Sgt's role in Intelligence Corps

[dfuller52]

I am researching the final days of a Sgt. William McCarthy in Normandy and had a question about the Canadian Intelligence Corps he serve with in Normandy. First off, I can't seem to find too many references to it in the searches I have done, so a pointer to good sources would be helpful. Secondly, can anyone tell me what a Sgt in the intelligence corps would be doing?

Sgt. McCarthy of Toronto was killed on 6 Sep 1944 and is buried in Bretteville-sur-Laize Cemetery. He is one of the five soldiers from Malvern Collegiate that I have been researching. Is there anyway of finding what unit he was attached to or placing him at a particular place at that time?

Thanks.

 

[dfuller52]

Well, it looks like I've been able to answer my own question by reading through From Scarlett to Green by Maj. S.R. Elliot. On p. 316 he writes:

No. 17 Section, which had arrived in early August, lost Sgts. [J.A.] Kazakoff and [W.A.] McCarthy, injured by the explosion of either a booby-trap or a delayed-action bomb.

This very detailed book has a number of examples of what the intelligence chaps did and makes for fascinating reading.

 

[The_Dictat]

Good day,

I would look up Maj Skaarup's books Out of Darkness - Light that comes in three volumes.
they could provide you with some other insights on ncm's role in intelligence work during WWII... things have changed a lot since then.

good luck with your work.

The Dictat

 

[dfuller52]

Thanks for that suggestion. In fact, I just picked up volume 1 (pre-Confederation to 1982) from the library and it doesn't contain as much detail on WWII as the earlier work but Skarrap says he was intending to write the sequel anyway and so didn't revisit all the earlier material. He filled in some gaps, which I gather had mostly to do with signals intelligence. The earlier book covers field security companies in more detail and, in fact, mentions my research subject by name as having been wounded (later died, I assume) by a boobie trap or delayed action bomb in early August 1944.

Sgt. William McCarthy of 17th Field Coy, C Int C, died on 6 Sep 1944. He was wounded doing a survey of a recently occupied town. He was a graduate of Malvern Collegiate Institute in Toronto and is named on the 1939-1945 honour roll.

 

[dannybou]

Did you give some thought on obtaining copies of his service record?

 

[dfuller52]

Yes, absolutely, thanks for the suggestion. I have more than a hundred files to ask them for on my list of Malvern high school students, and there is a three-month backlog so I am doing what I can in the meantime.