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Question of the Hour

3rd Herd said:
In 1954 a French unit was wiped out by the Viet Minh 22 km outside of An Khe. What was the unit's name and who's book made the event known to the world?

Out of the 2 answers given, what was the books name?
 
I believe Vern said it, "And We Were Soldier's Once...and Young" By Harold Moore & Joseph Galloway"

Err... after a bit more research I think the correct answer is "Street Without Joy"

http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/04summer/cassidy.pdf

Moore and Galloway only cite it in And We Were Soldier's Once...and Young
 
Okay sorry I did not post answer sooner, trying to pack a house and move this weekend.

The unit in question was Groupe Mobile 100 and the author in question was indeed Bernard Fall and his "Streets with Out Joy". The link Nfld_Sapper posted is an excellent article I tripped over and hence led to the question. Mr Fall before his death to a landmine wrote four illuminating works on the French-Viet Minh conflict. All are worth reading. Yes Armyvern you are correct to with the opening segment of "We were soldiers and Young Once".
 
3rd,

I was torn between which book to use. "Street Without Joy," a more detailed book on the incident or "And We Were Soldier's Once...And Young." I went with the "And We Were Soldier's Once..." because, although it is not as detailed, it did top the best seller charts world-wide, has become a doc and the basis for a movie (starring Mel Gibson  :o) and did indeed make the incident "known to the masses."

I am going to get my hands on a copy of "Street Without Joy" though because searching the answer for this question has piqued my interest in the incident. Thanks...excellent question.
 
armyvern said:
I was torn between which book to use. "Street Without Joy," a more detailed book on the incident or "And We Were Soldier's Once...And Young." I went with the "And We Were Soldier's Once..." because, although it is not as detailed, it did top the best seller charts world-wide, has become a doc and the basis for a movie (starring Mel Gibson  :o) and did indeed make the incident "known to the masses."

Thanks...excellent question.

"We were soldiers once" is a true story, at least the military part of it.

During late Oct 1965, the 1st Bde of the 1st US Cav Div was assisting the South Vietnamese Army lift the siege at a CIDG camp at Plei Me about 35k SW of Pleiku. An NVA Div, consisting of the 32d and 33d Regiments conducted the siege, one of the regiments, the 33d had suffered heavy casualties.
As the enemy units withdrew to the west towards the Chu Pong mountain complex, where their base camp was located and where they had not been disturbed for 11 years, they were continually harassed by units of the 1st Cav. Despite the harassment the 2 regiments did gain the sanctuary of Chu Pong Mountain and were joined by the 66th Regiment which had just arrived in South Vietnam. Within the security of their mountain fastness, operating under the control of a Field Front Headquarters (the equivalent of a US Army Div HQ) they regrouped and resupplied prior to resuming the attack on Plei Me.

On 9 November 1965 the 3d Bde of the 1st Cav assumed responsibility for the operations in the Chu Pong area-the assigned mission: find the enemy and destroy him. During the next 4 days, the Bde conducted extensive  search and destroy missions north, south and east of the camp at Plei Me with little enemy contact. Then on 14 Nov, the 1st Bn, 7th US Cav was order to conduct a helicopter assult into LZ X-Ray, landing right into the path of the 3 NVA regiments who had completed their re-org and were spilling out of the Chu Pong complex on their way to attack the camp at Plei Me.

And the rest is history...the movie is fairly accurate, a platoon did get separated, did they storm the mountain, or call for a "Broken Arrow", I don't know if that was real or artistic licence.

My reference for this is "Infantry in Vietnem" LTC Albert N Garland USA (Ret).
 
What was the mascot of the 8th Princess Louise New Brunswick Hussars? Its name and how did they get it from Italy to NW Europe?
 
Since no one bit on my question regarding the first and last COs of the 102nd Canadian Infantry Btln, here's the answer:

The first CO was LCol J.W. Warden, and the last one was LCol F Lister.
 
armchair said:
What was the mascot of the 8th Princess Louise New Brunswick Hussars? Its name and how did they get it from Italy to NW Europe?

" A Royal Filly" was the original mascot of th 8th New Brunswick ( (Princess Louise's) Hussars.  She earned her "Battle Honours". She was brought back to Canada and her descendants have been our official  mascot.  All, of course named "Princess Louise".  The original horse is buried near Sussex NB with a special memorial tablet."

http://www.probus.org/m8thhssr.htm

Her travels were many:

She was wounded during fighting on the Gothic Line near Coriano, Italy on Sept. 15, 1944. Civilians in fear for their lives took shelter wherever they could, some hiding in stacks of hay or in abandoned buildings. Farm animals however, who had once grazed in pastures beneath cool shade trees, were completely vulnerable to the battle that raged around them. Dead livestock littered the countryside...The Canadians heard the cries of an injured horse and brought her to their aid station where she was saved by their intervention; quickly winning the hearts and minds of the troops...

She was hidden in the rear of trucks for transport every time the Hussars moved. She was safely transported in a 3 ton truck with a concealed stall as the regiment made its way through France and Belgium and into Holland.

At the conclusion of WW II, she was shipped to New York from Holland aboard the Dutch liner Leerdam. From New York she promptly made her way by train to Saint John. "The regiment stayed in Holland for quite a long while after the war waiting for transportation," says Kelly. "A good part of Canada was over there fighting, and there weren't enough ships to bring them home.

She arrived in Saint John on March 27, 1946, amid thunderous cheers from curious onlookers. Not long after that she was reunited with the men who had not only saved her life, but had protected her during the balance of the war.

The new mascot was welcomed by a guard of honour in Saint John, complete with a band, and a special greeting from Brigadier D.R. Agnew, the district officer of military district 7, Mayor J.D. McKenna and a parade where she marched with full regalia amid the 8th Hussars badges and flashes, 5th Cdn. Armd. Div. with maroon patch and her campaign medals: The 1939­1945 Star, The Italy Star, The France and Germany Star, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and three Wound Stripes.

From there she was taken to the nearby prestigious bedroom community of Rothesay where classes were interrupted as schoolchildren lined the roadways in a tumultuous greeting.

Onward she was transported to Hampton and more accolades on the steps of the King's County Court House. There she became a naturalized Canadian and made a free woman of King's County and the Community of Hampton. She was given the "God given right to trample and eat from any and all vegetable gardens at will, or even from the supplies at Sharp's Feed Store."

An excellent account of her travels is found here (and from where I pulled the above):

http://www.legionmagazine.com/features/memoirspilgrimages/03-09.asp



 
Ok back to obscure Canadian Army trivia ;D

Cpl R.J. Creighton of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment had what unfortunate distinction bestowed on him?
 
Nope but getting closer. This one is obscure, but I'm going to leave it up for a bit.
 
Was he the handler of the mascot "Little Chief" who was lost during their brief foray onto the continent during the Battle of France?

http://www.theregiment.ca/hphist.html
 
What was the type and name given to a tank in British service in WW2 equipped with two  twin rocket launchers and which engaged the enemy for the first time in 1945. What was the name of the unit that was first equipped with the tank?
 
redleafjumper said:
Sapper Earl, your hints were completely unnecessary.  Fortunately for me my library contains a pristine copy of "From B.C. to Baiseux, being the Narrative History of the  102nd Canadian Infantry Battalion" so, from page 129 of that noble tome the answer is September 22 1919.

Who was the first CO of that noble unit and who was the last CO?  (The temptation to ask a really obscure question was strong, but fortunately I managed to restrain myself.)

"Lieut.-Colonel John Weightman Warden, formerly of St. John's, N.B., but then of Vancouver, B.C., to raise a battalion for service overseas, this battalion to be raised in Northern British Columbia and to be styIed the102nd (Comox-Atlin) 0verseas Battalion"

"A newspaper story, which may or may not have some foundation in fact, states that the inauguration of the unit was the outcome of a wager laid between Mr.H.Clements, M.P. for Comox-Atlin, and one of his colleagues in the Federal House, the latter having jestingly challenged him to produce a unit from his barren constituency. If there be any truth in the yarn it certainly affords an excellent example of the adage that from small beginnings great things do grow."



"Who Comes Here?

"Who comes here?" asked Rev. Dr. Craig. upon the door being opened.

The adjutant replied: "I have been commanded by Lieut.-Col. Fred Lister, C.M.G., D.S.O., M.C., the last commanding officer of the 102nd Battalion, 'North British Columbians,' to inform the authorities of this Church that be has repaired here today upon his return from the Great War with the colours of the Battalion, and desires admission to prefer a request that they be deposited here."

Sound good?





 
The tank was the M4 Sherman and the racks and the rockets were off with allied fight?
 
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