Canadian Provost Corps In Wartime
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The Provost must have a horse allowed him
And some soldiers to attend him, and all the rest commanded
To obey and assist, or else the service will suffer
for
He is but one man and must correct many and therefore
He cannot be beloved.
And he must be riding
From one garrison to another to see the
soldiers
Do not outrage nor scathe the country.
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"He cannot be beloved".
Ask any veteran of World War I
his opinion of military policeman and it will be very surprising if his
comments are as mild and polite as the above quotation.
At the same time ask anyone placed in authority whether they
expect to be beloved and they will probably reply in the negative with the rider that the most they can
hope for is respect if they carry out their duties to the best of their ability with equal fairness and firmness.
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The "Red Cap
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There is no doubt that when the Canadian Provost Corps was first formed in July 1940, they faced a very serious
problem in that the old time rough and tough "Red Cap, "having been initially chosen more for his brawn then his
brain, had left behind a very unenviable reputation. To get away somewhat from the old stigma, the form "M.P."
was dropped and the name "Provost" (a leader) substituted. A new badge, the crown and the lion, the King's
personal insignia, was authorized in December, 1940, and though the maintenance of discipline amongst the troops was
still a primary function of the Corps, a spirit of co-operation with, and assistance to, other soldiers was fostered
and built up.
Though it was not until the middle of 1940 that the Corps was officially recognized as such, the initial provost company,
known as No. 1 Canadian Divisional Provost Company (RCMP), was formed. The Company was made up entirely of members of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on leave of absence from their Force. Subsequently; No. 2 Company was formed as a
unit of 2nd Canadian Division and the new military organization commenced it's growth.
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The Corps At Home
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"To see the soldiers do not outrage nor scathe the Country. "
It is an extraordinary thing but when some young civilians first put
on Khaki, they appear to forget their past lawful behaviour
and take unto themselves all kinds of licence, occasionally of a
destructive nature. During the early days of the war, train after train
arrived at its destination with its carriages wrecked,
windows
broken and upholstery torn out; beverage room brawls became
common, and becoming boisterous and unruly off duty was
considered a soldier's prerogative.
One of the first duties of the Provost in Canada was to control this
exuberance and to that end a system of street and train patrols was
put into effect. The idea here was not to spoil the
soldier's fun but to
tone it down so that no "outrage or scathing" resulted. In this way
an average of 69 trains, 65 bus or railway terminals and 72 towns
were patrolled each day.
In the spring of 1941, the Canadian Provost Corps assumed
the responsibility for the movement of Prisoners of War and Internees,
and in the next two years more than 26,000
were transferred from
ports to camps in 99 separate moves; several of the moves necessitated
taking over charges south of the border at such points of entry as New
York and Boston.
The administration of Military Detention Barracks early became
the responsibility of the provost and by the end of 1943 more then 20
such barracks were in operation across the country.
Today the Corps
administers 31 of these barracks with a total capacity of approximately
2,800 rooms.
In July 1942, the apprehension of absentees and deserters which had ,
prior to that date, been carried out by the RCMP, was made a main
responsibility of the Corps.
To facilitate these duties special powers
were granted to Canadian Provost Corps personnel under Order in
Council P.C. 3205.
This order gave the members of the Corps the authority to
acquire any person to produce his national registration certificate
and to question him. If, as a result of such questioning, he
reasonably
suspected that such a person was an absentee or deserter, the Provost
was empowered to apprehend and bring him before a Justice of the
Peace to be dealt with according
to law. This order applied to
absentees and deserters only and not to draft delinquents, apprehension
of whom still remained in the hands of the RCMP.
At all ports of embarkation one found the Provost engaged in
the thankless job of maintaining good order and military discipline,
assisting movement control and generally policing the
dock area.
Today, the first personnel returning troops meet at the port of
disembarkation are the Provost still on the same old job of
co-operation and assistance, helping to turn the
wheels of
"getting home" more smoothly.
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The Corps Overseas
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Initially, the work of the Provost overseas was very similar to
that in Canada, i.e. the policing of cities and towns and the general
maintenance of discipline of troops off duty.
But behind the scene
preparation went on for duties of a more complex nature to be
brought into use when the Canadian army came to actual grips
with the enemy. The chief
duty planned for was that of traffic control.
Long hours of thought and practical application were spent in England
perfecting these plans so that when the "great day" arrived
everything
would run smoothly.
That the Provost man on traffic control duty in a battle
area had a tough job will be admitted by all who saw him there.
He was faced with distractions of every kind
yet one error on
his part might well have had very serious consequences. he
was required to know exactly which way each unit had to go
and the best way to get there.
He had to be prepared to accept responsibility with regard
to diversions and alternate routes. He knew by heart the serial
numbers of every unit taking part and the type of every
vehicle,
whilst all around him German shells were exploding and aircraft straffing. The Provost doing this all by himself with so much
responsibility was, more often then not, a lowly
one striper -
a lance corporal.
Whilst training in England went on, the Provost were still
considered by other troops to be merely "flat feet" and "traffic
cops" but after Dieppe it was a different story and the baby
Corps commenced to earn the first signs of respect. Here the
Provost went ashore with the first wave ready to direct the
tanks up the beach and sort order out of the confusion
which
must necessarily surround any initial landing in enemy-held
country. Despite adverse conditions and high casualties, the
Canadian Provost Corps came through its baptism of
fire with
flying colours and was accepted by the troops as "an outfit
that perhaps wasn't so bad after all."
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Came Into Its Own
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Dieppe being just a reconnaissance in force, it was not until
the Canadian landed in Sicily that the Provost Corps really came
into its own. It was here that they were able to put into
practise
their traffic control methods under real battle conditions and all
troops soon respected the lone Provost standing up amidst shell
and mortar fire directing traffic, untangling snarls,
apparently
oblivious to his own danger and sometimes staying on a corner
just a bit too long.
As the advance up the Italian "boot" proceeded, the
Provost were always found working well forward. In fact, it was
common for troops to come upon Provost placing "Out Of Bounds"
signs at one end of a town whilst "Jerry" was still on his way out of
the other. Route-signing became a very important part of traffic
control and with no railways functioning, a few roads
available,
and the necessity for getting supplies up, wounded and prisoners
back, it had to be very carefully worked out. Certain roads (up
routes) were set aside for forward traffic and
others (down routes)
were used only to the rear, the two being joined by lateral routes.
Those in 1st Corps will well remember such signs as SUNUP
and BOTTLE DOWN,
whilst German place names such as
Hamburg, Bremen, etc., were used for laterals.
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Special Company
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A Special Traffic Control Company of some 254 all ranks
was formed in Italy and on a Corps front they were known to
place as many as 200 route signs per mile of advance.
Incidentally,
it was this Traffic Control Company that controlled the ":Gold Flake"
route from Marseilles to Cambrai when the Canadians were
pulled out of Italy to join their
comrades in Northern France, Belgium
and Holland.
As the war proceeded, additional duties fell to the Corps.
The Provost became responsible for prisoners-of-war and
handled them from the Brigade area back to Army
where they were
taken over by the Corps of Military Police, the British Army
equivalent to the Canadian Provost Corps. Cages were built, and
as the war was far from static,
this involved an immense amount of
labour with speed essential. In addition, field punishment camps
were constructed and maintained.
As cities and towns were liberated it was found that the civil
police forces were no longer existent, and once again the Provost
were called upon to take up their duties until such
time as
re-organization took place.
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Special investigations squads were also formed whose particular job was the investigation of serious crime and
running down the Black Marketeers. These new duties
were
taken over with a minimum of fuss and in a short time many
would-be profiteers were wondering what hit them.
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In North-West Europe, Provost units played their part
when the "big show" started on D-Day and moved forward
with their formations as the advance progressed from the
Normandy beachhead through France, Belgium and Holland
into Germany. Many difficult problems in traffic control were
met and mastered and of these the Seine crossing
will probably
be remembered as a highlight. In this theatre Provost signed
and manned such well known routes as "Maple Leaf," "London,"
"Diamond" and "Ruby."
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"Had To "Clean Up"
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While it is difficult to select any particular feat for mention,
perhaps it is worthwhile relating the 0ccasion when a sergeant
and detail of men from N. 8 Provost Company
were left to clean
up a captured town after armoured elements had passed through
in pursuit of Nazi tanks. The Provost detachment closely
followed the armour, entered
the town immediately behind our tanks
and was surprised to find itself left alone there; the tank
Commander had made a brief pause only and roared on in pursuit.
After having mopped up pockets of resistance and not knowing
what else they might find in the way of Nazis, the little body of Provost
decided to get with their own job
in any case, so set about laying out
traffic control and other police arrangements.
When other troops reached the village they were amazed to find
Provost already on duty and the position consolidated.
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Provost Training
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And how did all this come about? It stands to reason that
it would have been impossible just to gather up the necessary
number of men, put a provost flash on their
shoulders, a badge
on their caps and throw an "M.P." arm band at them and then
expect them to carry out the multitudinous and complex just
described. The answer
is and was specialized training!
The initial overseas Company was formed from members
of the RCMP on special leave of absence and their training in
Canada and England was a Divisional responsibility.
Other
overseas companies set up in the first three years of the war,
and with a health sprinkling of ex-civil policemen, were also
trained within their own formations. As the
companies overseas
increased, an attempt was made to co-ordinate training and to
this end the Provost Wing, No.1 Canadian General Reinforcement
Unit, was formed.
This functioned well and finally acted as a
concentration point and refresher base for reinforcements arriving
from Canada.
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In Canada, however, the Corps had its difficulties. It was recognized
that brawn was of considerably lesser account than brains, but where
to get the men who had it
"between the ears" presented a difficult
problem in that such combat units as the Infantry, Artillery, Armoured
Corps and Engineers had top priority.
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The Companies being formed in Canada for home duties
were forced to get men where they could and train them as best
they were able. District DAPM's and local Company
Commanders
visited Basic Training Centres in an attempt to sell the Corps to the
newly joined recruits - often bashful at the thought of policing his
brothers-in-arms - and then
arrange for re-allocation to the Corps
of those who volunteered to join it and were considered suitable.
It became the Company Commander's responsibility to train these
new
men and attempt to operate efficiently with what they had at
their disposal.
The need for a central training establishment was finally
recognized and on 1 Nov. 1942, A32 Canadian Provost Corps
Training Centre was opened at Camp Borden.
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Two Courses
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In the beginning the Training Centre drew its men undergoing
training from one source only - the Provost Companies in Canada.
There were two Courses - one of four weeks
duration for
categorized men for duty in Canada only, and the other (lasting
twelve weeks) designed for overseas reinforcements. On the
completion of the Course the men
returned to their Companies
in Canada, the reinforcements to await their call for overseas service.
In 1943, A32 commenced to take in new recruits and ran its own
Basic
Training. Then it took 17 weeks to turn out trained Provost.
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Because it was by now fully recognized that the Provost required
"the Cream of the Crop," the qualifications for Provost material ran high.
A minimum "M"
score of 115 was essential together with at
least Grade 9 education and physical condition to meet any emergency.
It was stressed that to be a good Provost he must be a soldier
par
excellence first and be able to do all that the fully trained soldier could do
ing even better fashion. He had to drill better, shoot better and look smarter
before he was acceptable
and as some evidence that this was accomplished
it is pointed out that no less than three times during this past year the Basic
Training Company of A32 won the Team Shooting
Trophy open to all
units in Camp Borden.
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The young Provost recruit was taught that he was no
longer a "care-free" soldier like the other guy; that he must at all
times appear smartly and properly dressed, and that though
one
of his main functions was the maintenance of discipline it was to
be a discipline not established by force or fear, but by the use
of tact and by the use of his head.
"Discipline by Example" was
to be his watchword.
In addition, he was taught the gentle art of "judo" the
mysteries of mines and booby traps, the taming of the motorcycle
and the "jeep," the procedures of military law, the finer points
of
traffic duty and traffic control and the puzzles of map using, thereby
fitting him as much as possible for the arduous job that would be
his on arrival overseas.
And so the Canadian Provost Corps has slowly grown up.
men of the Corps may have started out with two strikes against
them but they hit so many homers that the old score has been
completely "washed out." The boys proudly wearing the Lion
and the crown have won the hearty respect of all their fellow
soldiers who have seen them in action - and won it the hard
way.
"Discipline by Example" was their watch word and their
example has been second to none.
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This article was published in a 1945 Canadian Army
Memorandum in which the Provost Marshal, Army,
Col L.H. Nicholson, (formerly RCMP) outlines the
operational function of members
of the Canadian Provost
Corps in wartime. It was submitted to the C Pro C
Association Web Site by Mr Peter Platt, son of former
member of the Canadian Provost Corps, the late
LCol J.J.
(Jack) Platt.
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In the history of the British Army, various references will be found to the office and function of the Provost
Marshal and to the use of troops under his command in the
enforcement of discipline. These reference
date back to the middle ages and it is of interest to note that at one time the Provost marshal had judicial
power and was
enabled to impose summary punishment.