WELLINGTON, DOUGLAS
Douglas Howard Theodore Wellington was born September 22, 1922 in Boakview, son of William Henry and Margaret ‘Maggie’ Jane (Mclean) Wellington
Douglas Wellington
Doreen Buchan wrote: “Douglas Wellington was my Father. My Dad did not like to talk about the war so the only info I have is from a record Joy (Downing) Wellington kept and newspaper articles that I have in my records. My Dad tried to enlist when he was 18 but the army would not take him as he had older brothers fighting in the war. My Dad took his Father with him when he was 20 and was allowed to join the army and he signed over half his pay to his family. Douglas joined on September 29 1942 and was discharged on Feb 2, 1946 and was in Lorne Scots Regiment attached to the Queen's Own Rifles. Dad was in the 2nd wave who stormed the Normandy beaches on D-Day. He remembers wading through the deep water holding his rifle at armslength above his head to keep it dry. Although the Germans were pouring a steady fire from a variety of weapons at the invaders my Dad took a fatalistic view and decided he wasn't scared, he was either going to get shot or not.”
Douglas Wellington
Doreen further wrote:
“My Dad was later wounded at Boulogne but continued to serve and ended up in Luxembourg. Sometime during the war according to my Dad's notes he captured a German solider and was given a day pass for the deed.”
The Lorne Scots was one of the first regiments to be mobilized in the Second World War but never served as a cohesive regiment. Instead, members of the Regiment were organized into defense platoons and attached to various brigade, divisions and army headquarters.
The regiment landed in Normandy, France, as part of the 8th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. The 8th Infantry Brigade Included the 1st Battalion, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada; 1st Battalion, Le Régiment de la Chaudière; 1st Battalion, The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment; and the 8th Infantry Brigade Ground Defence Platoon (Lorne Scots).
In the history of the Lorne Scot Regiment it is noted that members of the Lorne Scots were in every theatre of war in which Canada fought with the exception of Hong Kong. A platoon of the Lornes served with the Queens Own Rifles of Canada at the capture of Boulogne.
According to the war diaries of the Queens Own Rifles, the ground assault on Boulogne began at 5:30 a.m. on the morning of September 18, 1941. On that morning, it is noted that Lt. Stewart of the Lorne Scots who was attached to the QOR was killed by a sniper.
Massive artillery and heavy aerial bombardment of Bolougne (on 17 September alone, nearly 800 aircraft dropped 3200 tons of explosives), the majority of German defensive installations remained intact, and it took infantry and tanks six days to secure the fortified port. Canadian losses included 634 killed, wounded and missing, with some 9,500 Germans being taken prisoner.
