33 Nineteen-year-old Thomas Big Canoe was a long way from Lake Simcoe and his Georgina Isle home on the morning of 8 March 1945. His battalion, the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, the Riley’s, was poised to assault Xanten just across the German border that morning. Established by the Romans centuries before, Xanten was a key position in what was known as the Wesel Pocket, the last remaining bastion of German resistance on the west bank of the Rhine. A set-piece attack on the town involving the Riley’s was part of a larger overall operation to clear the pocket, conducted during Operation Blockbuster. Thomas Big Canoe had only joined the battalion three weeks before. Enlisted in June 1944, he was one of the First Nation servicemen who volunteered to join the Canadian war effort in Europe. Xanten was the young Ojibwa By John Goheen Private Thomas Beresford Big Canoe. Library and Archives Canada/RG24, Vol. 25455/Item 2710 Top of page. A Sherman Vc Firefly tank of the Fort Garry Horse near the Beveland Canal, Netherlands, ca. 29 October 1944. LAC-PA 3228088 in spite of all obstacles Canada’s Liberation Campaign in Northwest Europe
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