When the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

broke-out, the

Dominion of Newfoundland Newfoundland was a British dominion in eastern North America, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was established on 26 September 1907, and confirmed by the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westmi ...

was a Dominion governed directly from the United Kingdom via the

Commission of Government The Commission of Government was a non-elected body that governed the Dominion of Newfoundland from 1934 to 1949. Established following the collapse of Newfoundland's economy during the Great Depression, it was dissolved when the dominion became ...

. As Newfoundland was being administered by the Commission of Government, and had no functioning parliament, the British declaration of war on Germany automatically brought Newfoundland into a state of war with Germany on 3 September 1939.

Raising of the Newfoundland Militia

The period between the two World Wars saw great political turmoil in the Dominion of Newfoundland, resulting in the suspension of responsible government and the appointing of the Commission of Government resulting in the Newfoundland reverting to the status of a

Crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...

. The presence of the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

in Atlantic waters threatened the security of the colony, and in September 1939 it was decided to raise a local defence militia unit for the defence of the island. The Newfoundland Militia was tasked with guarding strategic positions on the island, including the dry docks, water supply, and oil reserves in St. John's and the Newfoundland Broadcasting Company's radio station in

Mount Pearl Mount Pearl is the third-largest settlement and second-largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The city is located southwest of St. John's, on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. Mount Pearl is the fo ...

. Later, these guard duties were expanded to include the maintenance of a coastal defence battery on Bell Island to protect the Wabana Iron Ore Mines, and mines and docks throughout the rest of the island. Following the

Fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

in 1940, Newfoundland's defensive position was seen as being more precarious. This led to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

assuming responsibility for the defence of Newfoundland with the establishment of 'W Force': various infantry, artillery, and anti-aircraft garrison forces to be stationed on the island. The Newfoundland Militia was immediately placed under command of W Force and, eventually, under command of a Canadian commanding officer. In addition to its infantry defence duties Newfoundland also maintained the 1st Coastal Defence Battery, a coastal defence battery on Bell Island to protect the approaches to the island where bulk carriers loaded iron ore from the Bell Island Mines. On the night of September 4, 1942

U-513 German submarine ''U-513'' was a type IXC U-boat built for service in Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. She was laid down on 26 April 1941 by the naval construction firm Deutsche Werft AG in Hamburg as yard number 309, and co ...

entered

Conception Bay Conception Bay (CB) is a bay on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The population (in 2011) of people living in municipalities (or unincorporated census subdivisions) located along the coast of Conception Bay was 90,490 making it on ...

and sunk the ''SS Saganaga'' and ''SS Lord Strathcona''. Responding to naval ships firing their guns at a target in the water, 1st Coastal Defence Battery manned their guns and attempted to fire on the same location; however, the U-Boat escaped. This was the only occasion that 1st Coastal Defence Battery fired its guns in anger.

Newfoundland Regiment

The efforts of the Canadian Army to expand and train the militia to professional standards resulted in the Newfoundland Militia being re-designated the

Newfoundland Regiment The Royal Newfoundland Regiment (R NFLD R) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It is part of the 5th Canadian Division's 37 Canadian Brigade Group. Predecessor units trace their origins to 1795, and since 1949 Royal N ...

on March 2, 1943. The regiment stayed in a home-defence role, but in addition to these duties was also tasked with training excess recruits for the two regiments of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

that were recruited in Newfoundland for overseas service. By the end of the Second World War, 1,668 Newfoundlanders had enlisted for service in the Newfoundland Regiment. 17 members of the militia were killed on December 12, 1942 during the

Knights of Columbus Hostel fire The Knights of Columbus Hostel fire was a structure fire that occurred on December 12, 1942, in St. John's, Newfoundland in a hostel operated by the Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic fraternal organization. A total of 99 people were killed ...

in St. John's.

Royal Artillery Service

Beginning in 1940, Newfoundland began recruiting citizens for service in two Royal Artillery units: the 57th (Newfoundland) Heavy Artillery Regiment and the 59th (Newfoundland) Heavy Artillery Regiment, though during the war, the 57th transitioned into a field artillery regiment and was redesignated the 166th (Newfoundland) Field Artillery Regiment. Both artillery units were initially assigned to coastal defence duties in Britain, resulting in a backlog of recruits in Newfoundland who could not be immediately posted to either artillery unit. To make use of these excess recruits, the Department of Militia decided in 1942 to utilize the artillery regiments as a training and recruit depot for artillery recruits. These individuals enlisted into the artillery regiments, and were deployed overseas as they were needed. By the end of the war, 820 of the 1,668 members had deployed overseas with the Royal Artillery (representing roughly 20% of Newfoundland's artillery commitments), while a further 447 trained gunners were in Newfoundland awaiting transport to Europe on

VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

. Counting the men still in Newfoundland, 1,267 Newfoundland soldiers were assigned to the Royal Artillery during the Second World War.

166th (Newfoundland) Field Artillery Regiment

The 166th Regiment was first deployed to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

as part of the

British First Army The First Army was a formation of the British Army that existed during the First and Second World Wars. The First Army included Indian and Portuguese forces during the First World War and American and French units during the Second World War. Fi ...

in the closing months of the North African Campaign. The regiment served in Tunisia until the end of the campaign, suffering 24 members killed in action. In Tunisia the 166th supported soldiers of the

French XIX Corps The 19th Army Corps (:fr:19e corps d'armée (France), 19e Corps d'Armée) was a corps of the French army. In December 1870, the Government of National Defense, Tours delegation created the 19th Army Corps which was formed in Alençon. It was recre ...

, specifically the

Goumiers The Moroccan Goumiers (french: Les Goumiers Marocains) were indigenous Moroccan soldiers who served in auxiliary units attached to the French Army of Africa, between 1908 and 1956. While nominally in the service of the Sultan of Morocco, they s ...

. The regiment remained in North Africa during the

invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

, not deploying to the island until the end of the campaign. The Newfoundlanders deployed to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in October 1943 with the

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Forces, ...

, where it remained until the end of hostilities in 1945. The Regiment rotated between various divisions within the Eighth Army, including the 8th Indian Division and the

2nd New Zealand Division The 2nd New Zealand Division, initially the New Zealand Division, was an infantry Division (military), division of the New Zealand Army, New Zealand Military Forces (New Zealand's army) during the World War II, Second World War. The division was ...

; the New Zealanders were under the command of

Bernard Freyberg Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the 7th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952. Freyb ...

who had commanded the 88th Brigade in which the Royal Newfoundland Regiment served during the First World War. During the campaign, the 166th participated in major actions such as the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

, and numerous soldiers of the regiment received decorations for bravery. One such individual was Captain Gordon Campbell (Cam) Eaton, who was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1943 while serving as a

forward observation officer An artillery observer, artillery spotter or forward observer (FO) is responsible for directing artillery and mortar (weapon), mortar shooting, fire onto a target. It may be a ''forward air controller'' (FAC) for close air support (CAS) and spo ...

. Eaton went on to serve in the Canadian Forces following 1949 with the reformed 166th Regiment, R.C.A., and was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and later received the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

59th (Newfoundland) Heavy Artillery Regiment

As a heavy artillery regiment, the 59th remained in England on coastal defence duties until 1944. In July, following the

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, the 59th crossed the English Channel and on July 6 disembarked at

Courseulles-sur-Mer Courseulles-sur-Mer (, ), commonly known as ''Courseulles'', is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Until 1957, the town's name was simply ''Courseulles''. It lies 3 km west of Bernières-sur-Mer and 18 ...

where the

3rd Canadian Infantry Division The 3rd Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of all army units in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as all units extending westwards from th ...

had landed a month before. Once in France, the 59th served as part of the

Army Group Royal Artillery An Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA) was a British Commonwealth military formation during the Second World War and shortly thereafter. Generally assigned to Army corps, an AGRA provided the medium and heavy artillery to higher formations within the ...

of the British

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in ...

. The unit first went into action supporting

Battle of Caen The Battle for Caen (June to August 1944) is the name given to fighting between the British Second Army and the German in the Second World War for control of the city of Caen and its vicinity during the larger Battle of Normandy. The battles ...

, and later bombarded German forces in the Falaise Pocket. From here, the 59th participated in the major battles of North-West Europe, including supporting the advance of XXX Corps during

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

and in support of American forces during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

. The 59th ended the war in Germany, firing its last shots against

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

on May 2, 1945. During the North-West Europe campaign, the main guns of the 59th were the 7.2" Howitzer and the American-made 155mm 'Long Tom'.

References