Best Engineer Project

[Spr.Earl]

I knew Sutherland Brown was on Gibralter with one of the Tunneling Companies but not part of Op.Market Garden.Learn somthing new everyday.

 

[54/102 CEF]

I knew Sutherland Brown was on Gibralter with one of the Tunneling Companies but not part of Op.Market Garden.Learn somthing new everyday.

According to our man The King Diver he had to kick A$$ to get the boats brought forward

 

[Kat Stevens]

Old S-B was a great man. Would spend equal time with the greenest sapper as he would with the pointy heads.  loads of great old sapper tales in that guy..

CHIMO,  Kat

 

[Spr.Earl]

Old S-B was a great man. Would spend equal time with the greenest sapper as he would with the pointy heads.   loads of great old sapper tales in that guy..

CHIMO,   Kat

No kidding Kat,I first met S-B in the Officers Mess at 6Fd and was introduced to him by Lt/Col Bill Dow in the early 80's and thats where I learned of him working on Gib. and him showing me his pocket watch that all from the 1st and 2nd Tunneling Co. recieved in place of a gong beacuse of our Gov. not allowing another Gov. awarding gongs to our own.

UBIQUE

 

[Spr.Earl]

Here is some more info of Col Suherland-Brown which was past on to me from the Library and Archives  of Canada.

Fonds consists of the unreleased Metro Goldwyn Mayer film Hands across the border, in which Brown appears, and footage of the 1938 Royal Military College graduation.

 

[old fart]

"Or - the Canadian Engineer Monument at the Driel Ferry (my part was to find it with MWO Earl Butt and LCol Foreman in 1995 during the Nijmegen Marches) Driel was an evacuation operation where Canadain Engineers helped pull out Airborne troops operations at Arnhem Holland in Sep 1944. The Engr Coy Commander was then Maj Malcom Sutherland Brown"

This operation was known as Op BERLIN.   Two Canadian Fd Companies and two British took part in the recovery of the remnants of the 1st British Airborne Div back across the Lower Rhine.  23 Fd Company was commanded by Major Michael Tucker who received the DSO, Lt Russ Kennedy (who retired as a LCol if I am correct) was awarded the MC.  Lt Kennedy was responsible for the reconnaissance and selected the 23rd location on the river across from the old church.  In all five of the company were decorated for their actions that night, seven were killed and eight seriously wounded.

The Roll of Honour reads as follows:

KILLED AT ARNHEM
LIEUTENANT J.R. MARTIN
LANCE CORPORAL W.D. RYAN
SAPPER D.L.G. HOPE
SAPPER H.C. MAGNUSSON
SAPPER R.T. McKEE
SAPPER T.J. ROHERTY
SAPPER N.A. THOMPSON

WOUNDED AT ARNHEM
CAPTAIN D.J. McINTYRE
SERGEANT D.E. BARNES
L/SERGEANT H.H. ROBERTS
LANCE CORPORAL G.B. PERKINS
SAPPER J.P. LETOQUE
SAPPER D.J. McCREADY
SAPPER C.T. NOGUERIA
SAPPER S.M. STRYNADKA

DECORATIONS AWARDED
MAJOR M. L. TUCKER Distinguished Service Order
LIEUTENANT R.J. KENNEDY Military Cross
SAPPER H.D. THICKE Military Medal
SAPPER D.J. McCREADY Military Medal
SAPPER R. LEBOUTHILLIER Military Medal

They and all 23 Fd Compay deserve a place in the memories of Operation Market-Garden.  23 Fd Coy recovered 2138 of the some 2500 paratroopers who made it back across the Lower Rhine, 20 Fd Coy recovered 48 pers. 

I'm not sure if Maj Malcom Sutherland Brown was the OC of 20 Fd Coy, so perhaps someone can enlighten me but he was certainly not the overall Engr Comd.

 

[John-Boy]

How about Op Cesar (1983) where we jumped into the North Pole (well close) and built a runway on the pack ice (6 ft thick) landed 31 Hercs built the Camp for the Scientists from Energy Mines and Resources and came home.