Sydney Valpy Radley-Walters CMM, DSO, MC, CD, nicknamed "Rad" (January 11, 1920 – April 21, 2015), was a

tank commander A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

. Credited with 18 German tanks and many other armoured vehicles, he was the leading Western Allies' tank ace of 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 ...

Early life

Radley-Walters was born in

Gaspé, Quebec Gaspé is a city at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of eastern Quebec in Canada. Gaspé is located about northeast of Quebec City, and east of Rimouski. As of the 2021 Canadian Census, the city had ...

in 1920, the son and grandson of Anglican ministers. He graduated from

Bishop's College School Bishop's College School or BCS is an English-language non-profit independent boarding prep school in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada for students in Grades 7 to 12.Thomson, Ashley; Lafortune, Sylvie (1999). Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools. To ...

and

Bishop's University Bishop's University (french: Université Bishop's) is a small English-language Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Diocese of Quebe ...

in 1940.

Military career

Radley-Walters was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment , colors = , march = "Regimental March of the Sherbrooke Hussars" , notable_commanders = , anniversaries = , battles = First World WarSecon ...

in October 1940. The regiment was redesignated the 27th Armoured Regiment (The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment) in January 1942 and embarked for England in October 1942. The regiment was part of the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade, supporting 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 ...

landing in Normandy on D-Day 6 June 1944. Radley-Walters commanded a

Sherman tank } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It w ...

during the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...

. On D-Day + 1, in fighting with the

12th SS Panzer Division The SS Division Hitlerjugend or 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" (german: 12. SS-Panzerdivision "Hitlerjugend") was a German armoured division of the Waffen-SS during World War II. The majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from me ...

, near

Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population See also * Ardenne Abbey *Communes of the Calvados department The following is a list of the 528 communes o ...

, Radley-Walters had his first kill, a

Panzer IV The ''Panzerkampfwagen'' IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the ''Panzer'' IV, was a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161. The Panze ...

. Radley-Walters commanded a tank squadron in the regiment. His unit may have killed "tank ace"

Michael Wittmann Michael Wittmann (22 April 19148 August 1944) was a German Waffen-SS tank commander during the Second World War. He is known for his ambush of elements of the British 7th Armored Division during the Battle of Villers-Bocage on 13 June 1944. Whil ...

of the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, though there is no definitive proof. This claim has been disputed by 3 Troop, A Squadron,

1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry The Northamptonshire Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1794 as volunteer cavalry. It served in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War before being reduced to squadron level in 1956. It ceas ...

tank regiment gunner

Joe Ekins Joseph William Ekins (15 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a British soldier. He gained recognition for his action as a British Army tank gunner in France during World War II, in which Ekins destroyed four German tanks near Saint-Aignan-de-Cram ...

, who also claims to have killed Wittmann. The investigative TV program ''Battlefield Mysteries'' investigated the competing claims and concluded that, based on the measured ranges and location of the strike on Wittman's tank, one of the Sherbrooke tanks was probably responsible. Their position was 150m from Wittman, and on the same side as the strike. The Northamptonshire tanks were over a kilometer away and on the opposite side. Radley-Walters was awarded both the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

and 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 ...

and for his outstanding leadership and gallantry as a squadron commander. He had three tanks destroyed while he was in command of them and was wounded twice. His regiment participated in

clearing the Channel Coast Clearing the Channel Coast was a World War II task undertaken by the First Canadian Army in August 1944, following the Allied Operation Overlord and the victory, break-out and pursuit from Normandy. The Canadian army advanced from Normandy to ...

in the

First Canadian Army The First Canadian Army (french: 1reArmée canadienne) was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 ...

, and was too close to the English Channel to be involved in

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 ...

. By the end of the war, he was the top tank ace, the ace of aces of the western Allies (and therefore, of Canada), with a total of 18 tank kills and many other armoured vehicles. From July 1945, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and commanded the Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment as part of the Allied Occupation Force. After the war, Radley-Walters served on

peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare. Within the United N ...

missions in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. In 1957 he became the Commanding Officer of the

8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) , colors = , colors_label = , march = "The 8th Hussars" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles ...

. He attended NATO Defence College in Paris and was assigned to the

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander ...

from June 1961 to July 1962. He returned to Canada as commandant of the Royal Canadian Armoured School in

Camp Borden Canadian Forces Base Borden (also CFB Borden, French: Base des Forces canadiennes Borden or BFC Borden), formerly RCAF Station Borden, is a large Canadian Forces base located in Ontario. The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force, C ...

. In 1966 he became the Director-General Training and Recruiting at Canadian Forces Headquarters in Ottawa. In June 1968 he was promoted to brigadier-general and took command of 2 Combat Group at

CFB Petawawa Garrison Petawawa is located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by the Canadian Army. Garrison facts The Garrison is located in the Ottawa Valley in Renfrew County, northwest of Ottawa along the western bank of the Ottawa ...

. In 1971 he became the commander of the Combat Training Centre at

CFB Gagetown 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown, formerly known as and commonly referred to as CFB Gagetown, is a large Canadian Forces Base covering an area over , located in southwestern New Brunswick. Construction of the base At the ...

. Radley-Walters retired in December 1974. He served eight years as honorary colonel of the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) and in November 1980 became colonel-commandant of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps. There is a two-part article discussing Radley-Walters' leadership style in the ''

Canadian Military Journal The ''Canadian Military Journal'' is the official quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of the Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence. It is printed in both official languages in electronic and paper print. The editor-in-chief ...

'' (Vol. 9, No. 4 and Vol. 10, No. 1). He died on April 21, 2015. In 2004, in recognition of Rad's extraordinary contribution to the liberation, the town of Buron in Normandy, France renamed a small municipal park in his honour. Parc Radley Walters on the south side of rue des Arromanches, near the five-way intersection of rue Colleville Montgomery, rue de la Liberation and rue de la delle de Renaud. There is a commemorative plaque, benches and several shade trees.

References

Sources

* * "A Fine Night For Tanks: The Road To Falaise", Ken Tout, ''Sutton Publishing'', 1998, * * "In Desperate Battle: Normandy 1944", The Valour and the Horror CBC Television 1992 * "Fields Of Fire: The Canadians In Normandy", Terry Copp, ''University of Toronto Press'', 2004, * * * The Memory Project
"James V. Love"
(accessed 14 January 2015) * The Maple Leaf (Canadian Forces)
"Fourth Dimension"
Charmion Chaplin-Thomas, ''1970 October 12'' (accessed 20 April 2009)
"The Valour and the Horror"
Sydney Radley-Walters (accessed 20 April 2009) * Operation CALVA Battlefield Study notes, Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College, 1988. * ''Greatest Tank Battles'', "The Battle of Normandy" (episode 7), History Television
The Leadership of S.V. Radley-Walters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radley-Walters, Sydney Valpy Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Canadian recipients of the Military Cross Canadian Army personnel of World War II Bishop's College School alumni Canadian generals Tank commanders 1920 births 2015 deaths Canadian military personnel from Quebec Sherbrooke Hussars 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) officers Sherbrooke Hussars officers