Guy Granville Simonds
April 23, 1903 – May 15, 1974
Lieutenant General Guy Simonds inspecting II Canadian Corps in Meppen, Germany, May 31st, 1945
Place of birth	Bury St Edmunds, England
Place of death	Toronto, Canada
Allegiance	British Empire
Service/branch	Canadian Army
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	Chief of the General Staff First Canadian Army II Canadian Corps
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Scheldt
Awards	Companion of the Order of Canada Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Canadian Forces Decoration

Lieutenant General Guy Granville Simonds CC, CB, CBE, DSO, CD, (April 23, 1903 - May 15, 1974) was a Canadian Army officer who commanded the II Canadian Corps during World War II. He served as acting commander of the First Canadian Army, leading the Allied forces to victory in the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944. In 1951 he was appointed Chief of the General Staff, the most senior member of the Canadian Army. He was the youngest officer in the history of the Canadian army to be promoted to the rank of general.

Education

Born in Bury St Edmunds, England on April 23, 1903, he emigrated to Canada with his family. He studied at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario between 1921 and 1925 (College Number 3521).

Career

On September 27, 1944, Simonds temporarily took charge of First Canadian Army from General Harry Crerar and led the liberation of the mouth of the Scheldt River. When Simonds resumed his command of II Canadian Corps for the liberation of North-Western Europe, Crerar resumed command with the First Army.

General H D C Crerar (Army Commander), Lieutenant General G C Simonds (2 Corps), and other 1st Canadian generals

Major General C Vokes (4th Armoured Division), General H D C Crerar (Army Commander), Field Marshal Sir Bernard L Montgomery, Lieutenant General B G Horrocks (30 British Corps, Attached Canadian Army), Lieutenant General G C Simonds (2 Corps), Major General D C Spry (3rd Infantry Division), and Major General A B Mathews (2 Division)

In 1944, Simonds devised the "Kangaroo", an early armoured personnel carrier converted from non-operational armoured vehicles.

He returned to Canada in 1949 to take a role as Commander of the Royal Military College of Canada. He was also the Commandant of the National Defence College and the Canadian Army Staff College in 1949 and 1950.

In 1970 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. He died in Toronto on May 15, 1974.

In his book "The Normandy Campaign" Victor Brooks lists Simonds as the most effective corps-level commander of the Allied Forces in Normandy. He wrote

The corps commander among the units that comprised the 21st Army Group who most likely had the largest personal impact on the Normandy campaign was Lieutenant General Guy Simonds. This senior officer of the II Canadian Corps created one of the most effective tank-infantry teams in the Allied forces through a high degree of improvisation during the drive from Caen to Falais. This general was versatile and imaginative but was not able to generate the momentum that would have more fully closed off the Falaise gap at an earlier date. Despite this drawback, Simonds deserves credit for his effective command.^[1]

Notes

References

• The Price of Command: A Biography of General Guy Simonds / Dominick Graham (1994) ISBN 0773726926
• Brooks, Victor (2002). The Normandy Campaign : from D-Day to the liberation of Paris. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306811494. 
• "Lieutenant-General Guy G. Simonds". Juno Beach Centre. Retrieved on February 13, 2005.
• Neillands, Robin (2005). "Chapter 7: The Battle for the Scheldt". The Battle for the Rhine. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0297846178. 

External links

• Order of Canada Citation

War portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Guy Simonds

v • d • e Land Force Command Land Force Areas LFAA · LFQA · LFCA · LFWA Canadian Mechanized Brigade Groups 1 CMBG · 2 CMBG · 5 CMBG Canadian Brigade Groups 31 CBG · 32 CBG · 33 CBG · 34 CBG · 35 CBG · 36 CBG · 37 CBG · 38 CBG · 39 CBG · 41 CBG Small arms C9 machine-gun · C7A1 rifle/C8A1 carbine/C-7A2 rifle · C6 machine-gun · Browning .50 calibre heavy machine-gun · Browning-HP 9 mm pistol · P225, 226 · Long Range Sniper Weapon (LRSW) · C3A1 sniper rifle · C13 fragmentation grenade · M203 grenade launcher · M72 SRAAW(L) Crewed weapons Carl Gustav SRAAW(M) · ERYX SRAAW(H) · TOW LRAAW(H) · 81 mm mortar · 60 mm mortar · Javelin short-range air defence missile · Skyguard · C1 close support howitzer · C3 close support howitzer · LG1 Mark II 105 mm towed howitzer · M777 lightweight 155mm howitzer Armoured fighting vehicles LAV III · Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle · ADATS · Leopard C2 · Leopard 2 · Bison APC · M113A3 and MTVL · RG-31 Schools Canadian Forces Land Advanced Warfare Centre · Canadian Land Force Command and Staff College History of the Canadian Army

v • d • e Canadian Forces Maritime Command • Land Force Command • Air Command • Reserve Force

v • d • e Royal Military College of Canada Faculties Faculty of Arts • Faculty of Engineering • Faculty of Continuing Studies • Faculty of Sciences Centres Canadian Forces Language School • Canadian Forces Management Development School (CFMDS) • Centre for Space Research  • Institute for the Environment  • Center for Smart Materials and Structures • Canadian Forces Leadership Institute at RMC • Centre for Automotive Materials and Manufacturing at Queens and RMC • Centre for International Relations at Queens • Fuel Cell Research Centre at Queens and RMC • GeoEngineering Centre at Queens and RMC • High Performance Computing Consortium (HPCVL) • Institute for Defence Resources Management at the Royal Military College of Canada Student Life RMC Cadet Service Officers Mess • Precision Newspaper  • Alumni Veritas and e-Veritas • Currie Hall  • Bill & Alphie's  • CANEX • RMC Paladins • Precision (march) Athletics RMC Paladins • Sir Archie Macdonell Athletic Centre • Constantine hockey arena • Playing fields • Old gym Commandants, Alumni, Staff List of Royal Military College of Canada people • List of Royal Military College of Canada Memorials Buildings and Features Fort Frederick (Kingston) • Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard  • CFB Kingston Preparation Royal Military College Saint-Jean • Aboriginal Leadership Opportunity Year