Trooper Arthur John Harman was an electrician with “A” Squadron, 1CACR. During his last year in the Canadian Army he kept a small pocket diary written in pencil. The entries are brief, sometimes days and even weeks apart. It was forbidden to keep a personal diary while at the front and it is obvious that this diary was not always on Harman’s person as some of the sporadic entries are referenced “after the fact”. For the most part the entries are of the mundane daily life, mostly random musings. However there are few rather prescient comments and you can get some sense of his loneliness and anxiety for the war to end.
Harman grew up in Castor, Alberta. He joined the Calgary Tank Regiment in 1941. He was transferred from the Calgary Regiment mere weeks before the 1942 Dieppe raid to join the newly formed "Heavy Support Squadron." This was an experimental group which disbanded in the fall of 1942. Harman then went to the No.2 C.A.C.R.U. and stayed there until the summer of 1943 when he went on draft to 1st Armd. Brigade Headquarters Squadron in Sicily. Harman served in the campaign into Italy up to Ortona where he was wounded. While in hospital he came down with malaria and severe disentery. He was evacuated to England where after three months in hospital there, he was once again sent to a C.A.C.Reinforcement Unit. In the Fall of 1944 Harman was sent to Belgium, first to reinforce the Fort Garry Horse but was transferred to the recently formed 1CACR where he remained until the end of the war. Harman was discharged from Canadian Army in Calgary on Dec. 4 1945, and took up civilian life in Kelowna B.C.
The following are his diary entries for the time he was with the Kangaroos. I have left the punctuation as it was written, but have corrected much of the spelling for clarity. Many of the entries are undated.
18 Nov. 1944 I am about 8 kilo on from the German Border, so far things have been quite peaceful but to-morrow I may move up to the front where it should be a bit more war like. It truly is a land of wooden shoes everyone wears them, how they can is beyond me. I am in the Fort Garry Horse the 10th bat. 2nd Brigade C.A.C.
19 of Nov. 1944, am told that to-morrow I go back to C.B.R.G. as they are over strength wish I could stay I was just getting into the groove.
20 of Nov. 1944 am back in Ghent. and in some ways happy to be here, not a bad place if you have lots of frank- On the 19 of Nov. 1944 I did go up to the front and stayed for about 6 hr. I saw Germany and one look is enough
Dec 4/44. Am on draft again this time to the Kangaroos, Not very pleased with it but what can I do?
Am with my new out-fit and find it is no so bad, I have a good job and am having a good time in Tilburg. I have met a charming girl here.
We left Tilburg and have moved up are in private billets, real nice, have moved up again, private billets again, not quite as nice. Have moved into Germany.
Jan 20 1945. Find it is really a ghost country so far have only saw a dog. we have very nice billets only 15 of us living by ourselves, a goo go. May move up to-nite.
Did move up but came back to our happy home in Weer and are told we are to move back to Belgium for regrouping.
Have move back into Belgium to a place called Watterslade, very nice billets in a private home.
Moved again on Feb. 2 and ended up in a very quite place in Holland nothing much here but eggs we are in private billets again not too bad. We may go in to action again soon. Have eaten what the Dutch call Doughnuts not much like our own variety but nice if you are hungry enough and I am most of the time over here.
Feb 24. Are in action again. We moved up to Neimegan again and stayed their for three days. Then we moved out about about 5 kilometers and the tanks went on to take part in the breaking of the Siegfried Line. they did very well and we rejoined them at a now famous place called Cleve in Germany. Cleve has been almost all destroyed by our bombing it sure is a mess.
We have moved up from Cleve about another five kilo's things are very warlike the boys are all beat they are going into their 37th action to-nite without a break, they should kiss the Rhine to-morrow. The big shove is on the way now it should be over soon now.
March 8 .1945 they sent me to Brusselles on a 48 hr leave had a very lovely rest, stayed with a very nice old couple they treated me like a son. Some day I should go back again.
We are at rest now I spent my Birthday in a little dutch village about 8 kilo. from the Belgium border. We will be going in again soon now. it will be an all out push this time and I think it will cost plenty. its the Rhine this time and its no stream Jerry will fight like a madman. as he knows it is now or never. This outfit was the first Canadian Regiment to enter Germany as a Regiment, we did this last Winter when we went in with the British, a sort of honor I guess someday all will be told and we well no doubt be one of the "unsung heros"
Have met a girl in Tilburg quite by accident. She is married and has four very nice children her husband is a artiste and is a very fine man. he is of the type who would die for an ideal but for whom the common place things in life hold no interest, even his wife has no appeal to him although he no doubt is in love with her in his own way, I feel very sorry for both of them as their minds are very different and they both want to go there own ways I think she is the first girl I have met with whom I can truly say I am in love it is a shame that fate has made it so, that love can never be ours. how-ever I have spent many hours with her and a little love is good for us in a world that has forgotten the real meaning of the word. I am now satisfied. I have had two nites of perfect bliss, it can never amount to anything and we both know it, but how wonderful if it could
March 27. have crossed the Rhine, the last great line we had to break its just a matter of time. opinion is that it will be over in a month now. I hope so. The air force is doing a great job. Everyone seems to going on leave I wonder if I will get mine before it is all over.
1945 March 30 Have moved from Bladel and left a grand place. I had a very fine time there. We are moving into action.
March 31. We find that we are not going into Germany that is not going to stay our job seems to be to clear Holland of the Germans, at times it is not such an easy task but on the whole we are just on the move all the time, hardly ever in the same place more than a day. prisoners coming in by the hundreds and they all seem glad that it is all over for them.
April 23. Have moved back into Germany, and are re-fitting what is to come I don’t know, some say we may move out of action as we are not much more use now but I doubt that very much. The country is very nice around here every thing is so nice and green, it is hard to realize that there is a war on but every now and then it pocks its ugly head up. We should be moving soon now as the tanks are ready to roll once again.
April 30/45. We seem to be a lost outfit there is no place for us now, it looks as if we have "had it" No one is very put out about it, as the boys have all had enough of war to last them some time. Today they brought the papers around for me to sign for a leave in Canada which means the end of the big fight as far as action goes. There are only three of us going from this Squadron, it may be a matter of a week or it may be months.
May 2/45. We were wrong, it seems that we have one more show and maybe more, we are going up about 68 km. We have arrived in Oldenburg which seems to be the Aldershot of Germany, the place is full of nice barracks, or what were very nice ones before the R.A.F. payed it a visit they made one hell of a mess of the place, not a window left in most of the buildings and no roof that will hold water out we have three rooms for our troop to live in two for sleeping and one for our mess. we all have beds too.
May4/45. We go into action at dawn to morrow it has the earmarks of a tough show our objective is Willemshaven We have moved into a concentration area. - 8:30 P.M. 4 May News has just came over that at 8:00 A.M. on the 6th of May 1945 the Germans will lay down their arms on our front, it looks like the end has at last come!
8 May 1945. To-day is V day at 3 o'clock yesterday the Germans threw down their arms in unconditional surrender it is the end and not a bit too soon what will come now "where do we go from here?"
May 20/45. We went back into Holland from there, it is nice in some ways but not so much different from Germany we can now at least try to talk to the people but they area bunch of Collaborators and as it is only about 2 kilo to the German border this is not very surprising. I went out with a girl the other night, she was not so bad either the only catch was that her father does not like the Canadians at all! He saw her out with me one night and when she went home he gave her a sound thrashing, the next night she still carried the marks of his belt on her back and hips. rather a cruel country and she is a girl of twenty two. We had a squadron dance last night it turned out very well indeed everyone had a good time. From some reports some of the boys had a better time after the dance when they took the girls home. I hope these Dutch never start another war against us in about twenty years if they do a lot of the boys will be fighting against their own blood.
I am next on the list to go to England on a 9 day leave, it should be fun, I am going to visit Betty, and maybe ask her a question who knows?
They are trying to get us to sign up for Burma, not I! As I know in my own heart that as far as action goes, I am through in any case, I have had a years more of it than any of the lads in this outfit so I guess I should get a break, but one never knows.
May 30/45. Left for my 9 day leave to England. we went by truck to the Rhine and from here we we will take the trains those who have gone before us say it is one hell of a trip should be in England to-morrow they are sending a lot of men on leave this transit camp is packed with men. Left Calais (where we arrived at 4 A.M.) at 1200 and borded the good ship "Molly" she sailed at 1230 and we arrived at Folkstone at 1.45 P.M. here we went through Just about the fastest bit of Army administration I have ever seen. We ran off the boat and kept right on running until we boarded the train which pulled out as soon as we were all on. We arrived at Victoria station at 4 P.M. and I stayed the night with Nanci and got a much needed rest the next day I left London for Brynmaur and Betty. Arrived in this town at 8.00 O'clock and found the house without much trouble Met the whole family and found them to be a very nice lot. betty is a lovely girl, but her sister peggy is even more so. as a matter of fact, I went to see Betty and fell in love with Peggy the worst of it is I was in no position to let her even suspect how I felt. I shall have to try to arrange to have more to do with Peggy. The more I think of her the more I want to see her again. At least they cant talk about me now that I am gone. as I never even kissed Betty. Although had Peggy been with me I think things would have been different . Yes much different.
Have left for Holland again. Spent my last night in London and made up for lost time, am just waiting for the day that I can go back.
Arrived back in camp and found that all of our tanks have been turned in it is the beginning of the end I think we all feel a bit sad about it all. To day we turned in our guns in it wont be long now. It is the first time since I joined the army that I have been without a gun of some sort
Well the day has come at last to-morrow we leave Utrecht for Neimegan to be sent to our different lots we held our last parade and got on the trucks. We are in the Demobilization depot now. to-morrow we hold our last parade. We cease to be a Regt. as from 2400 hrs. on the 20th. of June 1945
We are being sent to the four winds it does not take long to break an outfit up. I am in the Fourth Div. with the South Alberta Regt. the Regt is O.K. but it will be one of the last to go home I sure have taken a Railroading in this deal, but there does not seem to be much I can do about it. However I wont give up hope, not yet, I still am getting my 50¢ a day extra so what the hell?
