36. A CANLOAN Officer

One of the men that used the Vickers to its maximum effect was Lieutenant Rex Fendick of 2 Middlesex – the Divisional Machine Gun Battalion of British 3 Division. Rex was a CANLOAN – loaned to the British Army from Canada. He was a platoon commander who joined 2 Middlesex as a replacement officer shortly after Operation OVERLORD in Normandy. He was a passionate machine gun officer who understood the capabilities and effect of the Vickers and the Medium Machine Gun role. Thankfully for us, he published a memoir in the late 1990s that gives superb detail about his experiences and the use of the Vickers at that time. We were privileged to have permission to republish that as part of our work.