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The Sherbrooke Regiment mobilized the No. 1 General Base Depot, Canadian Active Service Force, on 1 September 1939, which embarked for Britain on 25 January 1940 where it provided guards for vulnerable points until disbanded on 6 July 1940. The regiment then, in conjunction with Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke, mobilized The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment, CASF, for active service on 24 May 1940. In later years, a well-regarded senior officer described the Fusiliers in those years as perhaps the most unusual regiment in the army. While it later became entirely English-speaking, at that time it had French-speaking Catholics in two companies and English-speaking Protestants in the other two. The adjutant was Jewish. The commander couldn’t speak French while at least one of the senior officers couldn’t speak English.
In the case of the overseas unit 'Fusilier' is always in the singular.
SFR Tank 'Bomb'
The most important regimental artifact is Bomb, a Sherman III tank (British Commonwealth designation of the M4A2 Sherman), War Department registration T152656, serial number 8007, built by Fisher as build number 898. This tank survived from D-Day to VE-Day without being knocked out, an improbable achievement given the high casualty rate amongst front line combat equipment. Bomb's crew, originally Troopers A.W. Rudolph, "Red" Fletcher, J.W. (Tiny) Hall, Lance-Corporal R. (Rudy) Moreault and Sergeant Harold Futter, crew commander, kept the tank in service, firing over 6,000 rounds and surviving at least one shell impact. Futter was wounded in July 1944; he and one other man were replaced in Normandy by Lieutenant Paul Ayriss and Trooper Ken Jeroux. Lieutenant J.W. Neill replaced Ayriss in August 1944, and was later awarded the Military Cross. Two more officers to command Bomb were Lieutenant Walter White, who was wounded in April 1945, and Lieutenant Earnest Mingo, who replaced him until the war's end. The tank and crew members Rudolph, Moreault and Hall were the subject of a Canadian Army Film and Photographic Unit production entitled Green Fields Beyond (number 2090) in 1945. The tank was on display at the Champs de Mars Park, Queen Boulevard North, Sherbrooke, Quebec. In 2003, it received expert refinishing and repainting in a two-week-long technical visit by Canadian Forces maintainers from CFB Valcarter. Nevertheless, by 2011 that work had deteriorated, and Bomb was removed from her plinth. Extensive cleaning and repainting with the correct markings was completed at 202 Workshop Depot in Longue-Pointe Garrison, and in September 2011, Bomb was relocated to the front lawns of the William Street Armoury in Sherbrooke.
In the case of the overseas unit 'Fusilier' is always in the singular.
SFR Tank 'Bomb'
The most important regimental artifact is Bomb, a Sherman III tank (British Commonwealth designation of the M4A2 Sherman), War Department registration T152656, serial number 8007, built by Fisher as build number 898. This tank survived from D-Day to VE-Day without being knocked out, an improbable achievement given the high casualty rate amongst front line combat equipment. Bomb's crew, originally Troopers A.W. Rudolph, "Red" Fletcher, J.W. (Tiny) Hall, Lance-Corporal R. (Rudy) Moreault and Sergeant Harold Futter, crew commander, kept the tank in service, firing over 6,000 rounds and surviving at least one shell impact. Futter was wounded in July 1944; he and one other man were replaced in Normandy by Lieutenant Paul Ayriss and Trooper Ken Jeroux. Lieutenant J.W. Neill replaced Ayriss in August 1944, and was later awarded the Military Cross. Two more officers to command Bomb were Lieutenant Walter White, who was wounded in April 1945, and Lieutenant Earnest Mingo, who replaced him until the war's end. The tank and crew members Rudolph, Moreault and Hall were the subject of a Canadian Army Film and Photographic Unit production entitled Green Fields Beyond (number 2090) in 1945. The tank was on display at the Champs de Mars Park, Queen Boulevard North, Sherbrooke, Quebec. In 2003, it received expert refinishing and repainting in a two-week-long technical visit by Canadian Forces maintainers from CFB Valcarter. Nevertheless, by 2011 that work had deteriorated, and Bomb was removed from her plinth. Extensive cleaning and repainting with the correct markings was completed at 202 Workshop Depot in Longue-Pointe Garrison, and in September 2011, Bomb was relocated to the front lawns of the William Street Armoury in Sherbrooke.
