Sergeant Harold Marshall (September 2008)

[Badger]

We've all seen the famous pic of him from WWII....

From Wikipedia ...

Harold Marshall

Harold A. Marshall was a Canadian scout and sniper sergeant who served in the Second World War with the Calgary Highlanders' Scout and Sniper Platoon.

On 30 January 1942 the Hamilton Spectator mentioned him in an article about ongoing training simulations the Highlanders were engaged in at an undisclosed location in England.

He was wounded on 15 December 1944.

The well-known photograph shown here was taken by Army photographer Ken Bell of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit near Fort Brasschaat in Belgium in September 1944. He is carrying a Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk 1 (T) and wears a modified version of the Denison smock. Other equipment includes a No. 36M grenade and a camouflage face veil worn as a head covering. The handle of a Kukri can be seen above his belt at his left side.

In 1973, he was profiled again for Bell's commemorative book Not in Vain, which showed him as a curling enthusiast back in Calgary.

Here's some current pics of him ...

Regards,
Doug

Sergeant Harold Marshall - September 2008

When Hollywood film-makers require a "small, elite" band of soldiers to fit a storyline, they usually create a reconnaissance unit to fill that role. Films such as Cross of Iron and Heartbreak Ridge depict the actions of these small groups of hand-picked, resourceful men who perform deeds out of proportion to their numbers, sometimes stretching believability. In The Calgary Highlanders in the Second World War, the Scout and Sniper Platoon actually existed, made famous by Ken Bell's photograph of Sergeant Harold Marshall in Belgium in October 1944. The battalion War Diary noted:

The Scout platoon came into the limelight when Lt. Bell of "Army News" came around to get pictures and a write-up about Calgary's Western Scouts. The photographers found Lt. G. Sellar, Sniper-Sgt. H. Marshall and Scout J. J. Levesque very photogenic...The entire Scout platoon had a group picture and in all, the Army photographers were very satisfied with their visit.

In September of this year, the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Vernon and Regimental Sergeant Major Emmett Kelly were pleased to renew ties with Sergeant Marshall, paying a visit to him and his wife Cathy in their home.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.