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Major Herbert Owen Meredith Lambert MC RCIC | |
|---|---|
| File:Major Herbert O. M. Lambert U.K. 1944.jpg Major Lambert England December 1944 | |
| Nickname(s) | The Crazy Major |
| Born | 26 June 1912 Covington, Kentucky U.S.A. |
| Died | 26 January 1945 (aged 32) Kapelsche Veer, Holland |
| Buried | Canadian War Cemetery, Bergen Op Zoom (reinterred) |
| Service |  Canadian Army/Infantry Corp |
| Years of service | 1941 – 1945 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | 5th Canadian Anti Tank Regiment Lincoln and Welland Regiment |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
| Awards | |
Major Herbert Owen Meredith Lambert MC
Herbert Owen Meredith Lambert was an American born citizen who was killed in action while serving in the Canadian Army during WWII. Major Lambert was my father's uncle. I have tried to compile as much of a history as possible about him, very little is known about him by the family, just small snippets here and there which have proved to be old family myths. I have compiled this small history of my great uncle from two books written about the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, and with information provided by the Archives of Canada, and the United Kingdom, via his military record and the Lincoln and Welland Regiment war diaries. Some parts are somewhat sketchy but there is a better picture of him now than there ever was.
Herbert's military Career stated when Herbert joined the United States Navy on November 27 1933 serving a four year enlistment and was honorably discharged from the Navy on November 26th 1937. Herbert trained at the Naval Training Center in Norfolk Virginia, going to Basic training there and attending several vocational training schools, and visiting a battleship there that greatly impressed him.
After his training was complete he was assigned to the USS Hopkins DD249, a Clemson class destroyer. Seaman Lambert's duties included Ship's motor whale boat Coxswain, and #4 3" gun crew. Herbert's letters home to his family reveal that he flourished in the Navy and truly enjoyed the life. The only disappointment he spoke of was being denied a request to become a Naval Officer. This denial later in his life would be one of the motivating factors in Lambert leaving the United States to join the Canadian Army in 1941. Herbert did seem to have a very outspoken attitude. In his letters he speaks of being involved in "smokers". "Smoker" is a navy term for boxing matches which usually took place on board ships. Ship's crews would participate in boxing matches for bragging rights; "smokers" were hotly anticipated events onboard ships. Lambert spoke several times in his letters about fighting, and winning these smokers. Of course fighting seemed to follow Lambert on liberty. Lambert wrote home to his father on one occasion letting him know he had been onboard a hospital ship for a time because he and a longshoreman had words and did not see eye to eye on a subject. This feistiness would prove helpful to him during WWII.
After leaving the navy Lamberts life until 1941 is unclear. It is known Lambert stayed in the San Diego area, principally in La Jolla California. This is supported in his Canadian Army service record on his Attestation paper, (enlistment form). On this form he also states his profession is an advertising writer. All the family members who knew Lambert's story during the pre-war years have long since passed, and the topic of Herbert was not discussed much because years after his death at the hands of the German army was still an open wound for his sister Alice. Herbert and Alice were the babies of the Lambert family and they were very close. Some wounds time just cannot heal.
Canada
Family discussions revealed that sometime in the late 1930's and early 1940's Herbert became disillusioned with the anti war stance in the United States. War was brewing in Europe and the United States did not want to become involved. This fact coupled with Herbert's denial of a commission in the Navy led to his decision to go to Canada and enlist. So, on February 28 1941 Herbert joined the Canadian Army, No.2 District Depot Royal Canadian Artillery (AES Wing) in Toronto. Herbert was transferred to 20 Canadian Army Basic Training Center (C.A.B.T.C.) in Brantford Ontario, from March 21 1941 to May 21 1941. After basic training was completed Gunner Lambert was promoted to acting Lance Bombardier and assigned to the Canadian Artillery Training center, "A" Company, 1st Platoon, located in Petawawa Ontario.
United Kingdom
In August 1944 Lt. Lambert took annual leave in conjunction with his allotted embarkation leave and returned home to spend time with his family in Cincinnati Ohio. This would prove to be the last time he would be with his family. In September 1942 Lieutenant Lambert returned to No.4 V.T.S. in Montreal to await embarkation orders for England. On September 25th 1942 Lt. Lambert embarked from Canada and transferred to the Canadian Army overseas. Lambert disembarked in England on October 8th 1942 and was assigned to the 2nd Canadian Artillery reinforcement Unit (C.A.R.U.). The 2nd Canadian Artillery Reinforcement Unit was a pool of personnel waiting for an assignment to a permanent unit. Lambert was most likely billeted somewhere in the Aldershot area. On January 15 1944 Lt. Lambert was awarded his first medal, The Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Overseas Clasp. In March 1944 Lt. Lambert was assigned to his first combat unit, The 4th Canadian Armored Division, 10th Infantry Brigade, 5th Canadian Anti-Tank Regiment, in charge of a "A" a platoon of 6 pounder anti-tank guns. On 30 May 1944 Lt. Lambert was promoted to Acting Captain. According to the Lincoln and Welland War Diary for June 1944 Lt. Lambert and his platoon was attached to the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, Support Company.
France
D-Day commenced on June 6 1944, the 4th armored Division along with Captain Lambert were still in England awaiting orders. Finally on July 19 1944 they boarded ships bound for Normandy. However the troops languished on the ships for several days in the harbor awaiting the go ahead. On July 22nd the order was given and off they went on the great adventure. On July 25th the Lincoln and Welland landed on Juno beach and headed inland to a staging area north of Caen. Lambert was now at war. The Lincoln and Welland moved south toward Bourguebus. Bourguebus is just NW of Tilly, here the unit stopped. In Tilly was a well dug in German force, including artillery, the feared 88 millimeter gun, mortars, nebelwerfer rocket launchers, and dug in tanks. The Lincs came under heavy German fire!
Lambert is mentioned frequently in two books, "The History of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment" by Geoffrey Hayes, and "Because we are Canadians" by Sgt. Charles Kipp. In chapter 11 Page 141 in “The history of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment” is the first mention of Captain Lambert. After Bourguebus, on august 9 1944, the Lincs headed to three small contiguous villages with orders to attack. The book confirms that Lambert is in charge of an Anti-tank platoon. The villages were, Langannerie, Vielle Langannerie, and Grainville-Langannerie. During the fighting Lambert's anti-tank platoon took up positions near the town’s church in Grainville-Langannerie. A strong force of Germans had taken up a position in the church as defensive position. Captain Lambert eliminated this threat by having his platoon of 6 pounder anti-tank guns to fire point blank at the church walls, which of course destroyed the Germans.
The next time Lambert is mentioned is during the fighting at the Falaise Gap. The Lincoln and Welland were ordered to point 104 which was an area about 3 miles north of the village of Trun. Before settling the troops down for the night Captain Lambert and Lt. Col. Cromb, The Commanding Officer of the Lincoln and Welland, went out on a reconnaissance toward point 104 in the Colonel's jeep. After making a turn in the road they rolled up on what they both thought was a well camouflaged Sherman tank, however when they saw the turret turning on them to bring the gun to bare on them and when a "potato masher" grenade was thrown at them from the hatch, Captain Lambert drew his pistol and began firing at the tank. "As this failed to penetrate the tank's amour, they beat a hasty retreat." The tank was probably a Tiger tank or a Panther Tank. Lambert and Cromb both made their way back to the unit and dispatched a tank hunting party to locate the tank. By the time the party found the location the tank had left but the Colonel's jeep was found and was still intact.
Captain Lambert and the Lincoln and Welland made their way towards the River Seine with orders to cross the river. On August 24 1944 the Regiment had taken Criquebeuf-Sur-Seine and had settled into the town. The Germans occupied the north side of the river, principally hill 88 just above Igoville and hill 95 north of Alizay. The Germans had a clear view of what was going on south of the Seine. Once everyone had settled into town the Germans opened up a horrendous barrage of heavy shelling, although the Canadians put up aggressive suppressing artillery fire the casualties were surprisingly heavy. One of those casualties was Captain Lambert. Captain Lambert's service record lists him as being wounded on August 26 1944, in the left arm and the left knee by H.E. (high explosive). His record does not tell of the action in which the wounding occurred. I can only surmise from his service record and Chapter 13 of the book "The history of the Lincoln and Welland" that Lambert must have been wounded during the heavy German shelling of Criquebeuf-Sur-Seine. Even a letter home only vaguely remarks of being "injured". Captain Lambert is sent to the hospital for treatment. Lambert writes home while in the hospital, but mostly he talks of the boredom of the hospital, his distain for being wounded and that if he had not been injured he may have been promoted to Major, his eagerness to get back to the men, he brags about his soldiers, he truly seemed to care for his men. He also talks of his great stash of liquor that has been confiscated from the enemy, and the need to get back before it disappeared. He writes about his disgust with the German enemy, that he and his men have been fighting hard and stacking them up like cordwood. One can get a feeling in reading his letters of a deep dislike of the German soldier, almost bordering on hate. Herbert liked to nickname things, he favorite word for the German soldier was "Shickelgrabbers". This may have been a twist on Hitler’s father's name Schickelgruber. Lambert was only in the hospital for about a month being reunited with the Lincoln and Welland on September 29 1944, somewhere near the area of Strobrugge and Moerhuizen, in time for the push across the Leopold canal.
Belgium
In the early days of October Germans were shelling the area of Strobrugge intensely. Some reports have the shells raining down on the Lincoln and Welland at a rate of about t six shells a minute. On October 7th the shelling continued to be very heavy. The Germans were not going to make the crossing of the canal easy. The Lincoln and Welland War Diaries report a heavy shell landed in the "A" company area resulting in two killed and four wounded, one of the wounded being Major MacPherson, "A" company Commander. MacPherson was seriously wounded and evacuated to the hospital. The War Diary is vague about when Captain Lambert assumes command of "A" company, it lists him as the CO but does not give an actual date he is appointed CO of the company. The 16th of October marked the end of the "Breskens pocket." The Germans had retreated NW from the area toward Holland. October 17th 1944 found the Lincoln and Welland in need of a job, their positions in the Leopold Canal area was no longer needed. The Lincs would again join the Canadian 4th Armored Division and push North West to Holland and the Lower Maas area, to clear the North bank of the Maas River which the Germans held and were not going to give up with out a fight. The Canadian Advance moved on find the Lincoln and Welland at Westmalle, Belguim awaiting orders for the next attack.
Camp De Brasschaet
On the 20th of October the orders came down to take the old Belgian military post Camp De Brasschaat, just north of the town of Brasschaat. Captain Lambert was now in command of “A” company of the Lincoln and Welland. In the book “The Lincs” By Geoffrey Hates, A fellow company commander describes Lambert describes Lambert, “real Jektll and Hyde character”, “He could be the most polished gentleman… and the next minute, he’d be a real dock wallper in the Merchant Marine”. Lambert and ‘A” company were heading north on the rail line that runs along the western side of the camp. At some point the company was too turn right and head east and attack towards the hangars. In the book Major Swayze recalls the radio traffic between Captain Lambert and Col. Cromb: From Lambert: “Hello Sunray. Am having an argument with iron horses (Tanks)as to where we are.” From Cromb: “Hello Sunray. Wherever iron horses say you are, you are.”
From the book, “What Lambert next does indeed sound too Hollywoodian to be true” but as one simply explains, “Lambert was that way”. Knowing he then had to turn east, Lambert piut his company on an extended line with tanks spaced in between. They then turned and charged. This account of the move by John Dunlop illustrates how Lambert earned his flamboyant reputation: “It was open country, about 300 yards. Lambert never wore a tin hat, (slang for the British style helmet) at least I never saw him wear a tin hat. He always wore a beret and at this time he had a big wool scarf around his neck. I think it was white… He was crazy; he was nice, but he was crazy… And he got up there and he gave the order to get them going up in this direction and then turn right. And he turned the whole damn company around 10 feet apart and walked over and started firing into the bush and they never lost a man, and they took about 50 to 60 prisoners. Guys are standing there wondering what the hell’s going on. And Lambert is going across the line up and down yelling “Peanuts, popcorn. Get your peanuts here…” The battle was won and the Camp was in Canadian hands. The Lincoln and Welland then moved north until darkness and met up with the Algonquin regiment.
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