Harry Vollick enlisted in late 1939 or early 1940 with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment and was given the service number B88033, then transferred to the 48th Highlanders in Toronto and sailed with a draft of 48th from Halifax on 12 May 1940, disembarking at Liverpool on 22 May. In the UK he was assigned to 1 Cdn Sigs Holding Unit and was transferred to the 1st Battalion, 48th Highlanders of 28 June 1941as a Private. In August he was Qualified signaller and entitled to wear Crossed Flags on his sleeve. He passed the Battalion Signaller course on 26 November 1942. He was appointed A/L/Cpl on 04 March 1943 and then A/Cpl on 20 Jun 1943 when the battalion was in Gourock, Scotland practicing assault landings. With the battalion, he sailed on the Troopship Derbyshire on 28 June, landing on the beaches at Pachino, Sicily on 9 July. In preparation for sailing, he gave his next of kin as his wife, Mrs. Evelyn Vollick in Athens, Ontario. Cpl Vollick fought through the Sicilian Campaign from 9 July to 6 August when the battalion rested at Militello. On 24 August he was put on the X-3 List (hospital), returning to the battalion four days later on the 28th. It is likely that he contracted malaria when at the Simeto River camp temporarily used prior to Militello.
Cpl Vollick was with the battalion for the crossing of the Straits of Messina on 3 September, then chasing the Germans up the Adriatic coast to Campobasso in October and the outflanking of Ortona in late December 1943 in which the battalion penetrated at night over 2 miles behind the German lines to threaten the German’s only roads in or out of Ortona. He was appointed A/L/Sgt on 7 January 1944 when the battalion moved to the Arielli River area to conduct fighting patrols into the Gothic Line to determine the German’s strength and positions, then confirmed L/Sgt on 8 April. In May 1944 the battalion moved across Italy to the Liri Valley, then advanced to the Hitler Line, which they breached unsupported on 22/23 May. While the battalion was at rest at Piedmonte d’Alife Sgt Vollick received the 1939-43 Star and on 5 August was transferred to Trg. Incr. 1 CBRD. (records needed for the date of return to the battalion).
On 6 December, again with the battalion, he was qualified Signaller “C” and would have participated in the crossing of the Lamone River on 10 December, the actions between the Lamone and Senio Rivers in December and January. On 12 March 1945, the battalion and the 1st Canadian Division, sailed from Leghorn Italy to Marseille, France then moved to the Reichswald Forest of Germany in preparation for the final liberation of the Netherlands in April. With the war over, Vollick was promoted Sgt on 12 May, following 9 days leave to the UK. On 15 May 1945, while the battalion was at The Hague in the Netherlands, he was transferred to the 4th Battalion, Queen’s Own Rifles. (Service records required for balance of service.) The family recalls the he broke his ankle in a motorbike accident.
NOK: wife – Mrs. Evelyn Vollick, Athens, Ontario
This page is supported in Honour of Harry Vollick by his grandson, Mike Koski.
