At Remembrance Day ceremonies this year, I spoke about the extraordinary service of a great soldier and Northerner from Timmins, Sgt. Frank Fowler. Better known as Buster to his friends, he grew up and worked in the labour and mining industry during the Great Depression before World War II.
In 1941 he enlisted in the 6th Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars), headquartered in London, Ontario. Through the period leading up to the planning of D-Day, Buster progressed through the ranks, training as a gunner, mechanic and driver within the tank corps, achieving the rank of Corporal. The picture below shows Buster in 1943.
In 1944 he was assigned to C Squadron of the regiment, as a tank driver.
The tank was identified as CT-152655, built by the General Motors Tank Arsenal in Flint, Michigan, as the 51st build number for the Sherman M4A2 (75) small-hatch tank, during September of 1942. It was equipped with twin, two-stroke, Detroit 6-71 diesel engines (identified as the GM-6041 power plant) and a 75mm main gun. Shipped overseas to England in 1943, it became part of the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade vehicle pool, assigned to the 1st Hussars, eventually numbering 346 tanks to the end of the war in Europe.
Here is a picture of the restored tank as it sits today at the 1st Hussars Memorial, in Victoria Park, London, Ontario. The regiment gifted the tank to the City of London in 1956.
In early 1944, CT-152655 was assigned as a Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) commander’s tank, with Buster as the driver. Designated for D-Day use, it was outfitted as a wading tank, with caulking to keep out water, and twin snorkels for intake and exhaust. The red square shown on the turret identifies it as a headquarters command tank. Buster underwent more training to learn the operations of this medium size battle tank.
Under extreme secrecy, Buster was prepared for D-Day. The picture below was taken at some point in early March of 1944 at Studland Bay, Dorset, England. Exercise Prank served as a critical dress rehearsal for the Normandy amphibious landing, involving the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Buster is standing in the middle of the photo.
Here is a picture of the tank he likely trained on, during the Exercise. Buster is second from the left.
His driver station in the tank is shown in the training picture below:
A close-up photo of the driver’s engine control panel is shown below:
His crew consisted of:
- Major Frank White (Crew Commander and Regimental Second in Command)
- Corporal Frank “Buster” Fowler (Driver)
- Trooper William “Bill” Reed (Gunner)
- Trooper Terry Doherty (Loader/Operator)
- Trooper Everett Smith (Assistant Driver / Co-driver)
They became a tight-knit and highly skilled team. It is difficult to separate the actions of Buster and the crew without describing the interesting history surrounding the tank and its action over the ensuing 11 months.
As a regimental custom, all RHQ tanks were named with a beginning letter H. Major White suggested the name Hairless Joe but Buster came up with the name Holy Roller, insisting that it had a much better sound to it and captured the notion that the tank could roll over any obstacle because it would have the protection of divine intervention.
Major White suggested a crew vote which resulted in the moniker Holy Roller as the winner. Buster immediately painted the name onto the hull of the tank. Here is a picture of the tank readying for D-Day, at the time the name was actually painted on the hull. Note the wading snorkel trunks being installed.
Thus prepared, the Holy Roller and crew were loaded onto LCT 522 (Landing Craft, Tank) on June 3rd, 1944. Here is a picture of LCT 522 being loaded from a pontoon barge:
Buster and his crew awaited their final orders for D-Day schedules and objectives. As the RHQ tank for C Squadron, Holy Roller would not launch during the first invasion wave. A and B squadrons, made up of 71 M4A1 swimming tanks, were planned to be the first to land. Holy Roller would take up a position on the beach twenty minutes after the first wave, and then coordinate regimental communications and strategy for the invading tank force.
The orders were given for June 6th D-Day landings and LCT 522 departed for Normandy at 03:00. Very heavy seas contributed to unplanned delays and equipment failures. Some B Squadron duplex drive tanks launched at sea, but six to ten foot waves slowed headway on the water and they landed at 07:30, at the same time as the infantry. The enemy trained their weapons from their entrenched fortress positions (as shown in the following maps).
Holy Roller landed with the second wave at 08:20. Buster waded the tank ashore at the NAN Green sector of Juno Beach, directly in front of the town of Courseulles-sur-Mer (and the present day Juno Beach Centre).
The Regina Rifles infantry landed at the same time and Buster drove the Holy Roller in support of the troops, with the objective of clearing a path through the sea wall, establishing a beach exit and eliminating the enemy anti-tank, heavy artillery, mortar and machine gun placements. The infantry made quick work of overcoming 88mm and 55mm guns within concrete bunkers. At 09:00 the task of clearing blocks of Courseulles-sur-Mer began with intense street fighting supported by B Squadron and C Squadron heavy tank reinforcements. The tanks fired over the sea wall directly into fortifications.
Damage to the RHQ tank of B Squadron necessitated that Holy Roller take over headquarters command. Indeed, Holy Roller would command the 1st Hussars and the Regina Rifles into battle for the remainder of the Allied advances into Germany.
By 09:30, Holy Roller had established RHQ tactical communications, allowing command to guide the invading forces within Courseulles-sur-Mer inland, toward their end of day objective of Pierrepont. The picture below shows the Regina infantry following an advancing troop tank:
A picture of one of the A Squadron duplex drive swimming Shermans advancing through the town:
Here is a view of the beach landing area at the end of the day, June 6th:
After securing Courseulles-sur-Mer, Buster’s crew stripped off the snorkel and waterproofing components of the tank. Next, they made sure that they had obscured the prominent white stars painted on the hull and turret of the tank, because they found the enemy had used these as gunnery targets in trying to disable their unit on the beach.
Driving on, they achieved their objective, arriving at Pierrepont where they found solid ground to park the 29 tonne tank. The sheer size of the tank (21 by 10 by 10 feet) made precision parking difficult. The picture below shows some of the actual battle damage that Holy Roller sustained, aimed directly at Buster’s station in the tank.
It is difficult to imagine the conditions within the Holy Roller during the European campaign. A daily routine was established for the 1st Hussars. Multiple tanks were placed in a circular harbour configuration called a leaguer, which is a temporary fortified formation, with armaments faced outward, ready for quick action.
In this way, replenishment vehicles could be driven into the centre of the inner circle to service multiple tanks at the same time. Each crew then dug a slit trench under their tank, in which to sleep (if they could), as protection against night artillery shelling. Here is a picture of Buster and the crew resting on some camouflage screening, after a break in action.
They also had to undertake repairs and maintenance of the tank to make it ready for the next enemy engagement. This was done under the supervision of Buster as the master mechanic.
Special care was given to the track, transmission and fuel system components. On the evening of June 6th, Holy Roller had broken a fuel line on the route from Juno Beach, and Buster completed an immediate repair. The work was obscured by the use of flashlights under blankets and netted camouflage. Here is a picture of the Holy Roller in camouflage, within a leaguer, somewhere near Caen, France, in June of 1944.
Next came the job of refuelling with clean diesel fuel (673 litres, giving a 160 km range). Then rearming with 97 rounds of high explosive and armour piercing 75mm shells, 4,750 rounds of .30 calibre ammunition, and any remaining storage room was used for .50 calibre anti-aircraft rounds.
Crew rations were received as Composite Ration Packs in wooden crates, providing 5 men with 3 days’ supply of food. The fare consisted of compressed oatmeal blocks, tins of corned beef, steak and kidney pudding, processed cheese, hard biscuits, tinned fruits and salmon, as well as tea blocks (compressed tea, milk powder and sugar). Food was prepared using boiled water on a portable burner placed on the armoured engine deck.
Here is a picture showing the Holy Roller and the process of preparing the tank for the next day’s action. Buster is holding a composite ration pack, on the left. Note the 75mm shell and 25 litre fuel cans.
A typical day began at 04:30 with the dawn stand-to. The crew would arise and go into their action positions within the hull, where they sat silently, guns loaded, listening to the command radio, in total silence, in anticipation of any enemy attack, until 06:00. The portable burner was lit and breakfast prepared from the Compo Pack rations. Buster would check the fluid levels of the GM 6046 engines and then hammer any loose track pins into place.
The orders for advance were given at 08:00 and the crew assumed their positions. The hull was filled with deafening noise from the twin diesels and drive train. The driver and hull gunner would see the way forward by looking through a narrow periscope prism. The air inside would soon become hot and humid, filled with the smell of diesel, grease and cordite (from the ammunition), not to mention the smell of sweat and other bodily fluids.
The tank commander would attempt to guide the driver away from major obstacles by positioning his head and shoulders above the open turret hatch. Going forward, the enemy was usually engaged around 11:00, with the push inland continuing until 21:00.
Engaging the enemy involved using the throat microphone communication system. Short orders were given. Amid the chaos of battle the main gun and machine guns were fired, creating deafening noise inside the hull. Each time the main gun fired, the breech would roll back to eject a red-hot, smoking shell casing onto the deck. During these events, the tank driver was expected to keep the tank moving in erratic bursts, in an attempt to provide a difficult target for enemy guns.
Given that the tank had a top speed of 50 km per hour, the choice was to destroy the enemy position or go around it, in the drive to keep advancing.
At 21:00, the tank squadron would pull off the road looking for an open field or orchard to create the nightly leaguer. Completing the nightly maintenance and replenishment, the crew would prepare a meal and then attempt to sleep (with one eye open) from 23:30 to 04:30.
This routine would continue for the Holy Roller for the next 11 months as the crew engaged the enemy through 14 major battles across 4,000 kilometres within France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. These included:
- D-Day: the Holy Roller successfully crossed the Juno Beach tidal flats at Courseulles-sur-Mer, France, coordinating the 1st Hussars tanks and Regina Rifles infantry, advancing 11 kilometres inland on its first day.
- The Battle of Caen & Normandy Pocket: the tank supported fierce infantry operations through key Normandy battlegrounds, including Putot-en-Bessin, Le Mesnil-Patry, the Orne, Bourguébus Ridge, and the eventual breakout during the Battle of the Falaise Pocket.
- The Liberation of Calais: in September 1944, the 1st Hussars pushed north to clear German garrison strongholds along the French coast, including the capture of Calais.
- The Battle of the Scheldt: the tank rolled into Belgium and the Netherlands, assisting in the capture of the critical logistics routes leading to Antwerp.
- Operation Veritable (The Rhineland Campaign): in February 1945, the Holy Roller participated in the massive Allied assault into the Reichswald and the Siegfried Line, notably firing heavily in support of the Regina Rifles infantry forces.
- Operation Blockbuster: continuing through late February and early March 1945, the tank coordinated in the final, brutal drive of B Squadron toward the Rhine River, surviving a highly destructive stretch where the 1st Hussars lost 82 Sherman tanks in just nine days.
- The Battle of Apeldoorn: advancing through the Netherlands in April 1945, the Holy Roller took a direct hit from a German 88mm anti-tank gun that destroyed its tracks and suspension units. Rather than abandoning the legendary vehicle, Col. White and the crew repaired it on the battlefield, in record time, to keep it in the fight.
- The Push into Germany (Bad Zwischenahn): the tank finished its wartime journey in northwest Germany, with its final actions taking place around Godensholt and Bad Zwischenahn right before VE-Day.
To their credit, there were no casualties among the crew and all Holy Roller members survived the war. The crew were discharged after the tank was parked at 15 Advanced Base Post in the Netherlands, one of the two surviving tanks that had battled through the landings at Normandy to capitulation in Germany.
Holy Roller is highly regarded by the 1st Hussars and was repatriated to Canada under the following order:
Holy Roller was eventually shipped to London, Ontario, where it now sits as the 1st Hussars regimental war memorial. Along with CT152656 (known as Bomb, of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers), these are the only two Sherman M4A2 tanks to survive the 11 months of action from D-Day through VE-Day.
For these actions spanning 1941 through 1945, Buster Fowler was promoted to Sergeant and awarded several medals:
- The 1939–1945 Star
- The France and Germany Star
- The Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (CVSM)
- The War Medal 1939–1945
Returning home to Timmins in 1945, Buster opened a small auto body shop in South Porcupine, where he worked into the late 1970s. In his leisure time he played upright bass and participated in small dance bands of the area. It is rumoured that he loved to play cards.
Like most WW2 soldiers, and especially most serving Canadians, there is no record of Buster speaking about his war actions. In remembrance we can say that he remained resilient despite his experience of the ravages of war and what he saw out of Holy Roller’s periscope window.
We are forever in his debt for his courageous service in support of our freedom.