Christopher Vokes

Christopher Vokes
300px Brigadier Robert Moncel (left) and Major General Christopher Vokes, 10 April 1945.
Born	(1904-04-13)13 April 1904 Armagh, Northern Ireland
Died	Oakville, Ontario
Allegiance	Canada
Service/branch	Canadian Army
Rank	Major General
Unit	Royal Canadian Engineers
Commands held	2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade 1st Canadian Infantry Division 4th Canadian Armoured Division
Battles/wars	World War II Operation Husky Battle of Ortona Battle of the Hochwald
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Canadian Forces Decoration
Other work	General Officer Commanding the Canadian Army Occupation Force in Europe

Major General Christopher Vokes CB, CBE, DSO, CD, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (13 April 1904–27 March 1985) was a senior Canadian Army officer who fought in World War II.

Family

Born in Armagh, Ireland, the son of a British officer, Major Frederick Patrick Vokes and Elizabeth Vokes, who came to Canada in 1910. Major Frederick Patrick Vokes was the engineering officer at the Royal Military College of Canada. The family lived in Married Quarters at Ridout Row, Royal Military College of Canada.

Christopher Vokes' brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Alexander Vokes (RMC 1926–1930, #1940), took a leading part in the assault on Dieppe in August 1942. In early 1944 he was sent to Italy as commanding officer of the 9th Armoured Regiment (The British Columbia Dragoons). On August 31, 1944, Frederick Alexander Vokes, Royal Canadian Dragoons, was seriously wounded in action and died in a field hospital in Italy after being hit by a German shell while standing beside his tank September 4, 1944.

Military service

File:Simonds.jpg

Major General C Vokes (4th Armoured Division), General H D C Crerar (Army Commander), Field Marshal Sir Bernard L Montgomery, Lieutenant General B G Horrocks (30 British Corps, Attached Canadian Army), Lieutenant General G C Simonds (2 Corps), Major General D C Spry (3rd Infantry Division), and Major General A B Mathews (2 Division)

From 1921 to 1925, he attended the Royal Military College of Canada #1633 and was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Engineers. He then attended McGill University from 1926 to 1927 where he received a Bachelor of Science degree and was a member of the Kappa Alpha Society. From 1934 to 1935, he attended Staff College, Camberley in England. In Depression-Era Canada, many military bases were improved by civilians working in relief camps under supervision of professional military officers, including Camp Dundurn. The original engineer drawings for the concrete rifle range butts were signed by Chris Vokes, in that capacity. Barrack Blocks in Dundurn resemble similar buildings constructed at Camp Valcartier in the same time frame.

In 1942, he was promoted to brigadier and was put in charge of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade where he was part of the Allied invasion of Sicily. In 1943, he became commander of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and promoted to Major-General. He was the commander of the division during the Battle of Ortona, after which he was criticized for unimaginative tactics and frontal assaults. In 1944, he took over command of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division and fought in the Battle of the Hochwald.

In 1945 he ordered the systematic destruction by flames and bulldozers of the Northern German city of Friesoythe as reprisal for a killing of one of his subordinates allegedly by a civilian from that town.

From June 1945 to May 1946, he was the General Officer Commanding the Canadian Army Occupation Force in Europe. Returning to Canada, he commanded the Army's Central Command and then Western Command. He retired in 1959.

He died of cancer in Oakville, Ontario in 1985.

References

• 'Chris Vokes, My Story' Major General Chris Vokes, CB, CBE, DSO, CD with John P.Maclean. Gallery Publishing, 1985, 233 pages

External links

• Christopher Vokes at The Canadian Encyclopedia