Special Order of the Day
by
BRIGADIER J.N. TETLEY, Commander 25 Tank Brigade


24 May 44

1. The following messages have been received and replies sent:

From Commander 1 Cdn Corps
To Commander 25 Army Tank Brigade.
rptd Commander 1 Cdn Inf Div

Canadians owe a debt of gratitude to the 25 Tank Bde which has fought so magnificently with us today. The courage and determination of all ranks has been beyond praise.

From Commander 25 Tank Brigade
To Commander 1 Cdn Corps.
rptd Commander 1 Cdn Inf Bde

All ranks 25 Tank Brigade thank you for your most generous message. This day has been a great one for all of us and we shall never ask for better comrades than 1 Cdn Inf Div

From 1 Cdn Inf Div
To 25 Tank Bde
Message from Comd 1 Cdn Corps to Comd 1 Cdn Div.

CANADA will be proud for ever of a battle which its 1 Cdn Div has today won. Through the courage and determination of all ranks of the Div and their British Comrades of the 25 Tank Bde, HITLER LINE has been broken in the face of bitter opposition and the enemy has been dealt a blow from which he will NOT soon recover. The final victory is nearer. Let us press on and complete our task.

From G.O.C.1 Cdn Inf Div.
To 25 Tank Bde.

Well done. We have won a resounding victory. This victory is the fruits of your magnificent courage, endurance and the will to win. Now we have the bastards on the run we must keep cracking. Good luck. I am the proudest man in the world

From 25 Tank Bde
To G.O.C. 1 Cdn Inf Div

All ranks 25 Tk Bde thank you for your kind message. We ask for nothing better than to fight with 1 Cdn Inf Div under your command and will help to make Kesselring run faster and farther yet.

2. The Bde Commander wishes these messages and the following to be read to all ranks.

By the great courage and determination which you have shown today and by the magnificent manner in which you faced trhe most difficult task you have ever met, you have made a great page in history. Many experienced soldiers might have thought your task impossible in such country and with such skilled and determined defence. I thank you all for the great job you have done.

3. General G.C.Vokes, DSO, Commanding 1 Cdn Inf Bde, has intimated that he would be pleased if all ranks of 25 Tk Bde would wear a Maple Leaf emblem in token of the part played by the Bde assisting 1 Cdn Inf Div to breach the ADOLF HITLER LINE.

Commander, 25 Tank Brigade, has accepted the offer with thanks.

Further instructions will be issued at a later date.

(Sgd) J.N.Tetley Brigadier
Commander, 25 Tank Brigade

General Oliver Leese to Brigadier Tetley

HQ Eighth Army
30 May 1944

My Dear Tetley.

I must write to congratulate you, your staff and your troops on the achievement of your Brigade in breaking through the Adolph Hitler Line.

For the Canadians their performance on the day will rightly go down as an epic in Canadian military history. To their victory your Brigade made, in my opinion, an all important contribution and I trust you will congratulate from me the officers and men concerned for their dash and gallantry. I know that you had heavy losses in tanks and personnel but these were inevitable in an operation of that character and they won the day.

The Canadians cannot speak highly enough of your Brigade’s part in the battle and are proud that you will in future share their emblem. The co-operation you established with the Canadians was admirable and without it the operation could not have succeeded.

I would like to congratulate you personally on your success and the high spirit of your troops.

With my very best wishes, Yours ever,

Oliver Leese

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