Gordon Rudolph Hartling was born in Spanish Ship Bay, Guysborough County, on May 5, 1921. Gordon’s father Frank Berton Hartling was the son of John and Mary Hartling, Spanish Ship Bay, while his mother Mary Elizabeth “Bessie” was the daughter of William Angus and Caroline Rudolph, Liscomb. The couple were married in Liscomb on February 16, 1907.
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| Private Gordon Hartling's headstone, Beny-sur-Mer Canadian Military Cemetery |
Frank and Bessie raised a family of 10 children in their Spanish Ship Bay home—daughters Ida May (DOB November 10, 1910), Mary Josephine (January 4, 1915), and Caroline Alice (c. 1927); sons William Frederick (May 1908), Ellsworth Arthur (May 8, 1913), Hawley Irvin (December 2, 1917), Gordon Rudolph (May 5, 1921), Burton Alexander (c. 1923), and Frank Lyman (1931).
Gordon’s military service file contains few details on his early life. He had never resided outside of Guysborough County and was a general labourer prior to his military service. On July 16, 1940, he enlisted with the Canadian Active Service Force at Camp Aldershot, NS, and was initially assigned to the West Nova Scotia regiment. Four days later, Gordon commenced basic infantry training.
Gordon remained at Aldershot until late March 1941, when he was transferred to the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, which was headquartered in Amherst. Initially established as a machine gun unit in 1936 when two Canadian militia units—the Cumberland Highlanders and the Colchester & Hants Regiment—amalgamated, the North Novas transitioned to an infantry unit after the outbreak of war overseas. On June 3, 1940. the unit was assigned to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division’s 9th Brigade, where it served alongside the Highland Light Infantry of Canada (Waterloo, ON) and Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders (Cornwall, ON).
In mid-July 1941, Gordon departed for overseas with the North Novas, disembarking at Avonmouth, UK, on July 31. Three long years of training and “home defence” duties followed as Allied units prepared for the long-awaited invasion of Western Europe. While a large contingent of Allied forces departed for the Mediterranean theatre in early July 1943, the less experienced 3rd Division remained in the UK.
On July 10, 1943, the Mediterranean force landed on the southern coast of Sicily, the start of a months-long combat campaign against Italian and German forces. The day after the invasion, Gordon commenced a two-week three-inch mortar training course at Cissbury Camp, Sussex, England. In September, the North Novas travelled to the Isle of Bute, Scotland, for a month-long training exercise.
Throughout the autumn and winter of 1943-44, the North Novas participated in a series of training operations, many of which involved amphibious landings. In late May 1944, the unit was “sealed in camp” near Fareham, England, as final preparations for the Allied invasion of France commenced.
On June 3, 1944, the battalion broke camp and travelled to Southampton. Its soldiers boarded a transport ship and awaited further orders while anchored off nearby Netley. The flotilla of vessels assembled in the inlet moved out to open sea at 1400 hours June 5 and “formed up” in preparation for departure, their exact destination still a mystery.
The first wave of British, American and Commonwealth units came ashore on the beaches of Normandy around 0800 hours June 6, 1944. Infantry units from the 3rd Canadian Division’s 7th and 8th Brigades landed on Juno Beach, where they successfully established a beach-head. The North Novas headed toward a beach near Bernières-sur-Mer, slightly east of the Juno Beach landings, at 1140 hours, an hour later than planned. The only recorded casualties occurred when a mortar carrier struck a mine after landing on the beach, wounding several crew members.
As the beach was crowded with landing craft, it took more than two hours for all North Nova personnel to come ashore. The 8th Brigade had encountered stiffer resistance than expected. As a result, the unit was unable to proceed through the town to a designated assembly point near Bény-sur-Mer, approximately six kilometers inland. In response, Lieutenant Colonel Donald F. Forbes, the unit’s Commanding Officer (CO), decided to assemble the battalion in a nearby field.
At 1605 hours, the unit was finally able to “move off” to a designated assembly area, arriving there 40 minutes later. Its war diary commented, “We had just arrived in this…[location] when we came under shell and mortar fire, resulting in five casualties, two killed and three wounded,” the unit’s first Normandy campaign fatalities.
The battalion set out toward its objective—Carpiquet Airfield, on the western outskirts of the city of Caen, approximately 20 kilometers inland from Bernières-sur-Mer—at 1820 hours. Leading the vanguard was the “recce” troop of 27th (Sherbrooke Fusiliers) Canadian Armoured Regiment (CAR), its tanks forming a screen in front of the North Nova soldiers. Behind the tanks were two personnel carriers transporting two C Company platoons, a Machine Gun platoon, one troop of M-10 mobile anti-tank guns, two pioneer assault sections, and four detachments of the unit’s anti-tank guns.
Behind the vanguard, A Company’s men travelled inland aboard the tanks of 27th CAR’s A Squadron on the right side of the advance, while the 27th CAR’s B Squadron transported B Company’s soldiers on the left flank. D Company, riding aboard the 27th CAR’s C Squadron’s tanks, brought up the rear.
The forward units encountered no serious resistance until itheyreached Villons-Les-Buissons, approximately 11 kilometers inland. As evening was approaching, military commanders realized that the battalion would not reach its objective before dark. As a result, the vanguard was ordered to dig in for the night. The unit’s war diary reported a total of four “other ranks” (OR) killed and another six wounded during the North Nova’s first day in Normandy.
At 0300 hours June 7, 27th CAR tank fire dispersed an attempted German counter-attack. Shortly afterward, enemy mortar and machine gun fire was heard to the rear of the unit. German forces attempting to cut around behind the NNSH’s position had encountered the 8th Brigade’s Régiment de la Chaudières. Significant losses forced the enemy force to withdraw.
At 0740 hours, the North Novas moved off in the same order, following the main road From Villons-les-Buissons toward Carpiquet. The unit’s war diary noted that the area “was full of [German] snipers and machine guns.” To the right of Villons-les-Buissons, an 88-mm German gun opened fire on the lead tanks but was quickly eliminated. By 0930 hours, the vanguard had cleared enemy forces from the village and moved on to Buron, where a second 88-mm gun was captured.
By 1150 hours, the vanguard had passed through Buron and continued its advance toward Authie. D Company was assigned the task of “mopping up” any remaining enemy forces in the Buron area while A and B Companies pressed onward behind the leading force. When D Company personnel reached the outskirts of Buron, they encountered heavy mortar fire, in addition to sniper and machine gun fire from pockets of German soldiers hidden in the village.
Meanwhile, the vanguard reached Authie, where it encountered three German machine gun posts. “Hectic fighting” ensued as enemy mortar and artillery fire struck the area from both flanks, as well as locations beyond the village. Officers commanding the vanguard immediately radioed for tank and artillery support. Unfortunately, Allied artillery guns were out of range and could not respond to the request.
As a troop of 27th CAR support tanks arrived, several German 88-mm guns opened fire on the armoured vehicles. Meanwhile, realizing that further advance was not possible, the vanguard’s soldiers attempted to dig in and establish a firm base. Allied units on both flanks—the 3rd British Division on the left and the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade on the right—had not kept pace with the North Novas’ rapid advance, placing its soldiers in a perilous situation. In fact, the unit had advanced further inland on June 7 than any other Allied unit, leaving both flanks exposed to German infantry and armoured attack.
In response, vanguard personnel on each flank were ordered to join the vanguard’s C Company to form a “fortress.” A Company dug in on the right, just north of Authie. B Company, which had not kept pace with the vanguard, was instructed to do the same on the left flank as soon as it arrived. Meanwhile, the remainder of the battalion held its positions in the rear.
As the North Novas attempted to establish a firm defensive formation, nine German tanks and two German infantry companies attacked from Saint-Contest on the left flank and Cussy directly beyond Authie. The action effectively eliminated any possibility of a North Nova retreat. In response, the officers in charge of the vanguard decided to “fight it out in front of Authie.” The North Novas’ June 7 war diary entry reported, “Nothing further was heard from this small formation and no one escaped to tell the story of their gallant action.”
Shortly after the first German counter-attack, additional tanks launched a second assault from the area beyond Authie. All available 27th CAR tanks quickly moved forward from positions south of Buron and a major tank battle ensued. A total of 27 Canadian and 40 German tanks were destroyed before enemy forces withdrew.
Unfortunately, B Company had only advanced to a location south of Buron and was unable to assist the besieged party at Authie. By 1630 hours, Headquarters deemed it impossible for the remainder of the battalion to push forward and issued orders to “bring the forward troops back” and form a fortress south of Buron.
The Buron area itself soon came under heavy German artillery and mortar fire. Enemy tanks broke through on the flanks, making the location untenable. In response, the remnants of B Company withdrew to previously dug slit trenches to the rear of D Company and the battalion “went to ground and prepared to hold on to the last.”
As the German tanks approached on the flank, the remaining 27th CAR tanks and the available self-propelled guns opened fire from a wooded area near Villons-les-Boissons, with the support of machine gun and rifle fire from positions north of Buron. The German guns immediately neutralized the fire from Buron, allowing enemy soldiers to penetrate D Company’s forward slit trenches. Unable to rise and engage the attacking soldiers, two D Company platoons surrendered after expending their ammunition. When a heavy Allied counter-barrage forced the attackers to the ground, two sections of one D Company platoon managed to escape.
By that time, D Company reported that enemy forces had overrun its forward positions and it required immediate support. A rapid counter-attack force was assembled and fierce fighting followed under a heavy Allied artillery concentration. With the support of the 12 remaining 27th CAR tanks, North Nova soldiers pushed forward under cover of the artillery barrage and drove enemy forces back toward Authie.
The North Novas managed to recapture Buron, but lacked sufficient manpower to consolidate and hold the position as darkness set in. What remained of the North Novas and 27th CAR received permission to withdraw to high ground in a wooded area near Villons-les-Buissons, where the 9th Brigade’s Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders were also encamped.
Meanwhile, A Company near Authie found itself surrounded by German infantry and tanks, and was unable to withdraw to safety. After holding out for several hours against a much larger enemy force, its remaining soldiers surrendered at 1700 hours. Some vanguard personnel managed to slip into the surrounding wheat fields during the late afternoon and evening hours and retreated to Villons-les-Buissons, where they joined the remainder of the 3rd Brigade in the wooded area.
No counter-attack developed during the night as the North Novas and 27th CAR prepared to re-occupy Buron in the morning. Military commanders subsequently cancelled the orders as the remainder of the 3rd Brigade moved forward and occupied the town of Villons-Les-Buissons to the right of the wooded area.
The North Novas’ June 7th war diary entry recorded the day’s losses as known at that time—one officer and 10 “other ranks” (OR) killed; three officers and 27 OR wounded; and a shocking nine officers and 195 OR missing. Over the next several days, additional information allowed officials to account for many of the missing. In total, 16 officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and 37 OR were killed on June 7, 1944, while 20 officers and NCOs and 88 OR were wounded.
The following day, the battalion’s circumstances showed little sign of improvement. The weather was “clear and cool” and the early morning hours of June 8 “passed without incident,” allowing “the two-day battle-weary troops…to get a few hours sleep.” German artillery and mortar fire struck the unit’s position throughout the day as its field strength was “somewhat bolstered by the arrival of the ‘Left Out of Battle’ personnel.”
During the evening hours, “it was apparent that the enemy were teeing up an attack on our position.” When the counter-attack commenced at 2200 hours, heavy supporting artillery, mortar, tank and infantry fire forced the German soldiers to retreat. “No enemy reached our position [as] mortaring continued, with most of us remaining awake throughout the night.” At day’s end, the unit’s war diary reported four OR killed and 13 wounded in the day’s exchanges of fire.
Weather on the morning of June 9, 1944, was “fair and warm.” The situation was quiet until 0830 hours, when German artillery and mortar fire targeted the North Novas’ position for about an hour. Enemy half-track vehicles were then spotted about 1,000 meters away, rapidly approaching the unit across an open field. The North Novas’ machine guns immediately opened fire, forcing the attackers to retreat.
At 1130 hours, an observation post reported German soldiers creeping through tall grass toward the unit’s forward positions in an extended line, about 900 meters away. A similar attack formed on the left flank held by the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders. When the advancing soldiers were approximately 200 meters away from the North Novas’ leading slit trenches, “hell broke loose” as a German 88-mm gun began firing on the unit’s location.
An artillery SOS brought down a hail of shells approximately 600 meters in front of the North Novas as the soldiers in the forward positions engaged the attackers. A fierce firefight ensued, after which German forces once again retreated. The unit’s war diary reported, “That was the last we saw of the enemy but not the last we heard of them as we were shelled throughout the day.”
As the remainder of the day passed, the besieged battalion’s situation improved significantly. Having endured German attacks from both flanks and directly ahead of its location for almost three days, the 9th British Brigade moved forward on the North Novas’ left flank, while a second Brigade from the 51st Highland Division advanced on their right flank. At 2300 hours, fighting patrols were dispatched toward enemy positions. The North Nova Scotia Regiment recorded eight OR killed and 18 wounded during the day’s fighting. The following day, much-needed reinforcements arrived in camp and the unit began to re-organize after four very difficult days in the line.
Private Gordon Rudolph Hartling was one of the OR killed during the fighting on June 9, 1944. One of Gordon’s comrades, Private Everett Glendon Hatton, Springhill, NS, came through the unit’s first combat experience without injury. Everett was one of the North Novas’ “originals,” enlisting with the unit on September 2, 1939, and remained with the battalion until its dissolution on September 10, 1945.
Everett’s older brother, George Hatton, had served as a minister in Liscomb prior to the war. Everett had visited him on several occasions and made Gordon’s acquaintance while in the community. In the aftermath of the June 9th fighting, the surviving North Nova soldiers carefully combed their positions, in search of wounded soldiers. Coming across a soldier lying face down on the ground, Everett rolled him over to check on him, only to discover that it was Gordon’s body. In the words of a family descendant, “That shook him up very badly.”
Gordon’s remains were initially buried a temporary grave located “in [a] field east of Château Les Buissons, just outside [an] orchard, Les Buissons, France.” On June 17, 1944, his mother Bessie received a Canadian Pacific telegram, informing her that “Private Gordon Rudolph Hartling [was] officially reported killed in action ninth June 1944.” Gordon’s remains were re-interred in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian Military Cemetery, Beny-sur-Mer, France, on February 12, 1945.
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| Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, Beny-sur-Mer, France |
Gordon’s father Frank died at home on September 20, 1949, the result of a coronary thrombosis. He was laid to rest in St. Luke’s Anglican Cemetery, Liscomb. In her later years. Bessie moved to Westphalia, Dartmouth, NS, where she lived with her daughter Mary Josephine and her husband Lyman Hubley. She passed away there on May 18, 1963, and was buried beside her husband Frank in Liscomb.
Photograph of Gordon's headstone and cemetery courtesy of The War Graves Photographic Project. Information on Everett Hatton courtesy of Don Hatton, Spanish Ship Bay, NS.
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