stonecutter
06-24-2010, 09:45 AM
http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20100624.OBFORBES24ATL//TPStory/Obituaries
Dutch schoolchildren are taught to remember him
He's considered a hero in The Netherlands for preventing the Germans from destroying dikes, which would have killed many people
ALAN HUSTAK
Special to The Globe and Mail
June 24, 2010
Lt. Col. Charles Forbes, one of Canada's most fearless career soldiers, distinguished himself during the liberation of Holland in the Second World War, and was later decorated for bravery during the Korean War. Forbes, who was awarded the Dutch equivalent of the Victoria Cross, and later received the French Legion of Honour, was 89 when he died of kidney failure May 19 in Saint-Anne-de-Beaupré, Que.,
"Colonel Forbes is a well-known name in my country, he risked his life for our freedom," Willeke Pierik Blanchet, The Netherlands honorary consul in Quebec told mourners at the funeral. "Students in our primary schools are taught to never forget what he did for us. He fought to prevent the retreating Germans from destroying dikes that would have flooded a vast tract of land. If they had been successful, thousands of civilians would have drowned. We will always consider him a hero, we will always remember him."
Jean Charles Bertrand Forbes, a fifth-generation Quebecker, was born in Matane on March 19, 1921. Soldiering, he often said, was in his blood. One of his ancestors fought with General Wolfe at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
His father ran a lumber business, but Forbes wanted no part of it. It was, he said, while studying commerce at Victoriaville Commercial College, in 1939, that a priest gave him his purpose in life.
"I had no sense of what I wanted to do. ... I thought I might be a violinist, a painter or a lawyer," he said later in an interview. "One of my teachers asked me, 'What toys did you play with as a boy?' I said, 'lead soldiers.'
" 'You are a natural soldier, a natural leader,' he told me, 'and there is a war going on.' So, in 1940, I enrolled to take a science degree at the Royal Military College in Kingston."
Shipped overseas with the Régiment de Maisonneuve in 1942, Forbes was first cited for bravery when he ducked a grenade hurled at him during an engagement at Quilly in Normandy. Without missing a beat, he lobbed three grenades back at the enemy, killing two and taking a third prisoner. But it was at Walcheren Causeway, a little known Canadian operation from October to November, 1944, that was part of the Battle for the Scheldt Estuary in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands that Forbes made a name for himself.
The Allies needed to open up the port of Antwerp to relieve the long supply lines stretching overland back to Normandy. The island of Walcheren, which is below sea level, was one of the last German beach heads in Holland. It was defended by German naval guns, which were capable of shelling Antwerp, 60 kilometres away.
Forbes headed one of the "Masie" platoons that stormed the causeway. The soldiers made it across the bridge, then dug in behind enemy lines for eight hours, often wading through water up to their chests before they were forced back by German flamethrowers.
"It was basically a suicide attack," said Canadian historian Jack Granatstein. "There was no cover, and the Germans swept the causeway with gunfire." Forbes made sure every one of his men was safe before he abandoned his position. In the face of fierce German machine gun fire, he rescued a wounded private who had been hit by shrapnel, pulled the shard out from between two vertebrae in the wounded man's back and carried him to safety.
In another engagement, he captured 24 enemy soldiers who were hiding in a building they had disguised as a Red Cross Hospital. "I got mad at that kind of cowardice," he told Montreal author Patrica Burns, who wrote They Were So Young, an oral history of the war. "[We] lined them all up and told them that the Geneva Convention forbade such deception, and that they were going to be executed, in situ.
"I said, 'Where's the commanding officer?' A very nice German gentleman with hat, gloves, greatcoat and beautiful boots came to me and said in French, 'Je suis l'officier. Je veux parler avec un officier.'
"I told him I was an officer, and he looked at me with disgust because I was covered with mud. ... I said to my machine gunners, 'Line up on the bank there, we're going to execute them.'
"He heard that and very arrogantly said, ''I think I have the privilege of being examined by a court martial. Is this the way Canadians do it?'
"I told him he was hiding under a Red Cross, which was against the Geneva Convention, and that they had been judged, de facto. ... The machine guns were lined up and the Germans knew I meant every word of it. I then had a moment of hesitation, and I said, 'Admit the fact that you may have been hiding under a Red Cross, but if I find any weapons, that's it.'
"He said, 'You will notice that no one here carries any weapons.'
"I lifted a soldier's cap, and he had a clip of five rounds of ammunition under it. I showed him the clip of bullets and hit the soldier across the face with it, scraping the whole side of his face. The officer didn't say a word. He knew there was no argument this time."
Even so, Forbes relented and instead of shooting the Germans, he made them all prisoners of war.
Early in 1945, he was wounded at Groesbeek in Belgium when his jeep was blown up by a bomb and sent back to England to recuperate.
After the war, he returned to Matane, his home town, but found himself "lonely and mentally disturbed. I didn't know what to do with my life," he told a journalist many years later. "So I went back to the only thing I knew: being a soldier."
In 1948, he joined the Royal 22e Régiment, (The Van Doos) as a parachute instructor. He fought in Korea, where he was cited for bravery during the assault on Hill 355, in October 1951, when as the commander of a mortar brigade, he fired more than 15,000 mortar bombs.
He retired from the military in 1965, sold mutual funds for Edper Investments in Montreal and became president of Hover Industries, which manufactured hovercraft in England.
He was also an accomplished public speaker, a Sunday painter and a violinist. He was writing his memoirs, but found himself incapable of completing them after his daughter committed suicide in 1994.
"Her death," he said, "was the only thing that ever stopped Charly Forbes."
Eventually, the unfinished manuscript was published as Fantassin Pour Mon Pays La Gloire et des Prunes. (Infantryman to my Country and the Glory of Plums).
A video recording of him talking about his exploits may be seen at the National War Museum in Ottawa.
He leaves Nicole Pomerleau, his wife of 65 years, and their sons, Pierre and Martin.
Dutch schoolchildren are taught to remember him
He's considered a hero in The Netherlands for preventing the Germans from destroying dikes, which would have killed many people
ALAN HUSTAK
Special to The Globe and Mail
June 24, 2010
Lt. Col. Charles Forbes, one of Canada's most fearless career soldiers, distinguished himself during the liberation of Holland in the Second World War, and was later decorated for bravery during the Korean War. Forbes, who was awarded the Dutch equivalent of the Victoria Cross, and later received the French Legion of Honour, was 89 when he died of kidney failure May 19 in Saint-Anne-de-Beaupré, Que.,
"Colonel Forbes is a well-known name in my country, he risked his life for our freedom," Willeke Pierik Blanchet, The Netherlands honorary consul in Quebec told mourners at the funeral. "Students in our primary schools are taught to never forget what he did for us. He fought to prevent the retreating Germans from destroying dikes that would have flooded a vast tract of land. If they had been successful, thousands of civilians would have drowned. We will always consider him a hero, we will always remember him."
Jean Charles Bertrand Forbes, a fifth-generation Quebecker, was born in Matane on March 19, 1921. Soldiering, he often said, was in his blood. One of his ancestors fought with General Wolfe at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
His father ran a lumber business, but Forbes wanted no part of it. It was, he said, while studying commerce at Victoriaville Commercial College, in 1939, that a priest gave him his purpose in life.
"I had no sense of what I wanted to do. ... I thought I might be a violinist, a painter or a lawyer," he said later in an interview. "One of my teachers asked me, 'What toys did you play with as a boy?' I said, 'lead soldiers.'
" 'You are a natural soldier, a natural leader,' he told me, 'and there is a war going on.' So, in 1940, I enrolled to take a science degree at the Royal Military College in Kingston."
Shipped overseas with the Régiment de Maisonneuve in 1942, Forbes was first cited for bravery when he ducked a grenade hurled at him during an engagement at Quilly in Normandy. Without missing a beat, he lobbed three grenades back at the enemy, killing two and taking a third prisoner. But it was at Walcheren Causeway, a little known Canadian operation from October to November, 1944, that was part of the Battle for the Scheldt Estuary in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands that Forbes made a name for himself.
The Allies needed to open up the port of Antwerp to relieve the long supply lines stretching overland back to Normandy. The island of Walcheren, which is below sea level, was one of the last German beach heads in Holland. It was defended by German naval guns, which were capable of shelling Antwerp, 60 kilometres away.
Forbes headed one of the "Masie" platoons that stormed the causeway. The soldiers made it across the bridge, then dug in behind enemy lines for eight hours, often wading through water up to their chests before they were forced back by German flamethrowers.
"It was basically a suicide attack," said Canadian historian Jack Granatstein. "There was no cover, and the Germans swept the causeway with gunfire." Forbes made sure every one of his men was safe before he abandoned his position. In the face of fierce German machine gun fire, he rescued a wounded private who had been hit by shrapnel, pulled the shard out from between two vertebrae in the wounded man's back and carried him to safety.
In another engagement, he captured 24 enemy soldiers who were hiding in a building they had disguised as a Red Cross Hospital. "I got mad at that kind of cowardice," he told Montreal author Patrica Burns, who wrote They Were So Young, an oral history of the war. "[We] lined them all up and told them that the Geneva Convention forbade such deception, and that they were going to be executed, in situ.
"I said, 'Where's the commanding officer?' A very nice German gentleman with hat, gloves, greatcoat and beautiful boots came to me and said in French, 'Je suis l'officier. Je veux parler avec un officier.'
"I told him I was an officer, and he looked at me with disgust because I was covered with mud. ... I said to my machine gunners, 'Line up on the bank there, we're going to execute them.'
"He heard that and very arrogantly said, ''I think I have the privilege of being examined by a court martial. Is this the way Canadians do it?'
"I told him he was hiding under a Red Cross, which was against the Geneva Convention, and that they had been judged, de facto. ... The machine guns were lined up and the Germans knew I meant every word of it. I then had a moment of hesitation, and I said, 'Admit the fact that you may have been hiding under a Red Cross, but if I find any weapons, that's it.'
"He said, 'You will notice that no one here carries any weapons.'
"I lifted a soldier's cap, and he had a clip of five rounds of ammunition under it. I showed him the clip of bullets and hit the soldier across the face with it, scraping the whole side of his face. The officer didn't say a word. He knew there was no argument this time."
Even so, Forbes relented and instead of shooting the Germans, he made them all prisoners of war.
Early in 1945, he was wounded at Groesbeek in Belgium when his jeep was blown up by a bomb and sent back to England to recuperate.
After the war, he returned to Matane, his home town, but found himself "lonely and mentally disturbed. I didn't know what to do with my life," he told a journalist many years later. "So I went back to the only thing I knew: being a soldier."
In 1948, he joined the Royal 22e Régiment, (The Van Doos) as a parachute instructor. He fought in Korea, where he was cited for bravery during the assault on Hill 355, in October 1951, when as the commander of a mortar brigade, he fired more than 15,000 mortar bombs.
He retired from the military in 1965, sold mutual funds for Edper Investments in Montreal and became president of Hover Industries, which manufactured hovercraft in England.
He was also an accomplished public speaker, a Sunday painter and a violinist. He was writing his memoirs, but found himself incapable of completing them after his daughter committed suicide in 1994.
"Her death," he said, "was the only thing that ever stopped Charly Forbes."
Eventually, the unfinished manuscript was published as Fantassin Pour Mon Pays La Gloire et des Prunes. (Infantryman to my Country and the Glory of Plums).
A video recording of him talking about his exploits may be seen at the National War Museum in Ottawa.
He leaves Nicole Pomerleau, his wife of 65 years, and their sons, Pierre and Martin.