Clarence Henry Greencorn was born in Tor Bay, Guysborough County, on November 24, 1914. Both of Clarence’s parents were Guysborough County natives. His father, George Christopher Greencorn, was the son of George Christopher Greencorn Sr., Halfway Cove, and Abigail Armsworthy, Tor Bay. His mother, Margaret Abigail, was the daughter of Edward Greencorn, Tor Bay, and Marianne Shields, Phillips Harbour.
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| Private Clarence Henry Greencorn |
Clarence Greencorn was the second-oldest child in a family of six boys and three girls—Howard Clayton (DOB November 20, 1905); Lewis Arnold (DOB February 24, 1916); Murray Edman (DOB May 8, 1918); Hugh Cobert (DOB May 17, 1919); Katie Evelyn (YOB c. 1922); Clara Anabelle (later Mrs. Kenneth Hendsbee, YOB c. 1923); Joseph Raymond (YOB c. 1924, died in St. Martha’s Hospital, Antigonish, on June 22, 1934); and Mamie Catherine (later Mrs. Clarence Delaney, YOB c. 1925).
Clarence started school at age nine and completed Grade IV. He entered the labour force at age 14, fishing with his father and “working in the bush.” On April 27, 1939, Clarence married Nina Esther Greencorn, daughter of Frederick Greencorn and Louise McDonald, Half Island Cove, in St. James Rectory, Queensport. The newlyweds made their home in Half Island Cove, where Clarence worked as a “fish handler” in a plant operated by R. Hendsbee.
On December 23, 1943, Clarence enlisted with the Canadian Active Service Force at Halifax, NS. According to his service file, four of his brothers also served in Canada but had been discharged. A family photo shows his older brother Howard Clayton wearing a Pictou Highlanders hat, suggesting that he served in the Mulgrave area. Younger brother Murray Edman’s grave marker states that he served with “No. 6 NRMA [National Resources Mobilization Act] Clearing Depot.”
His brothers’ actions may have motivated Clarence to join the armed forces, despite his family circumstances. At the time of his enlistment, there were three young boys in the Greencorn household—Vester Bartlett, age 11; Eldon Lewis, age three; and Spencer Wilson, age two. In addition, Nina was expecting a fourth child—a daughter, Barbara Marian, was born on July 21, 1944, by which time her father was serving overseas.
After a 10-day holiday leave, Clarence reported for duty on January 4, 1944, and was posted to No. 60 (Basic Training) Centre, Yarmouth, before month’ end. In late March, he proceeded to Aldershot, NS, for advanced infantry instruction. Upon completing the program received two weeks pre-embarkation leave in late May.
Clarence departed for overseas on June 18, 1944, and landed in the United Kingdom six days later. His arrival came at a time when there was increasing demand for infantry reinforcements. Canadian units had been fighting in Italy for almost one year and the Allied invasion of German-occupied France had occurred 12 days previously. It is therefore not surprising that his time in the UK was brief.
Upon landing overseas, Clarence was immediately assigned to No. 4 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit, He waited for only three weeks before being placed on the Mediterranean theatre’s reinforcement list. On July 16, he left the UK for Italy, arrived in Naples before month’s end, and was immediately placed on the active reinforcement list.
At the time of Clarence’s arrival in Italy, Canadian units were “out of the line,” training and enjoying a much-needed rest after participating in the Liri Valley campaign during the late spring of 1944. In late August, the Canadians returned to action in sectors along the Adriatic coast, where they prepared for an Allied attack on the Gothic Line, south of the coastal town of Rimini.
The campaign commenced before month’s end and lasted throughout September, with Canadian units experiencing some of the fiercest combat since landing in Italy. The predictable result was a dramatic rise in the demand for infantry reinforcements. On September 15, Private Clarence Henry Greencorn was assigned to the West Nova Scotia Regiment. The following day, he joined the unit in the field.
The West Nova Scotia Regiment was created in 1936 when the Lunenburg and Annapolis Regiments amalgamated to form one militia unit. The battalion officially mobilized for service on September 1, 1939, and departed for overseas before year’s end. The “West Novas” were assigned to the 1st Canadian Division’s 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade (3rd CIB), where they served alongside the Carleton & York Regiment (New Brunswick) and the Royal 22e Régiment (Quebec’s “VanDoos”).
The 1st Canadian Division was part of the Allied force that invaded Sicily in early July 1943 and crossed the Strait of Messina to the Italian peninsula’s southern tip two months later. After advancing northward, the West Novas spent the winter of 1943-44 in sectors north of Ortona along Italy’s Adriatic coast. In mid-April 1944, the unit completed its last tour there as preparations for its next combat assignment commenced.
During the month of May, the West Novas participated in the Liri Valley campaign, entering the line on May 18 for the operation’s final stage. The entire 1st Canadian Division then retired to the Volturno Valley for the months of June and July, its units training in the summer heat while replenishing their ranks. In early August, the Division began a move northeastward toward the Adriatic sector, where its next assignment would take place.
The target was the Gothic Line, a network of German defences stretching across the Italian peninsula from a location north of Pisa on the Ligurian Sea eastward through the Appenines north of Florence to a position on the Adriatic Sea south of Rimini. The area was covered with rolling farms and vineyards, through which a series of small rivers made their way to the sea. Four main water courses—the Metauro, Foglia, Marano and Ausa—cut through the area in a direction roughly parallel to the Allied front line. Between each river lay parallel ridges that German forces had fortified.
The campaign commenced in late August, Allied units initially breaking through the German line and clearing enemy forces from the area in front of the Gothic Line. In the days prior to the West Nova Scotia Regiment’s return to combat, the 1st Canadian Division’s 1st and 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigades crossed the Metauro River—the first water obstacle—and forced German personnel to retreat across the Foglia River, which was believed to be the location of the enemy’s main defensive positions.
In fact, the Gothic Line was constructed in considerable depth, stretching northward across the ridge behind the Foglia to a series of ridges behind the Marano and Ausa Rivers. The task of driving German forces from the area proved far more formidable and costly than Allied commanders initially anticipated.
On the night of August 29/30, the West Novas entered the front line with orders to cross the Foglia and push northward into German defensive positions. The assignment required two days of fierce fighting before the unit achieved its objective. A total of 19 soldiers were killed in action, while another 59 were wounded during the operation.
In response to the Allied advance across the Foglia, German forces retreated to an area around Riccione while its engineers bolstered defensive positions along the Marano River. Over the next several days, the West Novas moved forward behind the Allied advance as the push continued toward Rimini, where German commanders had concentrated their forces along another defensive line.
Rimini was a popular Adriatic seaside resort, located on the northern edge of a narrow coastal plain. To the south, steep slopes rose into the Apennine Mountains. Along its eastern and south-eastern approaches, two parallel rivers—the Marano and Ausa—cut through the terrain leading to the town. Usually shallow during the summer months, their water levels rose steadily during the autumn.
A ridge containing the village of San Lorenzo-in-Corregiano lay between the Marano and Ausa river valleys, while a second ridge, San Fortunato, lay beyond the Ausa and was the last area of high ground protecting the approaches to Rimini. While the two ridges were not massive, units from five German Divisions were concentrated on and around both features.
The West Novas’ 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade (3rd CIB) was given the task of crossing the Marano River and securing the San Lorenzo-in-Corregiano ridge. The attack commenced during the early morning hours of September 14 and required another two days of fierce combat before the unit secured the area during the evening of September 15. The success was only the first stage of a larger operation. Ahead lay the Ausa River and beyond it San Fortunato Ridge. the last major obstacle blocking the path to Rimini.
The following day, the West Novas were “busy… re-organizing having suffered rather severe casualties in men and equipment the past couple of days.” While its daily war diary entry does not provide additional details, a reinforcement draft appears to have arrived in camp, as Private Clarence Henry Greenhorn joined the units’s ranks that day. The inexperienced soldier had little time to adjust to his circumstances, having arrived in the midst of an ongoing operation.
On 3rd CIB’s right flank, 1st CIB had advanced to the edge of the Rimini airfield. However, German forces atop San Fortunato Ridge had a clear view of the entire area and their artillery fire prevented further progress. The key to breaking the deadlock in the sector depended on Canadian forces crossing the Ausa and forcing the Germans off the ridge.
At noon September 17, the West Novas’ B Company made its way down the slope leading to the Ausa River with orders to establish a jumping-off point for a river crossing. Within an hour, the soldiers had secured a crossroads where the village of Gaiofana was situated.
Meanwhile, throughout the entire day and night, German guns atop San Fortunato Ridge shelled the West Novas’ positions, the bombardment reaching a peak in the morning hours of September 18. To further complicate matters, a Royal Air Force Spitfire lost its bearings and mistakenly dropped a bomb on the San Lorenzo church, burying a party of Canadian engineers and an A Company platoon in rubble and causing several casualties.
The engineers were unable to descend the slopes to the Ausa and establish a tank crossing until nightfall, as any movement during daytime hours drew fierce enemy fire. The planned assault on San Fortunato Ridge was therefore postponed until dawn September 19. Meanwhile, the Carleton & York Regiment (New Brunswick) on the West Novas’ immediate right flank cleared enemy forces from the southern river bank and prepared to provide covering fire for the engineers.
The 1st CIB’s Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment (Hasty Ps) were temporarily placed under 3rd CIB command, with orders to assist the West Novas in seizing San Fortunato Ridge. The two units were to advance directly up the slope while the Royal 22e Régiment waited in reserve. The “sappers” worked steadily throughout the night of September 18/19 and had a crossing in place by 0345 hours September 19.
As the two attacking units had “formed up” around midnight, the advance commenced immediately. Along the West Novas’ frontage, its A and B Companies led the way, each supported by a tank troop. In their wake, C and D Companies and a third tank troop moved forward. The soldiers passed through the Carleton & Yorks’ line along the river bed and used the temporary bridge erected by the “sappers” to cross the Ausa River.
Around 0500 hours, the two-battalion attacking force began its climb up the slope to the ridge. By that time, a Canadian artillery barrage on German positions located there had commenced. Realizing an attack was imminent, enemy forces responded with a counter-barrage beyond the Canadian fire-line, hoping to strike the advancing soldiers.
Once the West Novas were firmly established on the slope, the Canadian barrage lifted and the attack commenced. By that time, daylight had arrived and the air was thick with dust and smoke from exploding shells. As the West Novas were still a short distance from the German line, the pause between the lifting of the artillery fire and their arrival at the top of the ridge was sufficient to allow German personnel to rush from their dugouts into their weapon pits and man their weapons.
The West Novas’ foes were members of the elite 1st Parachute Division, the same unit they had faced earlier in Ortona. Well equipped with automatic weapons, the German gunners pinned the attackers to the ground within minutes of the barrage lifting. Anti-tank guns prevented the supporting tanks from advancing, disabling several when they attempted to move forward.
The lead West Nova Companies requested artillery smoke shells and made several unsuccessful attempts to move forward amidst the smoke. To their right, the Hasty Ps found themselves in the same situation. Throughout the remainder of the day and into the evening, the two regiments clung to the slope as machine gun, artillery and mortar fire swept the area.
At dusk, the Royal 22e Régiment moved forward in an attempt to work around the slope to the left. The West Novas’ C and D companies carried out a similar move on the unit’s immediate left, with orders to launch a flank attack in the morning. The night was dark, the dust and smoke from artillery and mortar shells making visibility even worse. As a result, there was some confusion as soldiers moved about on the slope.
By daylight September 20, C and D Companies were in position and moved forward to attack as A and B Companies directly rushed German positions. Around 1100 hours. A Company and a group of supporting tanks managed to break through the main enemy line along the ridge and enemy resistance quickly collapsed.
The West Novas spent the remainder of the day establishing defensive positions around the hamlet of Pomposa Grande. As evening arrived, the weary soldiers sought what rest they could amid a steady stream of enemy artillery and mortar fire determined to push them off the ridge. The unit clung to its position throughout the following two days—September 21 and 22—as fighting raged further to the east.
By day’s end September 22, Allied forces had secured Rimini and a “month of hot and costly fighting” came to an end. The West Nova attacks on San Lorenzo and San Fortunato Ridges had resulted in 58 soldiers killed and another 196 wounded. Combined with the losses during the Foglia crossing, the combat along the Rimini Line had cost the unit 75 dead and 255 wounded, literally half of its fighting strength.
On September 23, the West Novas moved out to the coastal town of Cattolica, south-east of Rimini, where its remaining personnel entered quarters in an Italian naval barracks near the mouth of the Conca River. The soldiers rested there for three weeks while the unit rebuilt its fighting strength.
Private Clarence Henry Greencorn was among the West Nova soldiers killed during the September 19, 1944 attack on San Fortunato Ridge. He was initially buried in a West Nova Scotia Regiment established in San Lorenzo. In early October, Nina received a telegram from military authorities, informing her that her husband and the father of her four young children had died in combat. On September 26, 1945, Clarence’s remains were re-interred in Coriano Ridge British War Cemetery.
On December 31, 1947, Nina married Joseph Daniel Levangie, a 36-year-old widower and native of Havre Boucher, Antigonish County, in a ceremony that took place in Canso. While Joseph was living in Beaverbank, Halifax County, at the time of the marriage, the couple later settled in Frankville, Antigonish County, where Nina passed away in 1986.
Clarence’s father George Christopher Greencorn died in Halfway Cove, Guysborough County, on June 23, 1949, and was interred in a local cemetery. His widow Margaret passed away in Guysborough Municipal Hospital on September 2, 1965, and was also laid to rest in Halfway Cove.
Photograph of Private Clarence Henry Greencorn obtained from the Canadian Virtual War Memorial website.
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