Canadian Intelligence Corps - 1944-1945, Canadian Army Intelligence in North West Europe

1944-1945, Canadian Army Intelligence in North West Europe

Once the Canadian Army was “firmly established in France,” its Intelligence Corps personnel made good use of “the principles they had learned in England, North Africa, Sicily and Italy.” They achieved effective results “during the Canadian Army’s drive through Belgium and South Holland in December 1944,” and on into Germany in 1945.

As the Allied armies advanced eastward through France, groups of “stay-behind” enemy agents were rapidly ferreted out from their places of concealment and, if of French nationality, turned over to the French for examination and trial. Caches of explosives that had been prepared and stored or set in place to destroy key points, facilities, infrastructure, personnel, and equipment, were retrieved from underground storage vaults and rendered harmless. So effective were these efforts, that instances of sabotage were few and isolated. Other branches of Intelligence were similarly active.

“Captured enemy personnel and material were subjected to” a “thorough search, examination” and Interrogation in order to provide a current data base that would “keep pace with the ever changing enemy order of battle and improvements in weapons and equipment.” German radio messages were intercepted and decoded. The Intelligence gleaned by C Int C staffs enabled them to gain an accurate indication of changes in the identity of enemy formations facing them. These indications were supported by all available sources and agencies, including debriefing reports provided “from Canadian reconnaissance patrols, tactical air reconnaissance pilots, air photographs, as well as captured documents” and enemy equipment (CED & CEE). (No. 2 Canadian Special Wireless (SW) Section for example, operated from a Bedford truck under Major R.S. Grant as it fought its way towards and into Germany). All collected information was carefully processed and examined for useful information and then disseminated to the decision makers for further direction using the “Intelligence Cycle“ process.

The one occasion when the Canadian Army found itself on the defensive came in December 1944. The Germans launched an offensive in the Ardennes, with the object of seizing the River Meuse and the capture of Liege to prevent the Allies from mounting an attack in the Aachen sector. Scattered along the length of the Lower Maas, from Nijmegen in the East to Walcheren Island in the West, elements of the Canadian Army were deployed to guard the Allies’ northern flank. Threat of attack from this quarter became more apparent hourly as evidenced in reports reaching Canadian Intelligence. Enemy activity along the north bank of the Lower Maas involved mass movement of formations, the erection of rafting sites and barges, and vast numbers of recently positioned gun emplacements were clear indications to Intelligence that an attack from this direction, combined with the one already in progress in the Ardennes, was imminent. As a result, formations of the Canadian Units were re-deployed to meet the attack, which was later revealed to have been directed at Antwerp but cancelled due to the failure of German forces in the Ardennes to reach their objectives.

“After the defeat of the German armies, personnel of the C Int C” remained in Germany to assist in “the liquidation of the German Intelligence Services, the disbandment of the Nazi party in all its manifestations and the de-Nazification of German institutions.” Similar activity took place “in Holland where large German forces whose escape to Germany had been cut off by the Canadians were “screened.” Those whose names appeared on specially prepared “lists” were arrested and held for trial.”

Cooperation with American and British agencies took place in many forms and it included the fight against the threat of biological warfare. According to U.S. Army Col Murray Sanders, a highly qualified bacteriologist with the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) at Camp Detrick in Maryland, “the cooperation, the sharing of discovery and conjecture was total...we were more cautious with the French and we told the Soviets nothing.”

By “the end of the war, the was several hundred strong and its personnel were scattered throughout the world.” Many of its members had been seconded to British and American organizations and were employed in a wide variety of activities including clandestine operations in Europe and Asia. Intelligence Corps specialists also assisted in interrogation and document research during and after the surrender of Japan.

The contributions of the Intelligence Corps to the security of Canada, however, did not cease with the end of the Second World War. After the war and amalgamation in 1968, the corps became part of the new Canadian Forces Security Branch, and became involved in Signals Intelligence.