Task Force

A Task Force was a grouping of units or sub-units assembled under a single commander for a specific mission. Similar in concept to the German Kampfgruppen (Battle Groups), Task Forces became not uncommon in the Second World War.

First World War

Alderson's Force

During the fighting at Festubert in May 1915, the 1st Canadian Division was grouped with the 51st (Highland) Division under General Alderson in a command arrangement designated "Alderson's Force". The divisional artillery of the 2nd and 7th (British) Divisions were also added to General Alderson's control. This unusual command arrangement lasted just four days, as Alderson lacked a corps staff and his own divisional headquarters activities were disrupted while his chief staff officer was busied in running this temporary corps during the Festubert fighting.1

Dunsterforce

Dunsterforce was created December 1917 from British units for a special mission in the Caucusus region of Russia. An appeal for Canadian participation was met with 41 officers and men. The force was drawn from various regions, including the Western Front in France, and the Canadians arrived in Basra, Mesopotamia (later Iraq) after a two month journey. Involved in the expedition up the Tigris were 28 men of the First Overseas Canadian Pioneer Detail, who delivered the main body of Dunsterforce (named after General Lionel Dunsterville, the force commander) to Baghdad. An advance party had already voyaged north to meet the Russians in early 1918 to find that peace had been signed with Germany.

The operational goals of the force were to penetrate Turkish forces to Tiflis, and create a Caucasian force to hold the railway between Baum, Tiflis and Baku. Oilfields at Baku were also strategic objectives for the Turks, and the security of India was also considered threatened by Turkish influence in this area.

General Dunsterville planned a second attempt to reach Baku, and between 1-6 May, 1918, leaving in two groups, and including the 41 Canadians, the main body left Baghdad, travelling 70 miles by rail and 230 miles by foot to Hamadan where Dunsterville was situated. Confused fighting with Turks marked the battles around Baku, the senior Canadian, Lieutenant Colonel Warden, referring to the entire episode as "Dunsterfarce" in his diary.1

Dunsterforce clearly exemplified the greater strategical thought that had evolved within Allied supreme command leading into the final year of the war. In addition, it illustrated a deviation from the typical mass armies that plagued the European Fronts. Dunsterforce was indeed a Special Forces unit, which was given a special forces-style assignment. The strategic success of the Dunsterforce mission confirmed the validity of its deployment. General Sir Henry Wilson, who succeeded General Robertson as Chief of the Imperial General Staff, on 16 February 1918, believed the Trans-Caucuses was very important to British strategy: “The despatch of a small force at Baku has been sanctioned, admittedly as a gamble, but the stakes involved are so valuable as to make the hazard justifiable.” For the Allies, the gamble paid off.2

Second World War

Below are some examples of Task Forces created during the Second World War. A naming convention that seems to have been common was using the commander's last name as the name of the force, ie Worthington Force.3

Amy Force

  • Commanded by: Major N Amy, Commanding Officer, 1 Squadron, The Canadian Grenadier Guards

  • 4 Cdn Armd Div, 4 Armd Bde

  • Formed: 8 Aug 1944

  • Disbanded: 8 Aug 1944

  • Components: No. 1 Squadron, The Canadian Grenadier Guards, "C" Company, The Lake Superior Regiment (Motor), troop from 96th Anti-Tank Battery, No. 2 Section RCE, FOO of 23 Field Regt (SP) Armoured OP.

  • Composition: Shermans, Bren Carriers, Halftracks, 17Pdr M10's Sherman Crab I Flails

  • Notes: A sub-unit of Halpenny Force.

Booth Force

Smith Force

  • Commanded by: Major H A Smith, Commanding Officer, No. 3 Squadron, The Canadian Grenadier Guards

  • 4 Cdn Armd Div, 4 Armd Bde

  • Formed: 8 Aug 1944

  • Disbanded: 8 Aug 1944

  • Components:

    • No 3 Sqn Canadian Gren Guards

    • one company The Lake Superior Regiment

    • 2 sections RCE

    • FOO 19 and 23 Field Regt (SP) Armoured OP.

    • Lake Superior Regiment Anti-Tank Platoon

    • one squadron of Sherman Crab I Flails (less 1 troop)

  • Composition: Shermans, Bren Carriers, Halftracks, Sherman Crab I Flails

  • Notes: A sub-unit of Halpenny Force.

Smith Force

  • Commanded by: Lieutenant Colonel E.M.Smith, Commanding Officer, Govenor General's Foot Guards

  • Under command of: 4th Canadian (Armoured0 Division, 4th Armoured Brigade.

  • Formed: Unknown, in action 26-27 Feb 1945

  • Disbanded: Unknown

  • Components:

    • Governor General's Foot Guards

    • The Lake Superior Regiment (Motor).

  • Composition: Shermans, Bren Carriers, Halftracks.

  • Notes: Smith Force was a sub unit within "Tiger Group". Tasked with securing three high features on the Calcar-Udem ridge.

Williamson Force

  • Under Command of: 4 Cdn Armd Div, 4 Armd Bde

  • Formed: 8 Aug 1944

  • Disbanded: 8 Aug 1944

  • Components:

    • No 2 Sqn Canadian Grenadier Guards

    • B Company Lake Superior Regt

    • Lake Superior Regiment Anti-Tank Platoon

    • one Battery (less 1 troop) from 96th Anti-Tank Battery

    • AA Troop Canadian Gren Gds

    • FOO 11th Meduim Regt

  • Composition: Shermans, Bren Carriers, Halftracks,

  • Notes: A sub-unit of Halpenny Force.

Porter Force

  • Commanded by: Lieutenant Colonel A M Horsborough-Porter (British)

  • Under command of: British 8th Army

  • Formed: 28 Oct 1944

  • Disbanded: 12 Nov 1944

  • Component units:

    • 27th Lancers

    • 1st Canadian Armoured Car Regt (Royal Canadian Dragoons) (dismounted)

    • 3rd Canadian Armoured Recce Regt (Govener General's Horse Guards) (dismounted)

    • Tanks from a squadron of Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)

    • Support from Canadian artillery and engineers

  • Size:

    • one squadron Sherman III tanks (LdSH)

    • five Staghound 37mm armoured cars, ten Dingo armoured cars, two 3-inch gun Staghounds, two self-propelled 75mm halftracks (RCD).

  • Mission: To assume defensive posistions along the Ronco River in northern Italy, to conceal the withdrawal of I Canadian Corps, and if required to follow up any enemy withdrawal.

  • Further reading: Fisher, Ernest J. Cassino to the Alps and Greenhous, Brereton Dragoon: A History of the Royal Canadian Dragoons (Guild of the RCD, 1983).

Worthington Force

  • Commanded by: Lieutenant Colonel Worthington (CO of BCR)

  • Under command of: 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division

  • Created: Aug 1944

  • Disbanded: The BCR was destroyed 9 Aug 1944 when due to a navigational error they climbed the wrong hill and found themselves surrounded at dawn on Point 195 by SS armour; 47 of their 52 tanks were destroyed.

  • Component units:

    • 28th Canadian Armoured Regiment (The British Columbia Regiment)

    • Three companies of The Algonquin Regiment

  • Numbers: Fifty-two Sherman III tanks

  • Further Reading: Stacey, CP The Victory Campaign, Reid, Brian No Holding Back.

Vokes Force

  • Commanded by: Lieutenant Colonel "Freddie" Vokes

  • Under command of: 5th Canadian Armoured Brigade

  • Created: 24 May 1944

  • Disbanded: 24 May 1944

  • Component units:

    • British Columbia Dragoons

    • Irish Regt of Canada

    • Tank Destroyer Battery, 4th Anti-Tank Regiment RCA

    • Mounted engineer detachment (Honeys) from 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division engineers

    • Numbers: three squadrons of Sherman III tanks, assorted armoured vehicles including M3 halftracks, Universal carriers, M10 tank destroyers and Honeys.

  • Mission: Created as a follow up force to the penetration of the Gustav and Adolf Hitler Lines and drove to the Melfa River in the Liri Valley as part of the drive to Rome. Established a bridgehead across the river.

  • Further Reading: Marteinson, John and Michael McNorgan. The Royal Candian Armoured Corps - An Illustrated History (RCAC Association, 2000).

Griffin Force

  • Commanded by: Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Griffin

  • Under command of: 5th Canadian Armoured Brigade

  • Created: 24 May 1944

  • Disbanded: 24 May 1944

  • Component units:

    • Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)

    • "A" Company, Westminster Regiment (Motor)

    • Tank Destroyer Battery, 4th Anti-Tank Regiment RCA

    • Mounted engineer detachment (Honeys) from 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division engineers

    • Numbers: three squadrons of Sherman III tanks, assorted armoured vehicles including M3 halftracks, Universal carriers, M10 tank destroyers and Honeys.

  • Mission: Created as a follow up force to the penetration of the Gustav and Adolf Hitler Lines and drove to the Melfa River in the Liri Valley as part of the drive to Rome. Established a bridgehead across the river.

  • Further Reading: Marteinson, John and Michael McNorgan. The Royal Candian Armoured Corps - An Illustrated History (RCAC Association, 2000).

Adams Force

  • Commanded by: Lieutenant Colonel FD Adams

  • Under command of: I Canadian Corps

  • Created: 24 May 1944

  • Disbanded: 25 May 1944

  • Component units:

    • IV Princess Louise Dragoon Guards(IV PLDG)

    • "C" and "D" Squadrons, Royal Canadian Dragoons

    • one squadron of Three Rivers Regiment

    • Carleton and York Regiment

  • Numbers: five squadrons of Staghounds, one squadron of Sherman IIIs

  • Mission: Created as a follow up force to the penetration of the Gustav and Adolf Hitler Lines and drove to the Melfa River in the Liri Valley as part of the drive to Rome.

  • Further Reading: Marteinson, John and Michael McNorgan. The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps - An Illustrated History (RCAC Association, 2000).

Cumberland Force

  • Commanded by: Lieutenant Colonel IH Cumberland (British Army)

  • Under command of: British 8th Army

  • Created: 9 Oct 1944

  • Disbanded: 27 Oct 1944

  • Component units:

    • 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade

    • New Zealand "Wilder Force"

    • Royal Canadian Dragoons and a New Zealand Armoured Car unit formed "Landell Force"

  • Mission: Tasked with "Holding the Adriadic Sector", the Force instead advanced 8km in 10 days.

  • Further Reading: Greenhous, Brereton. The Royal Canadian Dragoons 1883-1983 (The Guild of the RCD, 1983).

Halpenny Force

  • Commanded by: Lieutenant Colonel WW Halpenny (CO of Canadian Grenadier Guards)

  • Under command of: 4th Canadian Armoured Brigade

  • Created: 8 Aug 1944

  • Disbanded: 8 Aug 1944

  • Component units:

    • Canadian Grenadier Guards

    • Lake Superior Regiment (Motor)

    • artillery and engineer units

  • Numbers: three squadrons of Sherman III tanks, Kangaroos, armoured carriers (Universal carriers and halftracks)

  • Mission: Employed for follow up phase to Operation TOTALIZE. GOC of 4th Armoured Division tasked the 4th Brigade to send "Halpenny Force" to go through a narrow gap between the Caen-Falaise highway and a railway, bypassing three villages and exploiting to the south. This was half of a divisional Task Force that included the "Worthington Force".

  • Further Reading: Reid, Brian No Holding Back and Marteinson, John and Michael McNorgan. The Royal Candian Armoured Corps - An Illustrated History (RCAC Association, 2000).

Stewart Force

One of two battle groups formed by the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division on 6 Sep 1944.

  • Created: 6 Sep 1944

  • Component units:

    • The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

    • The Lincoln and Welland Regiment

Moncel Force

One of two battle groups formed by the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division on 6 Sep 1944.

  • Created: 6 Sep 1944

  • Component units:

    • 4th Armoured Brigade

    • The Algonquin Regiment

Lock Force

  • Commanded by: Major Louis Froggett (OC of "D" Company, Royal Hamilton Light Infantry)

  • Under command of: 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade

  • Created: Sep 1944

  • Disbanded: Oct 1944

  • Component units:

    • "A" and "D" Companies, Royal Hamilton Light Infantry

    • various naval forces, searchlight and anti-aircraft units

  • Mission: Tasked to protect the canal locks of Antwerp (specifically the Kruisschans lock) from German interference or destruction until the Scheldt estuary could be cleared, in order to aid the entire Allied war effort in the West. Many small actions reported.

  • Further Reading: Whitaker, Denis and Shelagh Tug of War

C Force

  • Commanded by: Brigadier J.K. Lawson

  • Under command of: Major General CM Maltby's Hong Kong Defense Forces on Hong Kong Island

  • Created: Oct 1941, arrived in Hong Kong 16 Nov 1941

  • Disbanded: Destroyed Dec 1941. Some 290 men were killed in action or murdered in hospital by Japanese troops, 493 more were wounded, the remainder captured.

  • Component units:

    • Royal Rifles of Canada

    • Winnipeg Grenadiers

  • Mission: Defence of Hong Kong

  • Numbers: Consisted of 1,973 soldiers (including men of the supporting arms) plus two additional supervisors of the Auxiliary Services. The force was poorly equipped with over 200 vehicles failing to arrive (some, including Universal Carriers, landed in the Phillipines).

  • Further Reading: Marteinson, John. We Stand On Guard For Thee (1992)

  • Notes: Not a Task Force in the strictest sense of the word; the force was actually split in two on arrival in Hong Kong and the two Canadian battalions sent to different formations.

Q Force

  • Created: 1940

  • Component Unit: Lake Superior Regiment

  • Mission: This task force never actually saw action. After the fall of France in May 1940, there was concern over the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. These were small islands off the coast of Newfoundland belonging to France. A fear that the local authorities might side with Vichy France led to the prospect of Axis territory being situated near Commonwealth shores (and the inherent danger that residents of the islands could transmit data regarding the nearby Allied shipping lanes to occupied France and their German allies). The force was assembled, but the islands aligned themselves with Free French forces instead and the force was no longer required. The Lake Superior Regment proceeded to the UK to join the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division.

"Z" Force

  • Under command of: 2nd Canadian Infantry Division

  • Formed: Z Force HQ was authorized to form effective 28/Sep/40

  • Disbanded: Spring 1941, Authorized to disband effective 1/Dec/40

  • Components: Brigade HQ plus The Cameron Highlanders, Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (MG)

  • Notes: The British government pressured Canada to supply a brigade and then a full division to garrison Iceland in the summer of 1940, and Canadian 2nd Infantry Division was temporarily earmarked for that duty. Although the division was routed instead to the UK, a Bde HQ and Royal Regiment of Canada arrived on Iceland 16/Jun/40, while Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal and the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (MG) arrived 9/Jul/40 , the formation as a whole being known as “Z” Force. Two battalions (Royal Regt & Mont Royal) and the HQ moved from Iceland to the UK from 31/10/40 while the third battalion, The Cameron Highlanders, stayed the winter before relief. “Z” Force was disbanded in the April of 1941 and its remaining elements transferred to the UK.

Notes

  1. Nicholson, Gerald Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War: Candian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 (Duhamel, Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery, Ottawa, 1964)
  2. Winegard, Lieutenant Timothy E. "Dunsterforce: A Case Study of Coalition Warfare in the Middle East, 1918-1919" (article in Canadian Army Journal (Fall 2005 Issue, Volume 8.3, Department of National Defence).)
  3. Some material has been assembled from the Axis History Forum where various participants have submitted information.

© canadiansoldiers.com 1999-present