Corporal Preston Duncan Campbell
Corporal Preston Duncan Campbell
His Wartime Story
Honouring His Memory
This site represents the fulfillment of a personal goal: to understand the story of my Great Uncle Preston's journey from his enlistment, his training for war, and through the battlefields of North-West Europe.
My Great Uncle's photo always had a place of honour in my grandmother's house. It was obvious her brother had been extremely special to her and yet I remember as an inquisitive youngster that nobody in the family could really satisfy my desire to understand in detail the life my Great Uncle had lived.
Nobody seemed able, or perhaps willing. to tell me much about his service. Perhaps they were trying to shield a young boy from the truth about war. Perhaps the memories were just still too raw half a century after his passing.
UPDATE - Recently, I was honoured to record a podcast through the Juno Beach Centre that tells the story of Corporal Campbell's service. I am indebted to Louisa Simmons who produced this on my behalf and to the Juno Beach and Beyond podcast. Thank you so much for letting me tell Preston's story!
Where to Begin
My first foray into understanding Preston's story came in 2008; about ten years after my grandmother, Preston's older sister, Mary, had passed away. I had the opportunity to search through Europe for Preston's final resting place, but didn't have any idea where to begin.
I eventually found the information I sought through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website which informed me that Uncle Preston was buried at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands.
That bit of information started my journey to find out all I could about my Great Uncle as a way of honouring the sacrifice he made for all of us.
My Hope for this Website
I hope in building this site to be able to share Preston's story with others who seek to honour these brave and selfless men and women.
His story is not the type of material that makes for good Hollywood films. But it is real.
His is just one of so many tens of thousands of others. But each is worth telling and remembering the horror these young men and women withstood.
For us.
For you.
Shipping Out
When Preston finally arrived in France, he formed part of a large group of reinforcements to join the fighting units of the 1st Canadian Army.
In this section I will explain how a farm boy from Milo, PEI ended up fighting side by side with a group of miners and lumberjacks from Northern Ontario, and explain how the Canadian Army Overseas handled the job of integrating fresh reinforcements into the frontline.
Who Were the Algonquins?
An In Depth Explanation
To try to better understand the world Preston Cambell was stepping into when he finally joined his new regiment on 15 September 1944, it is necessary to understand who this regiment was, where they had come from, and what they had been through prior to Preston's arrival.
Into the Fray
Private PD Campbell arrives in Northwest Europe
In this section I describe what Uncle Preston's first days of combat action were like and explore the Battles of Moerbrugge and the Leopold Canal fought by the Algonquins in early September, 1944.
Operation SUITCASE
The Battle for South Beveland and the Scheldt Estuary
This section covers the period from 20 Oct to 5 November as the Canadian Army in Normandy fought a desperate battle to take control of the land to the North and South of the Scheldt estuary in order to enable the opening of the port of Antwerp for the Allies.
Reinforcements and the Conscription Crisis
My uncle Preston was a conscript who volunteered, unnecessarily, to serve in combat units overseas. This section describes why reinforcements like Preston were so critical to the 1st Canadian Army's success in Europe, and how his service represents a microcosm of the bigger debate in Ottawa about conscription - and how the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs is related to this story.
Winter on the Maas
November '44 - February '45
In November 1944, the Allies finally secured the port of Antwerp and cleared the Scheldt estuary of mines, finally enabling a new arrival point for all the ammunition, stores, weapons, vehicles and the multitude of other things needed by the Allies for the war effort. Prior to this, the Allied armies had been still reliant on the original Normandy beachhead, now hundreds of kilometres behind the front. It had become clear after Operation MARKET-GARDEN that ending the war in '44 was an unlikely target; the German Armies still had a considerable amount of fight left in them, and no foreign army yet stood on German soil. The Allies would now take the time to build their strength, train and rest up for the final push that would come in 1945 into Germany to defeat the Nazis once and for all. 1st Canadian Army needed the time to restore its strength badly, but there were plenty of changes and surprises in store.
Operation VERITABLE
February 1945
Following the period of rest and recuperation, notwithstanding the surprising events of 16 December 1944 when the German army launched the Ardennes Offensive, by the beginning of February the Allies were ready to begin their final push into Germany to end the war. Field-Marshall Montgomery's 21 Army Group, featuring 1st Canadian Army would have the responsibility of fighting their way southeast from the Nijmegen salient where they had remained over the winter, in order to clear the west bank of the Rhine. At the same time, the US 9th Army under General Simpson would fight their way Northeast from their winter positions to converge with the British and Canadian armies near Xanten. But despite exhausting what reserves they had remaining during the Ardennes offensive, the German army was still a dangerous and deadly foe.
Operation BLOCKBUSTER
As Operation VERITABLE ground to a halt, it became clear that 1st Canadian Army, led by Lt. General Simonds' II Canadian Corps, would need a new plan to finish the Allied push to clear the west bank of the Rhine of all remaining German resistance. The new operation, BLOCKBUSTER, would result in one of the deadliest battles fought by the Canadian forces in the whole war. It would also be the campaign in which Corporal Preston Duncan Campbell of C Company, The Algonquin Regiment, would give his life in the service of his country.
Veen
The Germans were ferocious in defence. The hardened veterans of Normandy and the Scheldt now put their skills to work defending the final bridgehead across the Rhine - their last line of escape from the Allies. But this would be no quick mop-up campaign. And it would be Uncle Preston's last battle.
