Baxter Milton Edwin Jewers was born in Ecum Secum West, Halifax County, on February 26, 1920, to Milton Adam and Gertrude Alice (Rood) Jewers. Adam was the son of William and Serena Jewers, Ecum Secum West, while Gertrude was the daughter of David and Sophia Rood, Indian Harbour Lake, Guysborough County. The couple married at Indian Harbour Lake on October 1, 1919.
 |
| Cassino Memorial, Cassino, Italy (courtesy of the War Graves Photographic Project) |
At the time of the 1921 Canadian census, Adam and Gertrude was living in the Smith’s Cove census district with their oldest child Baxter, age 11 months. Three more children joined the household during the following decade—Percy Herbert Alexander, born in Watts Section, Sheet Harbour, on March 17, 1923; David Seymour, born in Ecum Secum West on January 19, 1926; and Monica Ethel, born around 1927, location unknown. By 1931, the family was residing in the Port Dufferin area. Two more sons—Hector (c. 1931) and Gerald (c. 1936)—were born after the decennial census.
Baxter attended school in Port Dufferin, completing Grade VIII. He left school in 1934 and worked at “odd jobs in the local community—fishing, lumbering, etc.”—for five years. Sometime toward the end of the decade, the family relocated to Stewiacke, Colchester County, where Adam found employment as a “mill worker.” In 1939, Percy Toole, a Truro contractor, hired Baxter as a truck driver, a position he held for two years.
In the spring of 1941, Percy was “called up” for compulsory military training under the National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA). The 1940 law required all men of military service age to register, after which they could be randomly selected for a six-week compulsory training program. Individuals could then be conscripted into “home defence” service as required, but could not be sent overseas.
Baxter completed the required NRMA form on May 20, 1941, and was assigned to No. 60 (Basic) Training Center, Yarmouth. It was common for the young trainees to be enticed into enlisting with the Canadian Active Service Force (CASF) upon completing NRMA training. Such was the case with Baxter, who reported to No. 14 (Advanced) Infantry Training Centre, Aldershot, on July 25, 1941, for further instruction. On the first day of August, he formally attested for overseas service with the CASF at Kentville.
Having completed his training, Baxter was assigned to the Cape Breton Highlanders on October 25, 1941. The regiment traced its roots to the Victoria Provisional Battalion of Infantry, established in Baddeck, NS, on October 13, 1871. Re-designated the 94th Victoria Regiment, Argyll Highlanders, in 1900, the militia unit was placed on active service on August 6, 1914, and later provided recruits for the 185th Battalion, Cape Breton Highlanders, which was authorized on July 15, 1916.
While the 185th crossed the North Atlantic to the United Kingdom in October 1916, the unit never saw active service on the continent. Officially disbanded in November 29, 1918, it was reconstituted as a Canadian militia unit on November 1, 1920, and was called to active service on August 26, 1939. The regiment subsequently mobilized the 1st Battalion, Cape Breton Highlanders (CBH), for service with the Canadian Active Service Force (CASF) on January 1, 1941.
At the time of Baxter’s transfer, CBH was encamped at Debert, awaiting orders to depart for overseas. The unit left Halifax on November 10, 1941, and arrived in the United Kingdom two weeks later. CBH was subsequently assigned to the 5th Canadian Armoured Division’s 11th Infantry Brigade, where it served alongside the Perth Regiment (Ontario) and the Irish Regiment of Canada (Toronto, ON). Its soldiers spent two years training in the United Kingdom before commencing combat service in the Mediterranean theatre.
Private Baxter Jewers’ training continued after his overseas arrival. In January 1942, he completed his first Driver’s course at Aldershot. In mid-May, he commenced a Driver Mechanic’s Course and met the requirements for Driver Mechanic Class II (Wheeled), Group “C,” in mid-July. During the autumn months, he was granted two seven-day leaves. A promotion to the rank of Acting Lance Corporal on February 12, 1943, capped a busy 15 months.
A military promotion was not the only major development during Baxter’s time in the UK. On May 7, 1943, he applied for permission to marry Vera Kathleen Dugdale, a 22-year-old resident of Norwich, Norfolk. According to the application, the couple had known one another for 10 months. Six weeks later, military authorities consented. Baxter and Vera married in Vera’s hometown on August 22, 1943.
During the time prior to his marriage. Baxter continued his rise through the non-commissioned ranks. In mid-May, he advanced to the full rank of Lance Corporal and was appointed Acting Corporal one month later. In mid-September, however, he reverted to the rank of Private at his own request and was reinstated as a Driver Mechanic Class “C.”
Baxter’s decision was likely connected to a significant development in CBH’s situation during the summer months. During the spring of 1943, there was considerable discussion among Allied political leaders concerning a possible military campaign against German forces in Western Europe. While not yet prepared to support an invasion of France, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill was receptive to a campaign against Italy, Germany’s Axis ally. At the time, Churchill described the Mediterranean area as “the soft underbelly of Europe,” believing that Italian forces were substantially weaker than their German allies.
In early July 1943, an Allied invasion force consisting of American, British and Canadian units landed on the southern coast of Sicily and fought its way across the island throughout the summer months. The 5th Canadian Armoured Division (5th CAD) was not part of the Mediterranean Force. Instead, it remained in the United Kingdom, where it prepared for deployment in Italy before year’s end.
Canadian forces crossed the Strait of Messina to the southern tip of the Italian peninsula in early September. Shortly afterward, American forces landed south of Naples. During the autumn months, the two groups fought their way northward, with American forces concentrating on the western coast. Meanwhile, British and Canadian units advanced up the centre of the peninsula, swinging eastward to the coastal plains along the Adriatic coast in late September.
One month later, 5th CAD units gathered in several UK ports as part of a reinforcement contingent destined for Italy. Shortly after mid-day October 23, CBH personnel arrived in Liverpool and boarded SS Monterey. The vessel weighed anchor early the next morning with more than 4,000 Canadian soldiers aboard. CBH’s journey to Italy was not without drama. On November 6, two German fighter bombers attacked its convoy as it cruised into the Mediterranean Sea, sinking one vessel.
In the early hours of November 10, the Monterey entered Naples harbour, its passengers disembarking at 0800 hours. For CBH, the date was a significant one—exactly two years previously, it had left Halifax, NS, aboard SS Arcades. Once ashore, personnel marched to a staging area near Afragola, a suburb of Naples, approximately 50 kilometers from the Allied front line.
Baxter and his comrades spent two months training near Altimira before making their way to the Canadian sectors of the front line north of Ortona on January 10, 1944. Two days later, CBH personnel commenced their first combat tour. The unit saw its first action during the late afternoon hours of January 17, crossing the Riccio River in support of an attack by its Perth Regiment comrades. The outcome reflected the harsh realities of the Italian campaign. The unit recorded 51 casualties, including 13 fatalities, when its soldiers encountered fierce enemy resistance and were forced to retreat.
Throughout the remainder of the winter months, CBH completed regular rotations in sectors along the Adriatic coast. In early April, personnel followed Canadian forces westward to the front line along the entrance to the Liri Valley, where Allied forces planned to launch a major attack on the Gustav and Hitler Lines, two German defensive networks located in the strategically important valley.
5th CAD was not involved in the direct attacks on the two defensive positions, which commenced on May 11. During two weeks of hard fighting, Allied advanced through both lines. 5th CAD returned to the line on May 25 as its infantry units participated in the “break out” phase as Allied forces continued their advance toward Rome. CBH’s week-long Liri Valley tour resulted in 30 fatalities and 126 wounded.
On June 3, CBH moved out to Ceprano for an extended period of rest and training. Three days later, news of the Allied landings in Normandy raised hope that an end to the war was drawing closer. At mid-month, personnel relocated to Caiazzo, where the highlight of the summer was a July 30 visit to CBH’s camp by King George VI. Three days later, the unit travelled through Rome to a staging area along the shores of Lake Bolsena, 130 kilometers north of the Italian capital.
Over the next three days, 5th CAD units made their way northeastward to an area of the Adriatic coast south of Pesaro. The Canadians’ next assignment was an assault on the Gothic Line, a German defensive network that stretched across the entire Italian peninsula from the Adriatic coast, through mountains north of Florence to a location south of Spezia on the western coast south. The British 8th Army, to which the Canadians were attached, was given the job of penetrating the line’s eastern sectors adjacent to the Adriatic Sea. The task proved to be one of the Italian campaign’s most challenging assignments.
The attack’s first phase of attack commenced on August 26 as British, Polish and 1st Canadian Division units crossed the Metauro River and advanced northward to the Foglia River during three days of hard fighting. Just beyond the latter river lay the Gothic Line. 5th CAD and their 1st Canadian Division comrades were assigned the task of penetrating its defences.
On the same day that Allied forces advanced to the Foglia, CBH personnel began their move to forward area along heavily congested roads. The unit finally reached its first concentration area across the Metauro, south of Monte Della Mattera, at 1600 hours. The soldiers remained there for two days, finally occupying front line positions north of Monteciccardo after midnight August 29.
CBH personnel moved forward at 0430 hours, securing an area of high ground without opposition by mid-day and dispatching patrols across the Foglia River in search of German positions at 1500 hours. The soldiers returned without having encountered enemy resistance, prompting Brigade officers to move a planned night-time advance forward to the afternoon of August 30.
At 1730 hours, three CBH Companies crossed the Foglia and moved toward an area of high ground known as Point 120. As the first Company approached the objective, German forces opened fire from well-sited positions, forcing the soldiers to the ground. A support group of tanks was late in arriving, having been directed down the wrong trail. By the time they reached the area, failing light made it impossible for them to target enemy positions. Intense enemy fire forced the attackers to withdraw under cover of darkness as German artillery heavily shelled the unit’s positions.
A second attack in the early hours of August 31 once again encountered intense fire, as did a third effort later in the morning. The forward units withdrew before dawn, having suffered significant casualties. The Perth Regiment on CBH’s right flank, however, secured its objective later that morning, allowing the Irish Regiment passed through its lines and finally secure Point 120.
CBH’s first engagement along the Gothic Line resulted in 63 casualties, 19 of whom were fatalities. The losses were a premonition of what was to come as Canadian units struggled to remove German forces from several areas of high ground that lay in front of their positions. While Allied forces had broken through the Gothic Line, enemy units had quickly regrouped on several ridges, concentrating their forces along a new defensive network known as the Rimini Line, located southwest of the Adriatic coastal town by the same name.
There was no time for rest as Canadian forces continued the push northward toward the Rimini Line. In the late afternoon hours of August 31, CBH personnel moved out along congested roads that soon separated them from their tank support. When the unit paused in a concentration area, Brigade Headquarters ordered its personnel to continue toward its next objective—Point 182, also known as Mount Marrone—without tank support.
CBH moved out at 0300 hours September 1 and were “firm on the position” three hours later. Its tank support arrived shortly afterward and the soldiers set about establishing a defensive perimeter. While enemy resistance had been light throughout the advance, sniper fire persisted as 1st Division units on CBH’s right flank fought their way forward.
As day broke, the unit found itself on the forward slope of a wheat field, facing enemy forces and the rising sun. A German self-propelled gun soon made its way forward and disabled its three supporting tanks. Mortar and artillery shells struck the area throughout the morning as the men sought shelter in hastily constructed slit trenches.
The hostile fire forced the soldiers to move down the slope into a gully, in search of cover. As the morning progressed, personnel fell back from their forward positions to allow air support to strike enemy positions. Around 1100 hours, a group of Royal Air Force Spitfires targeted German gun positions, ending the shelling. Mortar fire, however, continued throughout the afternoon, finally ceasing around 1600 hours. At that time, the soldiers gathered near several farm buildings and prepared a hot meal.
On September 2, CBH personnel moved out to a concentration area, remaining there for two days while waiting further orders. During that time, other Canadian units crossed the Conca River and pushed on toward Rimini. 5th CAD was once again on the move on September 4, gathering in an assembly area where plans were laid out for an attack on San Andreas Ridge, one of the strategically important areas of high ground in front of the Rimini Line.
Two CBH Companies received orders to pass through the Irish Regiment’s positions and occupy the ridge, with support from a troop of New Brunswick Hussars tanks, a troop of M-10 anti-tank guns, and a troop of six pounders. The operation commenced at 0200 hours September 5, the soldiers encountering no opposition and occupying the ridge by 0500 hours. The men immediately dug slit trenches while a patrol attempting to move onto an adjacent area of high ground encountered immediate enemy resistance.
CBH spent the next three days atop San Andreas Ridge. During that time, its positions were in full view of the town of Coriano, which remained in German hands. As a result, German artillery guns and mortars relentlessly shelled the unit throughout the entire time. Private Ignatius MacNeil, a CBH soldier who survived the ordeal and safely returned home after the war, later described the experience:
“None of us realized as we dug our slit trenches and weapon pits that… we would receive the worst shelling any Canadians had received in the whole of the Italian campaign…. [For the next several days] we lay in our trenches hardly daring to move while artillery from 12 enemy Divisions shelled us unceasingly. During the nights under cover of darkness hot meals were brought in, the dead were buried and dozens of other jobs were attended to. Every move above ground was ‘on the double’ because it did not pay to linger about. As each day dawned we could see more crosses on the hill as our little cemetery began to fill up. Someone named it Graveyard Hill, [and] the name stuck.”
Finally, at 2355 hours September 9, the Irish Regiment relieved the unit, bringing the ordeal to an end. During its five days atop the ridge, CBH recorded 11 fatalities and evacuated 40 wounded soldiers, seven of whom appear to have later died from their injuries. The greatest losses occurred on two days—four deaths on September 5 and another four on September 8.
Private Baxter Milton Jewers was one of the four September 8, 1944 fatalities. While a Field Service card in Baxter’s service file provided a map reference for his grave, it appears to have been subsequently destroyed by artillery shelling. Of the unit’s 11 “Graveyard Hill” tour fatalities, Baxter is the only soldier whose remains were not interred in Coriano Ridge Cemetery. His name is engraved on the Cassino Memorial, erected in Cassino War Cemetery, Cassino, Italy, in memory of more than 4,000 Commonwealth military personnel who died during the Italian campaign and have no known graves.
 |
| Cpl. Baxter Jewers' name, Cassino War Memorial (courtesy of the War Graves Photographic Project) |
Baxter’s father Milton Adam Jewers passed away in Halifax County Hospital, Cole Harbour, NS, on August 3, 1958, and was laid to rest in St. Paul’s Anglican Cemetery, Mitchell Bay. His mother Gertrude Alice died in Halifax on April 20, 1990, and was interred in Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax.
No comments:
Post a Comment