Robert Leonard Lawrence was born in New Glasgow, NS, on March 28, 1924. The names of his birth parents are unknown. Robert spent his first seven years in New Glasgow, at which time he was taken in by Norman Henry and Mae Alice (Bowden) Lawrence, Tompkinsville, Guysborough County. Norman was the son of Nathaniel Lawrence and Susan Bowden, Manchester, while Mae was the daughter of William Arthur Bowden and Margaret Ann Skinner, Guysborough. The couple were married in the United Church, Guysborough, on December 31, 1928.
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| Private Robert Leonard Lawrence's headstone, Bayeux Military Cemetery |
At the time of the 1931 Canadian census, the Lawrence household consisted of Norman, age 32, “labourer, road building,” his wife Mae, age 35, and Robert, “nephew,” age seven. It is unclear as to whom Robert was related, but his surname suggests that Norman was his uncle. Robert left school at age 14, having completed Grade VI. At an unknown date, he returned to Pictou County, where he worked in the Pictou shipyards for a period of time. Immediately prior to his military enlistment, he was self-employed, working as a painter while residing at 451 South Albert St., New Glasgow.
On August 8, 1943, Robert reported to No. 61 (Basic) Infantry Training Centre, New Glasgow, for compulsory military instruction as required under the National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA). Three days later, he reported to No. 6 District Depot, Halifax, where he formally enlisted with the Canadian Active Service Force on August 12, 1943. Robert’s enlistment was voluntary—under the NRMA’s terms at the time, young men could be conscripted into service in Canada only. It was common, however, for individuals “called up” for training to enlist for overseas service shortly afterward.
Robert reported to No. 60 (Basic )Training Center, Yarmouth, on September 2. Upon completing the eight-week program, he was transferred to A14 Canadian Infantry Training Centre, Aldershot, where he commenced advanced instruction. In mid-January 1944, he was admitted to Camp Military Hospital for reasons not disclosed in his service file. The most common camp ailment was mumps, which was highly contagious and a common barracks infliction. Discharged to duty in early February, he remained in Aldershot until mid-April, when he was awarded five days’ embarkation leave.
Upon returning to duty, Robert spent two weeks in Aldershot before departing for overseas on April 30. One week later, he set foot in the United Kingdom. On May 12, he was posted to No. 4 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit (CIRU), the first step in joining an active unit. Robert was transferred to the 12th Battalion, No. 2 Canadian Base Reinforcement Group, on June 1. Ten days later, his name was placed on the reinforcement list for the North Nova Scotia Highlanders.
Robert departed for France on June 22 and came ashore in the Normandy beach-head the following day. He did not immediately join the North Novas’ ranks, waiting instead in a reinforcement camp until ordered to report for duty. Subsequent events in the field led to Robert’s transfer to the North Shore Regiment on July 5, 1944.
The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment (NSR) traces its origins to the 73rd Northumberland New Brunswick Battalion of Infantry, a Canadian militia unit established on February 25, 1870. The Bathurst-based unit underwent several title changes before it was officially designated the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment on April 1, 1922.
While the NSR’s predecessor recruited an infantry battalion—the 132nd (North Shore)—for service during the First World War, the unit never saw combat. Upon arriving overseas in November 1916, the 132nd provided reinforcements until early 1917, at which time it was dissolved and its remaining personnel were transferred to the 13th Reserve Battalion.
The NSR was placed on active service on September 1, 1939, and departed for the United Kingdom in mid-July 1941 as part of the 3rd Canadian Division’s 8th Brigade. Its personnel spent the next three years in England and Scotland. During that time, the New Brunswickers and their 8th Brigade mates—The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada (Toronto, ON) and Le Régiment de la Chaudière (Chaudière-Appalaches, QC)—trained in preparation for an Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Western Europe.
At 0630 hours June 6, 1944, the Queen’s Own Rifles (QOR) boarded landing craft and came ashore at Bernières-sur-Mer as part of the first wave of the Allied D-Day invasion. The North Shore Regiment was part of the second wave, its landing crafts heading for Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer at 0810 hours. On its first day in France, the NSR pushed inland toward Tailleville and had advanced as far as Cairon, northwest of the city of Caen, by June 11. The battalion’s war diary commented, “This sector is fairly quiet and the troops are spending the time resting and cleaning their weapons.”
The unit completed regular rotations in the line throughout the month. Its first major combat assignment took place on July 4, when the NSR and its 8th Brigade comrades launched an attack on Carpiquet, a village on the southwestern outskirts of Caen. Located on high ground with an airfield nearby, the area was strategically valuable to both sides.
While the NSR successfully secured its sector of the village after an early morning assault, the fighting and subsequent retaliatory mortar and artillery fire took a major toll on its ranks. The Regiment suffered a total of 170 casualties, 46 of whom were fatalities. The day proved to be the unit’s worst in the line during its Second World War service. The significant losses explain why Robert was re-assigned to the NSR. It appears, however, that another two weeks passed before he joined the unit in the front line.
The NSR remained in Carpiquet until July 9, when its personnel participated in an afternoon attack on Bretteville-sur-Odon, southeast of the recently captured village. Simultaneously, other Allied units liberated the city of Caen. Upon clearing the village, the NSR remained there for another four days, enduring almost constant enemy mortar and artillery fire. Finally, in the early morning hours of July 13, the weary soldiers moved out to a rest area near Caen, having logged nine hard days in the line.
After four days’ rest, the NSR returned to the forward area. During the morning of July 17 the 8th Brigade cleared German forces from an industrial area across the Orne River from Caen as Allied units secured the river’s southern banks. The following day, the unit remained in the newly secured area. Before day’s end, a reinforcement group that included two Officers and 87 “other ranks” (OR) joined the regiment in the field. As this is the war diary’s first mention of reinforcements since Carpiquet, it is likely that Private Robert Lawrence was one of the new arrivals.
During the afternoon of July 19, the battalion relocated to Vaucelles, south of Caen. While checking the ares, soldiers found that many houses had been “booby trapped.” That same day, south of their location, British and Canadian forces prepared to attack Verrières and Bourgébus Ridges, two strategic areas of high ground held in strength by German forces.
The following day, the NSR relocated to a concentration area north of the recently captured village of Bourgébus during the evening hours. Over the next several days, personnel carried out regular reconnaissance patrols under cover of darkness. While there was no direct contact with enemy forces, German artillery heavily shelled the area each night.
At 0300 hours July 25, Allied forces launched Operation Spring, a major assault on Verrières Ridge. While the NSR was not involved, German counter-fire “caused a few casualties.” Two North Nova Scotia Highlanders Companies successfully reached the village of Tilly-la-Campagne atop Verrières Ridge before dawn but encountered stiff resistance and failed to secure their objective.
The NSR endured another day of constant shelling before withdrawing to reserve positions behind the forward area during the early hours of July 27. The new location proved just as treacherous, as personnel were still within German artillery range. After three more days of shelling, the battalion moved out to a rest area near Basily on the afternoon of July 30.
Personnel spent the first few days resting and cleaning equipment. On August 3, company and platoon training commenced. Over the next several days, a few soldiers from each Company were “permitted to go to the beach at St. Aubin-sur-Mer for a swim. From 12 to 15 [men] from each Company were taken on an all-day tour of Bayeux.” The Knights of Columbus set up a recreational hut and presented a show that “a number of men from each Company… [were] permitted to attend.” On August 6, the Knights showed movies throughout the day, an activity that “the troops thoroughly enjoyed.”
On August 7, the focus returned to military matters. Officers reviewed plans for Operation Totalize, a major Allied attack to be launched southward along both sides of the Caen - Falaise Road. While the 8th Brigade was not involved in the initial stage, scheduled to commence that evening, its units stood by while awaiting orders to move out.
The following day started with reveille at 0600 hours August 8. While instructed to be ready to move at one hour’s notice, it was almost mid-day before the NSR received orders to relocate to Cormelles. Progress was slowed by heavy traffic on the roads as numerous other units were also on the move. At the same time, Allied forces prepared for the second phase of Totalize. The initial part involved a massive bombing raid on strategic German targets by approximately 700 American “Flying Fortresses,” scheduled for the afternoon. Once the raids were completed, two armoured divisions were to continue the advance with infantry support.
Totalize’s second stage did not unfold as planned. While almost 500 aircraft dropped their bombs on targets along the line of attack, two 12-plane groups made “gross errors” in carrying out their missions. In one group, a “faulty identification by the lead bombardier” resulted in the plane dropping its weapons near Caen. Fortunately, “some other bombardiers of the formation cautiously refrained from dropping with him.”
The second instance involved a lead bomber that had been badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire. The plane dropped its load short of its target “and the rest of the formation followed in regular routine.” One of the areas struck by the “friendly fire” was Cormelles, south of Caen. The situation was further complicated by the fact that dozens of Allied units were making their way forward behind the attacking forces, in anticipation of a major push southward toward Falaise.
That afternoon, the NSR received instructions to “hold up.” Its “recce” (reconnaissance) party selected a suitable location off the road on the outskirts of Faubourg de Vaucelles, in the direction on Cormelles. As perssonel scanned the horizon, they saw “a wall of fire and smoke coming toward us.” A group of American Flying Fortress headed toward the French coast passed overhead, dropping their bombs as they passed.
Officers at first assumed that German forces were using “captured American planes or a new secret weapon.” While the recce party managed to find cover and were unhurt, the bombs landed directly on a nearby medium artillery regiment, causing significant losses. The main body of NSR troops gathered at Cormelles were also struck by the “friendly fire” at 1605 hours. Due to inaccurate directions, the group had taken a wrong and followed the first road south to Cormelles in an effort to get back on track. Personnel were halted near an ordnance depot, awaiting word from the recce party, when the American bombers passed overhead.
Most of the men were aboard trucks. As officers observed a cloud of dust, smoke and fire rolling toward them, any moving vehicles stopped. The soldiers piled out of the trucks and dove under vehicles or into the ditches and surrounding fields, in search of cover. Not all made it to safety. While the battalion’s war diary reported 23 OR killed, with 73 OR and two officers wounded, a later regimental history states that 37 men were killed and 78 wounded in the incident. “A” Company suffered the vast majority of the casualties, essentially making it inoperable until reinforcements could be obtained.
In the aftermath of the tragic bombing, the wounded were evacuated to casualty clearing stations for treatment while remaining personnel boarded the trucks and traveled another eight kilometers along the road before stopping for the night. At 2240 hours, the unit’s CO was informed that “no more reinforcements were available, but they were doing their best to obtain them.”
Private Robert Leonard Lawrence was among the NSR soldiers wounded in the bombing incident and rushed to hospital for treatment. According to a September 9, 1944 letter from military authorities to Mae, “he was dangerously wounded on the 8th of August and became dangerously ill on the 9th of August, suffering from a bullet wound to the chest and buttock, which resulted in his death on the 13th of August 1944.” The correspondence failed to reveal that Robert’s wounds were inflicted by bomb shrapnel, not gunfire, and were the result of a tragic error on the part of American bombing crews.
Robert was laid to rest in Bayeux British Military Cemetery, Bayeux, France. His military will appointed George H. Lawrence, contractor, New Glasgow, as his executor. It is not known whether Robert and George were related. Mae Alice Lawrence passed away at home on June 15, 1970. Her husband Norman Henry Lawrence died in Guysborough Memorial Hospital, Guysborough, on September 26, 1972.
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