Editing Guy Simonds (section)

==Second World War==
===United Kingdom 1939−1943===
On September 10, 1939 [[Canadian declaration of war on Germany|Canada declared war on Nazi Germany]] and officially entered the [[World War II|Second World War]]. Almost immediately Simonds received orders to report to [[Ottawa]] where he was appointed to the newly raised [[1st Canadian Division|1st Canadian Infantry Division]], as its [[Staff (military)|General Staff Officer Grade 2]] (GSO2). His first duties as GSO2 were to supervise the operations and training of the division, as well as for its organization and equipment.{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=152}} Together with most of the rest of the division, Simonds went overseas to the United Kingdom in December 1939.

There his job was to consume him in the weeks and months ahead, so much so that he scarcely wrote to his wife, Kay. Colonel [[Ernest William Sansom]], a fellow officer in the 1st Division, had heard about Kay's misgivings about never hearing from her husband, wrote to his wife, stating that he was not surprised, and claimed that Simonds, "is working very hard and doing an excellent job as GSO II."{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=152}}

Simonds's job brought him into frequent contact with the 1st Division's [[General officer commanding|General Officer Commanding]] (GOC), "Andy" McNaughton, a fellow gunner officer who had previously been [[Commander of the Canadian Army|Chief of the General Staff]] (CGS). Simonds was with the GOC on 16 May 1940, six days after the [[Battle of France]] began, when McNaughton was summoned to a conference by General [[Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside|Sir Edmund Ironside]], the British [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Imperial General Staff]] (CIGS), about the situation in France, which was not good and seemed to be deteriorating rapidly.{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=152}} The briefing stated the situation as being critical but not completely hopeless, and urged commanders to teach bayonet fighting to instil in their men a fighting spirit. The briefing also urged that [[Fallschirmjäger|German paratroopers]] were not to be made prisoners of war.{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=152}}

On July 20, 1940, after being promoted to [[lieutenant colonel]],<ref name="Generals of World War II">{{cite web|url=https://generals.dk/general/Simonds/Guy_Granville/Canada.html|title=Biography of Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds (1903−1974), Canada|website=generals.dk}}</ref> he went on to be [[commanding officer]] of the [[1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery|1st Field Regiment]], [[Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery|Royal Canadian Artillery]], his first command since leaving C Battery.{{sfn|Graham|1994|p=47−48}}

In November 1940 he was appointed commandant of the Canadian Junior War Staff Course (an intensive 14-week program that compressed one year of the Camberly course), intended to fill the shortage of trained staff officers.<ref name=juno/>{{sfn|Graham|1994|p=55−57}} He then became GSO I with the [[2nd Canadian Division|2nd Canadian Infantry Division]] under [[Victor Odlum]], a veteran of both the [[Second Boer War]] and the First World War in his sixties who was really too old to command in this newer conflict. Despite this, Odlum came to admire the younger man, informing McNaughton of Simonds's, "splendid work" and that he had, "never had an officer on my staff who gave better service."{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=154}}

Shortly thereafter, on August 7, 1941 he was promoted again, now to [[brigadier]],<ref name="Generals of World War II"/> and made [[Acting rank|acting]] [[Staff (military)#Division level|Brigadier General Staff]] (BGS) of [[I Canadian Corps]] under McNaughton and later [[George Pearkes]]. Later he was confirmed as [[Brigadier#British tradition|brigadier]] and stayed in the BGS role under [[Harry Crerar]] until mid-July 1942. Crerar, however, had opposed Simonds' appointment and considered his removal.{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=155}} During his time as BGS, numerous exercises, including Bumper in September 1941 and [[Exercise Tiger (1942)|Tiger]] in May 1942 were conducted, with Simonds catching British [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] [[Bernard Montgomery]]'s eye on both occasions.{{sfn|Graham|1994|p=66}}{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=155}}

In July and August 1942 Simonds was involved in planning for an abortive [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]]-inspired attack on Norway, codenamed [[Operation Jupiter (Norway)|"Jupiter"]], thereby avoiding the [[Dieppe Raid]] debacle.{{sfn|Delaney|2011|p=203−204}} Simonds's plan for "Jupiter" required so many ground troops, together with significant air and naval forces in support, that Churchill was forced to abandon the idea.{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=155}} Although the operation was aborted, Simonds received praise for his help in writing the appreciation, with the British Chiefs of Staff Committee informing McNaughton that "This was one of the clearest and most ably worked out appreciations that they had ever had before them."{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=155}}

In September 1942, he was made commander of the [[1st Canadian Infantry Brigade]], part of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, now commanded by Major-General [[H. L. N. Salmon]].{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=155}} The brigade was sent to [[Inverary]] in [[Scotland]] in December 1942, where it took part in training for [[combined operations]].{{sfn|Graham|1994|p=66}}{{sfn|Delaney|2011|p=204}}

In January 1943 Simonds became [[chief of staff]] of the [[First Canadian Army]], again serving under McNaughton, with Brigadier [[Howard Graham (Canadian Army officer)|Howard Graham]] assuming command of the 1st Brigade.{{sfn|Graham|1994|p=66}} The Army performed poorly in Exercise Spartan (March 1943). Simonds suggested that McNaughton separate his "political" functions (CMHQ) from "fighting" headquarters (First Canadian Army).{{sfn|Delaney|2011|p=197}} McNaughton grew angry, and within 48 hours Simonds was on attachment to the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|British Eighth Army]], under Montgomery, then [[Tunisian campaign|fighting in Tunisia]].{{sfn|Graham|1994|p=59}}{{sfn|Graham|1994|p=67}}{{sfn|Delaney|2011|p=205}}

===Sicily 1943===
On April 20, 1943 (three days before his fortieth birthday) Simonds was promoted to [[Major general|major-general]]<ref name="Generals of World War II"/> and appointed [[General officer commanding|General Officer Commanding]] (GOC) of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division,<ref name="Z_Husky_47">Zuehlke, p. 47.</ref> having risen from [[Major (Canada)|major]] to major-general in three-and-a-half years–faster than any other officer in the Canadian Army.{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=156}} A senior officer had described Simonds to Colonel [[James Ralston]], the Defence Minister, as, "a most outstanding officer but not a leader of the type that will secure the devotion of his followers", although he, "has undoubted ability and will fight his Division and make few mistakes."{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=156}} Simonds's new division had sustained extremely heavy casualties the year before at Dieppe under its previous commander, Major-General [[John Hamilton Roberts]], and was still recovering from its losses.{{sfn|Graham|1994|p=69}}

[[File:The Campaign in Sicily 1943 A17963.jpg|thumb|left|Major-General Simonds, GOC of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, coming ashore on Sicily, July 1943]]

Just nine days later, however, he was suddenly transferred to the 1st Canadian Infantry Division as its GOC, replacing Major-General Salmon, who had been killed in a plane crash earlier that day over [[Devon]] while planning for Operation Husky, codename for the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]].<ref name="Z_Husky_47"/>{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=156}} British Rear Admiral [[Philip Mack]], Lieutenant Colonel Chuck Finlay and several other members of Salmon's staff were among the casualties.{{sfn|Graham|1994|p=69}}

In this last post he led the 1st Canadian Division through the invasion of Sicily, which started on July 10, 1943.<ref name=juno/> The division was placed under the command of [[XXX Corps (United Kingdom)|British XXX Corps]], serving alongside the veteran [[51st (Highland) Division|51st (Highland) Infantry Division]], commanded by [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] [[Oliver Leese]]. XXX Corps was part of the British Eighth Army, under the command of [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] [[Bernard Montgomery|Sir Bernard Montgomery]]. Aged just 40, he was the youngest Canadian officer to lead a [[Division (military)|division]] in action at that time.{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=156}} He came under fire for the first time on July 16, 1943, after nearly 17 years of service in the Canadian Army.{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=157}}

Always a supporter of Simonds, Montgomery was impressed with the way the younger man had commanded 1st Division throughout the brief but bitter campaign in Sicily, marking him out as a man destined for higher command.<ref>English (1991) p. 184.</ref> Morton noted that Simonds had proven himself to Montgomery in Sicily as "...an able field commander. No other Canadian would ever quite meet Monty's standards." At Agira and Regalbuto, Simonds won "costly, difficult battles" over the [[Wehrmacht]] who used the mountainous terrain of Sicily to their advantage.<ref name="Morton 1999 p. 210">Morton (1999) p. 210.</ref> The victories were not cheap, as the 1st Division had suffered 2,310 casualties in Sicily, losing 562 men killed in action or dying of their wounds, with the rest being wounded or taken prisoner.<ref>Morton (1999) p. 212.</ref>

[[File:Guy Simonds e010778918-v8.jpg|thumb|right|Major-General Simonds, pictured in Italy, 1943]]

===Italy 1943−1944===
The campaign in Sicily was over by mid-August and, after a brief rest, on September 3, 1943, Simonds and the 1st Canadian Division, now serving alongside the [[5th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|British 5th Infantry Division]] as part of [[XIII Corps (United Kingdom)|British XIII Corps]], commanded by Lieutenant-General [[Miles Dempsey]] (whom Simonds was to form a high opinion of), landed on the mainland of Italy in [[Operation Baytown]], part of the [[Allied invasion of Italy]]. Meeting light resistance, the division suffered only nine casualties on the first day.<ref name="DDD_118">Dancocks, p. 118.</ref> Falling ill on September 22, he was replaced as commander of the 1st Canadian Division by Brigadier [[Christopher Vokes]], the former commander of the [[2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade]].<ref name="DDD_124">Dancocks, p. 124.</ref>

Subsequently, he replaced Major-General [[Charles Ramsay Stirling Stein|Charles Stein]] as GOC of the recently arrived [[5th Canadian Division|5th Canadian (Armoured) Division]] when it arrived on the [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italian Front]] in November 1943. Simonds viewed this, along with the arrival of Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar and [[I Canadian Corps]], as something of a comedown, although this was not the intent of CMHQ.{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=156}} Montgomery had wanted Simonds to command an armoured division to give him experience with commanding tanks, though the mountainous terrain of Italy was hardly the best place.<ref name="English 1991 p. 184-185">English (1991) p. 184-185.</ref>

Simonds was furious when he learned that, to save shipping, his new division would have to take old equipment from the veteran [[7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|British 7th Armoured Division]] (famous in the [[Western Desert Campaign|Western Desert]] as the "Desert Rats"). Crerar rejected an idea to use 3,350 brand-new I Corps headquarters vehicles to equip the 5th Canadian Armoured Division.<ref name="DDD_208">Dancocks, p. 208.</ref> The division would not be fully equipped until the end of January 1944.

His initial meeting with Crerar went poorly (possibly strained by Simonds' illness), and relations further deteriorated when Simonds ejected an officer sent by Crerar to measure his headquarters caravan. Crerar was fascinated by Simonds's caravan, and sent an officer to take its measurements without informing Simonds, who expelled the officer when he discovered him in his caravan.<ref name="English 1991 p. 186">English (1991) p. 186.</ref> Crerar had become jealous of Simonds, who had enjoyed more battlefield success and media attention as the general officer commanding (GOC) of 1st Infantry Division and then as 5th Armored Division in Italy than he had.<ref name="English 1991 p. 186"/>

Crerar attempted to sack Simonds because of this incident, writing to Simonds that he felt his "nerves were over-stretched" and complained about the "personal discourtesy" in expelling the captain from his caravan.<ref name="English 1991 p. 191">English (1991) p. 191.</ref> Crerar took the matter to General Montgomery, the Eighth Army commander, but found little support. On December 11, 1943 Crerar sent a memo to Montgomery declaring he had "serious cause to doubt...the suitability of Simonds for higher command", going on to write that he believed that Simonds was mentally ill, saying that Simonds had "always been high strung...with a tendency to be introspective rather than objective, when faced with acute problems". Montgomery wrote back that he had the "highest opinion of Simonds" and rejected Crerar's claims that he was mentally ill.<ref name="English 1991 p. 187">English (1991) p. 187.</ref> However, Crerar discussed the event with army psychiatrists, the temporary commander of the [[First Canadian Army|Canadian First Army]] in England, Lieutenant-General [[Kenneth Stuart]], and post-war pushed for [[Charles Foulkes (Canadian Army general)|Charles Foulkes]] to be selected as [[Commander of the Canadian Army|Chief of the General Staff]] (CGS) over Simonds.<ref name="DDD_205-207">Dancocks, pp. 205–207.</ref>

Simonds's only battle in command of 5th Division was the so-called "Arielli Show", an offensive launched on January 17, 1944 against the German 1st Parachute Division's strong-points southeast of the Arielli River in central Italy.<ref name="English 1991 p. 184-185"/> After being defeated by the 1st Canadian Division in the Battle of Ortona in December 1943, the 1st Parachute Division had retreated back to the Riccio River north of Ortona. The Canadians brought down heavy artillery fire first on the left flank of the Germans to allow the Perth Regiment to advance and then on the right flank to allow the Cape Breton Highlanders to advance. As the 1st Parachute Division was well dug in, the heavy Canadian artillery fire did not have the desired results and the assaults by the Perth Regiment and the Cape Breton Highlanders reached about 200 yards of their objectives before being stopped.<ref name="English 1991 p. 185">English (1991) p. 185.</ref>

===Northwest Europe 1944−1945===
[[File:Monty and Simonds.jpg|thumb|left|General Montgomery (eighth from left) talking with Lieutenant-General Simonds (ninth from left) and other senior officers of II Canadian Corps at Corps Headquarters in the Normandy bridgehead, France, July 20, 1944]]

In January 1944 he was recalled to the United Kingdom and, after being promoted to lieutenant-general on January 6,<ref name="Generals of World War II"/> was made [[General officer commanding|General Officer Commanding]] [[II Canadian Corps]],<ref name=juno/> which went on to take part in the [[Operation Overlord|Battle of Normandy]] and the subsequent advance through France. At the age of just forty, Simonds was purported to be the youngest corps commander in the [[British Empire]].{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=163}} Simonds made numerous personnel changes: The Chief Engineer, Chief Medical Officer and the Commander Corps Royal Artillery (CCRA) were sacked, and [[F. F. Worthington]] was replaced as commander of the [[4th Canadian Division|4th Canadian (Armoured) Division]].{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=163}} Talented officers such as [[George Kitching]], [[Bruce Matthews (Canadian Army officer)|Bruce Matthews]] and [[Geoffrey Walsh]] were brought by Simonds from Italy to II Corps.<ref name="DDD_221">Dancocks, p. 221.</ref> In his instructions to his officers in February 1944, Simonds noted that the [[Wehrmacht]] always fought its defensive battles the same way; namely a thinly manned series of outposts, behind which were a series of strongly held dug-in positions that could bring down interlocking machine gun and mortar fire.<ref name="Perrun 2003 p.143">Perrun (2003) p.143</ref> Simonds further noted the Wehrmacht would always launch aggressive counter-attacks in face of an Allied attack, stating: <blockquote>...success of the offensive battle hinges on the defeat of the German counter-attacks, with sufficient of our own reserves in hand to launch a new phase as soon as the enemy strength has spent itself. The defeat of these counter-attacks must form part of the original plan of attack which must include arrangements for artillery support and forward moves of infantry-supporting weapons—including tanks—on the objective.<ref name="Perrun 2003 p.143"/></blockquote> As Simonds had been trained as a "gunner", as artillerymen were known in the Canadian Army, artillery played a significant role in his planning for offensives with the divisions attacking along narrow points as divisional artillery was only capable of supporting one brigade at a time.<ref name="Perrun 2003 p.143"/>

[[File:Bernard Montgomery shows Winston Churchill the battle situation.jpg|thumb|right|General Sir Bernard Montgomery shows Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] the battle situation on a map held by the commander of II Canadian Corps, Lieutenant-General Simonds, during Churchill's visit to Normandy, July 22, 1944. Lieutenant-General [[Miles Dempsey]], the commander of the British Second Army, looks on.]]

Simonds, by his own admission, was bad-tempered, unable to tolerate those he regarded as fools, and had a headstrong streak, which he attempted to check by maintaining a cold "glacial" composure.<ref name="English 1991 p. 191"/> Simonds always spoke with a strong English accent, and his personality never inspired any affection from the men under his command who regarded him as a "cold Englishman".<ref name="English 1991 p. 191"/> One Canadian brigadier wrote that Simonds "was not a man one could love. In my heart I knew, however, that I would rather serve under his type than under a kindly, but less driving commander; the former is much more likely to win battles."<ref name="Perrun 2003 p.143"/> Simonds had a long-standing feud with his fellow British immigrant Charles Foulkes, going back to their days as students at the Staff College where Simonds had received greater recognition than Foulkes. Both Foulkes and Simonds were ambitious men with strong ruthless streaks, and together with Lieutenant General Harry Crerar, who had "a nasty streak of his own", the three officers were the ones most responsible for the command decisions of the Canadians in the Normandy campaign.<ref name="English 1991 p. 191"/> Relations between Simonds and Crerar, were very poor as Crerar had attempted to sack Simonds as commander of the 5th Canadian Division in December 1943.<ref>English (1991) p. 186-187.</ref> However, Simonds was a favorite of Montgomery, who viewed Simonds as the most talented Canadian general in the entire war, and Montgomery blocked Crerar's attempts to send Simonds back to Canada.<ref>English (1991) p. 186-188.</ref>

Once II Corps was activated, Simonds would direct four major attacks during the [[Operation Overlord|Battle of Normandy]] in five weeks: Operations [[Operation Atlantic|Atlantic]] (the Canadian part of [[Operation Goodwood]]), [[Operation Spring|Spring]], [[Operation Totalize|Totalize]] and [[Operation Tractable|Tractable]]. After Operation Spring, Simonds tried to sack Foulkes as commander of 2nd Canadian Division, writing that Foulkes "did not [show] the right qualities to command 2nd Division", but was blocked by Crerar, who kept Foulkes on to nettle Simonds.<ref>English (1991) p. 250.</ref> Simonds has often been criticized for his reliance on heavy bombers to "blast" open a way for Operation Totalize, but the Canadian historian Jody Perrun argued that the marked inferiority of the [[M4 Sherman|Sherman]] tanks to the [[Panther tank|Panther]] and [[Tiger I|Tiger]] tanks of the Germans meant that Simonds had no other choice, but to use air power to even the odds given that both the Panthers and Tigers had more powerful guns and heavier armor than the Shermans.<ref>Perrun (2003) p. 139</ref> Perrun has charged too many historians have taken at face value the disparaging remarks about Simonds's command by SS-''Brigadeführer'' [[Kurt Meyer|Kurt "Panzer" Meyer]], the commander of the 12th SS Panzer Division ''Hitlerjugend'', who spoke as if the Sherman tanks were the equal of the Tiger and Panther tanks, and charged that the Canadians were insufficiently aggressive in armored operations and too reliant upon air support.<ref>Perrun (2003) pp. 138–139</ref> A principal problem for Simonds was that his tank crews were loath to face the Panthers and Tigers on open ground given their guns could not knock either type of tank except at very close range while the guns of the Panthers and Tigers could knock a Sherman at long range.<ref>Perrun (2003) p.139-140</ref> Perrun argued that Meyer's claims that Simonds lacked aggression failed to take into account the weaknesses of the Sherman tanks, and Simonds designed his operations with the aim of counter-acting the flaws of the Shermans by providing for air and artillery support to even the odds.<ref>Perrun (2003) p.175-176</ref>

[[File:HM King George VI With the British Liberation Army in Belgium, October 1944 TR2418.jpg|thumb|left|Brigadier J. A. W. Bennett is made a Commander of the British Empire by King [[George VI]] at the headquarters of the First Canadian Army in Belgium, October 1944. Lieutenant-General Simonds, wearing a black beret and having just been made a Companion of the Order of the Bath, stands a short distance away, and behind him is Field Marshal Montgomery.]]

For Totalize (beginning August 7, 1944), which involved a night attack, numerous navigation aids were devised, along with heavy bomber support. Having learned from Operation Spring, Simonds devised the "[[Kangaroo (armoured personnel carrier)|Kangaroo]]", an early [[armoured personnel carrier]] converted from non-operational armoured vehicles "defrocked [[M7 Priest|Priests]]".<ref name=juno/><ref name="Keegan">Keegan, John. (1982) ''Six Armies in Normandy.'' New York: The Viking Press. p. 253. {{ISBN|0-670-64736-5}}</ref> Granatstein characterizes the plan as "brilliant if too complicated",{{sfn|Granatstein|2005|p=169}} in that it did not account for the inexperience of the troops. The two commanders of the armored divisions tasked with leading the assault, George Kitching and Stanisław Maczek both objected to Simonds's plans for a "mailed fist" assault on narrow fronts as allowing the Germans to concentrate their forces for counter-attack, but Simonds argued the planned heavy bombing attack by American bombers would disorganize the Germans enough to allow a breakthrough.<ref>Zuehlke (2011) p.284.</ref> As Maczek's English was very poor and Simonds spoke no Polish, the two generals spoke in French, in which Maczek was fluent.<ref name="Zuehlke 2011 p.285">Zuehlke (2011) p.285.</ref> Simonds insisted that his French was not that good and so Kitching translated for him.<ref name="Zuehlke 2011 p.285"/> Kitching later accused Simonds of being better at French than what he pretended as the interval for translations gave him more room to develop arguments to dismiss Maczek's concerns.<ref name="Zuehlke 2011 p.285"/>

[[File:Simonds.jpg|right|thumb|From left to right: [[Christopher Vokes]], [[Harry Crerar]], [[Bernard Montgomery|Sir Bernard Montgomery]], [[Brian Horrocks]] (both British Army), Guy Simonds, [[Daniel Spry]] and [[Bruce Matthews (Canadian Army officer)|Bruce Mathews]], all pictured here in February 1945 during [[Operation Veritable]].]]

During Operation Totalize, the American bombers who were supposed to hit the German lines instead carpet-bombed the II Canadian Corps's artillery and assembling areas, badly disorganizing the offensive.<ref>Perrun (2003) p.167-168</ref> While the offensive was derailed by the American "friendly fire", the aggressive Meyer took advantage of the pause to stop the advances of both the 1st Polish Armored Division at St. Aignan and the 4th Canadian Armored Division at Langannerie.<ref>Perrun (2003) p.168</ref> Simonds's plan for Totalize had called for Canadian heavy and medium artillery to support the Canadian and Polish tanks as they advanced, but the accidental American bombing of the Canadian artillery had robbed the Allied armor of the expected fire support. Simonds, knowing of the weakness of the Sherman tanks, which were both under-armored and under-gunned, had planned for his artillery to knock out Meyer's Tigers and Panthers, and expected the Germans to counter-attack at once with their armor.<ref name="Perrun 2003 p.172-173">Perrun (2003) p.172-173</ref> The next day, Simonds sent the Worthington Force, comprising a battlegroup of the British Columbia regiment and the Algonquin regiment, which however took a wrong turn, and was annihilated by Meyer who sent his Tiger and Panther tanks against the Shermans.<ref>Perrun (2003) p.169</ref>

Tractable, on August 14, used a smoke screen in an attempt to shield armour from German anti-tank weaponry. The Canadian historian Desmond Morton wrote that Operation Tractable should have been a disaster as the Wehrmacht had captured a copy of the Canadian operations plan the night before, but despite this, the assault by the II corps under the cover of smoke ended with the Canadians taking Falaise on 16 August 1944.<ref name="Morton 1999 p.216">Morton (1999) p.216.</ref> Afterwards, Simonds had the task of closing the "Falaise Gap" with the 1st Polish Armored Division under Major General [[Stanisław Maczek]] leading the way and engaging in desperate fighting at the ''Maczuga'' (Mace) as the Poles called [[Hill 262]] as the German Army Group B sought to escape from Normandy.<ref name="Morton 1999 p.216"/> Though the 1st Polish Division was nearly destroyed several times as the Germans pushed their way out of Normandy, the Poles at the ''Maczuga'' and the Canadians at St. Lambert finally closed the "Falaise Gap" on August 21, 1944.<ref name="Morton 1999 p.216"/> Despite its name, the II Canadian Corps had Polish and British divisions operating under Simonds's command.

[[File:The Life and work Edward G Malindine, Photojournalist and Official Army Photographer 1906 - 1970 HU102819.jpg|thumb|left|[[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Bernard Montgomery|Montgomery]] with his staff, army, corps and division commanders at Walbeck, Germany, March 22, 1945. Standing in the third row, seventh from the left, is Lieutenant General Simonds.]]

In September 1944, Simonds temporarily took charge of the [[First Canadian Army]] from Lieutenant-General [[Harry Crerar]], who was recovering from a bout of dysentery, and [[Battle of the Scheldt|led the liberation]] of the mouth of the [[Scheldt|Scheldt River]].<ref name=juno/> "By most accounts, Simonds’ assumption of command reinvigorated the army HQ; where Crerar managed, Simonds commanded."<ref name="No easy thing">{{cite web | url=http://www.canadianmilitaryhistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/3-Wakelam-Command-in-the-Canadian-Army.pdf | title=No easy thing Senior Command in the Canadian Army, 1939–1945 | access-date=August 9, 2012 | author=Wakelam, Randall}}</ref> When Crerar resumed command with the First Army, Simonds resumed his command of II Canadian Corps for the [[Western Front (World War II)|liberation of North-Western Europe]].<ref name=juno/>