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[Canadian Army Newsreel Musical intro.]
Narrator: To open the 1943 Canadian Army
Track and Field Championship,
the competing athletes walked past the grandstand where
the salute was taken by General McNaughton.
Fine weather promised fine performances.
And before the day was done,
six new records had been established.
Sergeant D. Borbulusi, Fifth Division,
who won the 100 yard dash,
later set up a new mark to capture the two-twenty.
Another new record was made in the high jump
by Private W.L. St. John, Third Division.
In the one mile event,
yet another new mark was established
when Lance Corporal R.N. Mavy, Army Troop,
cut nearly three seconds from the existing record.
The running broad jump was won by Lieutenant J.D. Crashley,
Fifth Division, who also won the Turner Trophy
for the individual scoring the highest number of points
during the day.
In the 440, Sgt. R.B. Pearson, Army Troop,
beat out Trooper A.J. Burnett and Private S.W. Retna.
In the three mile run,
Corporal A.T. MacLean, 4th Div.,
won with Corporal G. Elliott second and ...Jepson third.
In this event last year, the result was a dead heat between
Elliott and Bryant and a new record was made.
In the shot put, Sgt L.E. Gore, Second Corps Troop,
added more than two feet to the previous mark
to set another new record.
In the tug of war finals,
the Fifth Division team from the Westminster Redman
won in two straight pulls from the 3rd Division champion, RCAF.
In the hop, step and jump,
Corporal A.A. Davidson won out over Corporal N.F. Brinsom
and Guardsman C.R. England.
Fifth Div. won the 440 relay
and 1st Corps Troop the mile relay,
both setting new records.
The winning team was the 5th Division.
Presenting the prizes,
General McNaughton said:
some of our competitors are absent this year.
They're doing a grand job and we wish them well.
It was a proud season for Royal Regiment of Canada
and the South Saskatchewan Regiment when their Majesties,
accompanied by Canada's High Commissioner,
greeted their officers commanding,
Lt Col F.L. Nichols of Toronto
and Lt Col F.A. Cliff of Malfort, Saskatchewan.
There was a formal inspection of the two units who were
drawn up side by side on one of the Whitley Camp parade grounds,
a site well known to their forefathers above the years
sixteen, seventeen and eighteen.
The occasion was to do honour to two units who distinguished
themselves at Dieppe to present them with new colours.
It was here that His Majesty the King said:
Today colours are no longer carried on the battlefield
but they still remain the emblem of courage,
self-sacrifice and devotion to duty and they are still
guarded no less jealously and reverently than...
I give you these colours therefore for your safekeeping
with every confidence that in your hands
their care and custody are assured.
To one and all of you,
I offer my best wishes for the future.
As the Royal Regiment of Canada
and the South Sask. Regiment marched past their King,
we saw how the veterans of Dieppe had reformed ranks,
how reinforcements had returned the units to strength
and how with renewed life they were prepared to carry forward
again into battle the honour,
and in spirit the colours,
won by their forefathers and themselves.
Nearly 20,000 new recruits, ...and otherwise,
to the growing legion of British baseball fans
all gathered at the Empire Stadium, Wembley
not long ago to see Canadians and Americans play ball.
The teams were greeted by Major General P.J. Montague,
Senior Officer C.M.H. Puell,
Lieutenant General J. Devers,
American General in charge of the
European Theatre of Operations
and Lord Wigram, representing the British Red Cross
for whose benefit the game was held.
In the famous stadium where some of England's
greatest soccer cup finals have been played were resurrected
days of the Giants and Dodger and Yankees
and other tribal names that mean so much in North America.
There was some good ball and there was some bad ball.
But there was certainly no doubt that the exhibition
made a big hit with the natives,
even when they didn't know just what was going on.
It may not be cricket
but it's certainly baseball to kill the umpire.
The final score, six-three for the Americans.
While Allied troops in Sicily
were preparing for the second phase of the European invasion,
Canadian hospitals in North Africa were sending
the casualties to...
Casualties during the Sicily campaign were surprisingly light
And due to efficient handling by the RCAMC
serious cases were kept to a minimum.
It's a far cry from a modern,
well equipped hospital building in England to a canvas
community on the sands of the desert,
but Canadian medicals quickly
adapted themselves to the new conditions.
Thorough training and well established routines
kept hospital techniques at a high level.
And convalescing patients had good cause to be
thankful for the speedy and efficient treatment
which saved many a life and many a soul.
While these Canadians were healing the scars of battle,
others in the reinforcement camps were preparing to go
into action.
Once a day, every man including officers,
went over a conditioning force that left nothing
to the imagination.
The sand and sun of the North African desert
proved a tough transition from the mud and rain
of England.
But this kind of training is very necessary for
troops who have to be safe with... battalions.
In Sicily, one of the chief reasons for the swift
advance of the Canadians over tough mountainous country
was the great work done by the Royal Canadian Engineers
in building emergency roads and repairing those damaged
by the retreating enemy.
The bulldozer proved itself nearly as great an offensive
weapon as the tank.
And the experience of men who had spent many years
with these great caterpillars and... in this country
was inevitable.
Within a matter of hours, all roads were in use again
or new links had been formed.
Military traffic was able to pull forward at high speed
and give the Axis forces no time to consolidate
new defensive positions.
But sometimes, roads just couldn't be made,
so the Canadians used local methods of getting
supplies forward.
No story of the Sicily Campaign would be complete without
mention of the mule trains that played a vital part
in maintaining isolated units.
It was this improvised supply system that made
possible the Canadians cross country tracking
and the breakthrough in the central mountains that helped
the 8th Army to smash the... offences.
One of the least known jobs in the Army is that of
official war artist.
With the 1st Division from the initial landing went
Lt. W.A. Oglivy, to perpetuate on canvas
the Canadian side of the campaign.
Italian irrigation ditches were put to a new use when
Canadians cleaned up and it was a real clean up as the
Allied forces prepared Sicily to be the springboard for
the big plunge into Europe, a plunge that started on
September 3rd, by splashing a lot of heels out of
the toe of Italy.