Captain George Wheelock Burbidge of the 4th Field Company was the first Canadian sapper to set foot in Sicily. He married Ruth Burbidge (nee Walker) in 1940 while serving. Captain Burbidge was attached to Combined Operations HQ and was assigned to 3 Combined Operations Pilotage Parties in Malta. These small parties (three or four in size) gathered covert information on proposed landing beaches which was invaluable to the planners. They were unloaded from submarines and used collapsible canoes to get to shore undetected. Captain Burbidge was the only Army officer on the team, the rest being members of the Royal Navy. After two successful missions, he and his party disappeared on their third mission and were reported missing March 4, 1943.
Source: History of the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers, Vol. II
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