Date of birth:

February 12th, 1907

Date of death:

1966

Nationality:

Canadian (1931-present, Constitutional Monarchy)

Archibald Ballantyne Scott Donald was born in Scotland on 12 Feb 1907. His mother died when he was very young and his father took him to Canada. Before WW2 he attended the University of British Columbia, and later joined two Militia units: The 49th Loyal Edmonton Regiment and an unidentified artillery unit, each with a different weekly drill night. When war broke out he had to confess and choose one of these units, and opted for the Edmontons. He went to England with the first Canadian contingent in 1939, trained as a commando in Scotland and took part in the raid on Spitzbergen in 1941. In Sicily during the arduous two-day approach to Point 736 his men became exhausted. Because Major Donald knew the ground better than anyone Lt Col Jefferson gave him two platoons from another company and told him to plan the attack and give his orders. As the citation says, he led his men to the start line in person and the attack was a complete success. I believe it took place on 5th August 1943, not 3rd August as stated in the citation. When the Edmontons moved to Italy he returned to UK and served in staff appointments. In 1947 he left the army and trained in UK as a teacher, then rejoined the Royal Army Education Corps in 1949, and as one of its most highly decorated personnel led its contingent in the Coronation Parade through London in 1953. He retired in 1961 but served on as a Retired Officer (RO) and died in UK in 1966 as a Lieutenant-Colonel DSO ED BA, leaving four children by two marriages.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Major

Unit:

C Company, 1st Battalion, The Loyal Edmonton Regiment, 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Infantry Division, Canadian Army

Recommendation:
Point 736, a 500 yard high rocky and precipitous feature four miles north of Regalbuto, held by some 250 Germans was the object of “C” Coy Edmonton Regiment’s attack on 3 August 1943.
This feature had been taken and lost by counterattack four times in the preceeding three days, and on this afternoon German mortar and machine gun fire dominated and swept the open 1500 yard approach.
Major Donald, commanding “C” Coy, skillfully used the little cover available, provided his covering fire from a section of his own company, provided for artillery fire controlled by himself through a chain of runners, and then personally led the company up, across and around the bullet swept feature into a position from which the height was assaulted and captured with a minimum of loss. No Germans escaped and only four were taken prisoner.
The courage, the gallantry, the skill and inspiring leadership of Major Donald was largely responsible for the success of this operation.

• - ZUEHLKE, M., Operation Husky, Douglas & McIntyre Publishers Inc., Vancouver, Canada, 2008.
  - National Defence and the Canadian Forces