(1903-04-23)April 23, 1903 Ixworth, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Died
May 15, 1974(1974-05-15) (aged 71) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Buried
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Allegiance
Canada
Service/branch
Canadian Army
Years of service
1926–1960
Rank
Lieutenant General
Unit
Royal Canadian Horse Artillery
Commands held
Chief of the General Staff Canadian Army Command and Staff College National Defence College, Canada II Canadian Corps 5th Canadian Armoured Division 1st Canadian Infantry Division 2nd Canadian Infantry Division 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade st Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
Battles/wars
World War II Korean War
Awards
Companion of the Order of Canada Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order[1] Canadian Forces' Decoration Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (Poland)[2] Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)[3] Commander of the Legion of Honour (France) Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)[4] Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium)
Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds, CC, CB, CBE, DSO, CD (April 23, 1903 – May 15, 1974) was a senior Canadian Army officer who served with distinction during World War II. Acknowledged by many military historians and senior commanders, among them Sir Max Hastings and Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, as one of the best Canadian generals of the war, Simonds, after serving the first few years of the Second World War mainly as a staff officer, commanded the 1st Canadian Infantry Division with distinction in Sicily and Italy from July 1943 until January 1944, and later II Canadian Corps during the Battle of Normandy from June−August 1944 and throughout the subsequent campaign in Western Europe from 1944, towards the end of which he temporarily commanded the First Canadian Army during the Battle of the Scheldt, until victory in Europe Day in May 1945. The historian J. L. Granatstein states the following about Simonds: "No Canadian commander rose higher and faster in the Second World War, and none did as well in action. Simonds owed his success wholly to his own abilities and efforts—and those of the men who served under him."[5]
After the end of the war, he went to the Imperial Defence College (IDC) in London, initially as a student and later as an instructor, before returning to Canada to command the National Defence College, Canada. In 1951, at the age of just 48, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff (CGS), the head of the Canadian Army, a post he held for four years, including during the Korean War, before retiring in 1955.
^"No. 36180". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 September 1943. p. 4220.
^"No. 37204". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 July 1945. p. 3963.
^"No. 37686". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 August 1946. p. 4105.
^"No. 37476". The London Gazette. 19 February 1946. p. 1053.
Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds, CC, CB, CBE, DSO, CD (April 23, 1903 – May 15, 1974) was a senior Canadian Army officer who served with distinction...
September. The First Army, under acting command of Lieutenant-General GuySimonds (from 28 September 1944 to 7 November 1944), fought the critical Battle...
Blackall Simonds (1843–1929), English sculptor Major General George S. Simonds (1874–1938), U.S. Army officer Lieutenant General GuySimonds (1903–1974)...
under the acting command of the First Canadian's Lieutenant-General GuySimonds. The battle took place in the vicinity of the Scheldt river in northern...
Rochester Griffins and the Syracuse Stingers. Died: Lieutenant-General GuySimonds, CC, CB, CBE, DSO, CD, 71, English-born commander of the Canadian Armed...
Major-General Charles Ramsay Stirling Stein Oct 1943 to Jan 1944 Major-General GuySimonds Jan 1944 to Mar 1944 Major-General E. L. M. Burns Mar 1944 to Jun 1945...
diverse ports: the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, under Major-General GuySimonds, sailed from the United Kingdom, the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division...
formed until 14 January 1943. For a BGS, Crerar had GuySimonds, although not for long, as Simonds was appointed to command the 2nd Canadian Division,...
Corps be free to " "crack about" as the situation demands". Lt. Gen. GuySimonds' II Canadian Corps would launch an attack, codenamed Operation Atlantic...
June 1943 where the division, now under the command of Major General GuySimonds after Major General Harry Salmon (who had taken command in September...
had under command the 1st Canadian Infantry Division (Major-General GuySimonds) and the British 5th Infantry Division (Major-General Gerard C. Bucknall)...
replaced him in September (although he, too, was replaced by Major-General GuySimonds after being killed in a plane crash in April 1943). Vokes commanded his...
health caused Sansom to be replaced by Lieutenant-General GuySimonds on January 29, 1944. Simonds led the corps for the remainder of its existence. On May...
the UK and was replaced by the 1st Canadian Division (Major-General GuySimonds), whom Dempsey considered a friend. Although surrender negotiations with...
Army. The regiment was formed on 16 October 1953, by Lieutenant-General GuySimonds, the Chief of the General Staff of the Canadian Army, with the redesignation...
Romanian-American psychiatrist and psychosociologist (b. 1889) May 15 – GuySimonds, Canadian Lieutenant-General, commander of the Canadian Armed Forces...
reached Hill 195, north of Falaise. The following day, Canadian commander GuySimonds relieved the armoured divisions with infantry divisions, ending the offensive...
considered him unfit to command the division, but Lieutenant General GuySimonds, who was scheduled to command II Canadian Corps upon its activation in...
lost close to half its strength at Dieppe. In April 1943, Major-General GuySimonds—the first officer to command the division who had not served in the Great...
and are therefore unreliable. To him it seemed that Lieutenant-General GuySimonds, commanding II Canadian Corps, stripped his sub-commanders of authority...
and he not want McNaughton interfering with his operations. General GuySimonds commanding the 1st Division supported Montgomery as he felt McNaughton...
Thomas Anderson Harry Crerar Kenneth Stuart John Murchie Charles Foulkes GuySimonds Howard Graham Samuel Clark Geoffrey Walsh Commanders, Mobile Command...
bottled up in Normandy. To meet Montgomery's objectives, Canadian General GuySimonds, commander of II Canadian Corps, was ordered to design a large breakout...
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