took Arnara without a shot. The enemy had buggered off and the way was open to Rome which, as many felt, the liberation of Rome was denied the Canadians to allow Mark Clark and his composite British and American 5th Army to reap the glory on the world stage.

Many thanks for Stan Scislowski for his permission to post this.


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