Major Roy Styffe

1919-1997
Born Leroy, Edward Styffe’s brother
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada 

Major Styffe joined the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor) at Soliers near Caen, where he commanded the Scout Platoon `C’ Company. Rapidly he rose to command the Company and led it across France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Throughout, he exhibited powers of leadership and an unshakable resolve to close with the enemy which established a standard of conduct among all ranks of his Company. On one occasion, in the Battle of the Scheldte, he was in charge of a force of commandeered small craft which assaulted German naval units and shore installations. He landed on a small island west of Sluis and pressed in with his Company against the heavily defended dock area, killing eighty Germans, taking four prisoners and causing an additional hundred to withdraw hastily to the west. During this whole action and particularly at the critical moment of touching down, Major Styffe showed a complete disregard for his personal safety, exhorting his men to superhuman efforts by his own magnificent example.

At Fort Crevecour on the Maas, this officer led his men up to the water obstacle which separates the fort from the mainland, and held them there under the heaviest shelling and mortaring ever experienced in that sector, until the right moment for the crossing arrived. All the while, snipers were active in the area at ranges down to thirty yards. The fighting spirit, kept boiling over in the troops by the unquenchable optimist of Major Styffe in the midst of this hell of high explosives, swept the Company across the canal and carried the fort in a single mad rush. Again in Hockwald Forest, Major Styffe led his Company forward in the first searching probe into the gap. Cut off from his tanks by a concealed self propelled gun, he was forced to consolidate the Company in the vicinity of some farm buildings. Despite the fact that the mortar fire on the position was so heavy that the report of individual bombs could not be distinguished, he made his way from one platoon position to another, so co-ordinating the defenses, that each German counter-attack was beaten off. Only when the armored personnel carrier beside which he was standing was hit by a Panzerfaust and he suffered terrible injuries, was Major Styffe carried, protesting, to shelter. The sterling example of courage, endurance and fighting efficiency set by this officer will long serve as a model for all ranks of the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor). His indomitable spirit will always be remembered by 4 Canadian Armored Brigade.