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John Hamilton Roberts
John Hamilton Roberts was born in Pipestone, Manitoba in Canada on December 21, 1891 and died in 1963. He was an officer in the Canadian Army.
In September 1939, when the state of war was proclaimed, he already had a long military career to his credit. A graduate of the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario in 1914, he served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War and was honored with the Military Cross. During the interwar period, he remained in the Permanent Force, with the Royal Canadian Artillery.
At the end of 1939, he sailed for England with the "1st Canadian Infantry Division". In June 1940, when the Canadians and the British had to hastily withdraw from France, he managed to save the artillery pieces of his regiment. He was thus promoted to sergeant the following month. From November 7, 1941, he temporarily commanded the "2nd Canadian Infantry Division". His position as commanding general officer was affirmed on April 6, 1942.
He was given the responsibility of directing the ground troops during the raid on Dieppe, August 19, 1942. From his command, aboard the HMS "Calpe", he had only a vague idea of the course of the assaults and this n 'is that at the time of reminding his troops that the situation appears to him: practically no objective has been reached and almost two of the three brigades are decimated. Not being responsible for planning the operation, he incurs no blame. In exchange, he was honored with the "Order of Distinguished Service".
In March 1943, Major-General Roberts was harshly criticized for his tactical weakness during Spartan, a large-scale exercise intended to prepare for the Normandy landings. In April 1943, he was transferred to command of Canadian reinforcement units. He will not receive any other operational command thereafter. Two years later, he joined the Commonwealth War Grave Commission.