33 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca BAYES, Levi George WWII Levi was born in 1913 in Polonia, Manitoba. His term of service in the Army started on November 23, 1940 when he joined the Fort Garry Horse at Fort Osborne Barracks in Winnipeg #10 District Depot to serve during World War II. He was 27 years old and was farming on his own in the Rapid City area. His training in Winnipeg was minimal – two weeks. Then he was posted to Camp Borden and joined the Ft. Garry Horse Regiment. He trained there from early December 1940 to November 1941. That was basic training. He was also instructing drivers, his farming experience helped at this job. On November 9, 1941, he went overseas with the Fort Garry Horse on the ship Oronsay, an Indian ship. They were in a big convoy across the Atlantic, spending twenty days on the boat with no incidents. They left from Halifax on November 9 at 3:00pm and landed in Liverpool, England at 3:00pm on November 22. Their regiment had a mascot, a dog called Whitley. They smuggled him over to England. He got run over by a truck and was killed. Levi took more basic training at Aldershot during the winter of 1941 and 1942. In the spring of 1942, he was posted to Hedley near Borden for more training. That fall, Brighton, in south England, was his next step for defence of the south coast training. That was on tanks – 1 and 2. He was driving tanks. Gradually, they got more tanks all Rams 1 and 2. They also trained at Crowborough, then back to Aldershot. On May 10, 1943, they were inspected by General Montague. Next they went to Worthing on June 1, 1943 and Downs for more training. The important thing about all this training is that they were being prepared and built up for battle. They got Sherman tanks in October, some were 75mm and some were 17 pounders. They went up north to Kirkcudbright, Scotland, for amphibious maneuvers, that is, the tanks leave the ships and take off in the water - North Sea - with their full crew of four men. As the training progressed more tanks and equipment were added to the Regiment. In April 1944, the Luftwaffe bombed their Regiment almost every night; they missed them as they were well camouflaged. Then came D-Day, June 6, 1944. Their Regiment landed in Bernières, France, shortly after daylight. They were in the Third Canadian Division. Their tanks were in the water four or five hours to prevent too much concentration on the beach making too easy a target and too much congestion. Then they came out of the water onto the beach. They were shooting over the heads of the infantry. The infantry took a lot of German prisoners. The Fort Garry Horse was involved in a tank battle with the German Panzer tanks. The objective was the airport at Carpiquet. They ran into stiff opposition and progress was delayed. They reached the outskirts of Carpiquet on July 2, 1944. Land mines were numerous. Flails on their tanks triggered the mine mechanism and set off their explosions. No harm done. On July 4 they reached Carpiquet, their objective, after very stiff and savage fighting. Their tank losses were: B. Squadron, Levi’s squadron - 9 out of 15 (light); A lost 14 out of 15, and C lost 13 out of 15. Levi’s tank was knocked out by a land mine on the airport runway at Carpiquet. Their crew bailed out and took cover in a German slit trench. All the Germans were dead. Next morning his crew got another Sherman tank but it wasn’t an amphibious job. (continued)
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