Denis Whitaker, February 27, 1915 - May 30, 2001 Denis Whitaker was born on February 27, 1915 in Alberta, Canada. His father was an army major who moved his family to Toronto when Denis was a boy. In 1937, Whitaker graduated from the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, where he was a captain of the football and hockey teams. After graduation, he went on to play football for the Hamilton Tigers Canadian pro football team as their star quarterback. Whitaker joined the Canadian Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, known as the Rileys, during World War II. He was part of the famed tragic raid on Dieppe in Normandy as a junior officer, but managed to capture a casino on the beach, dismantle… the Germans firing from inside and lead his men into the town of Dieppe. It was this action that earned him his first award for valor, the Distinguished Service Order, the second highest Canadian military award. He was then promoted to commander of the Rileys, and even though wounded in the beginning of the fighting, returned to lead his men through combat in the Netherlands and Germany. In 1945 he received another Distinguished Service Order for exploits against the Germans in the Rhineland. By the time the war ended, Whitaker had risen in the ranks to the position of Colonel and by 1951, when he retired, he had accomplished the position of Brigadier General. By the time he retired, Whitaker was had become one of the most decorated army officers of World War II. After the war, Whitaker accepted a position as an executive with CHML Radio in Hamilton, Ontario, as well as President of O'Keefe Brewery Company. He was also able to pursue his love of certain sports, and served as Chairman of the Canadian National Equestrian Team from 1960 til 1982. He won the Canadian Senior Singles Title in Squash and Water Skiing and organized fund raising events for Canadian Olympic. With his wife, Whitaker wrote books on Canadian campaigns during the war. "Tug of War: The Canadian Victory That Opened Antwerp," published in 1984, won the John W. Defoe award as the year's best book on Canadian international affairs. The two also wrote "Rhineland: The Battle to End the War," printed in 1989, "Dieppe: Tragedy to Triumph," in 1992, and "Victory at Falaise: The Soldiers' Story," in 2000. On May 30, 2001, Dennis Whitaker, famed Canadian war hero, died in Oakville, Ontario at the age of 86.
Terry Coppis the director of the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies and a professor emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is the author or co-author of fourteen books and many articles on the Canadian role in the Second World War, including travel guides to the Canadian battlefields. Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandywon the 2004 Distinguished Book Award for non-US history from the American Society for Military History.