TORONTO — Denis Whitaker, one of Canada’s most decorated World War II heroes and a top equestrian competitor, has died after a brief illness. He was 86.
Whitaker died May 30 in Oakville, Ontario, near Toronto, and received a full regimental funeral on June 4.
He twice received the Distinguished Service Order, second to the Victoria Cross among military decorations. The first came when he was a 27-year-old captain of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, which took part in an ill-fated raid on the beach at Dieppe, France, on Aug. 19, 1942.
Eventually trapped after fighting into the town plaza, Whitaker pulled his men back to the beach and withstood an enemy onslaught until landing craft managed to rescue the survivors.
“Dieppe is synonymous with disaster in Canadian military history,” said Serge Durflinger, a historian at the Canadian War Museum. “Yet Denis Whitaker is an example of success at Dieppe.”
Whitaker eventually became a brigadier general and won a second Distinguished Service Order for leading his regiment through campaigns in Holland and Germany.
“Denis Whitaker was one of the true Canadian heroes of the Second World War,” Durflinger said.
Whitaker also was chairman of the Canadian Equestrian Team for 22 years, was chief executive officer of Canada’s O’Keefe brewery and was a consultant for a stock brokerage.
In the 1980s, he and his wife, Shelagh, began a successful collaboration as authors. They produced four histories of Canada’s fighting role in Europe.
One of them, “Tug of War: the Canadian Victory that Opened Antwerp,” won the John W. Dafoe Award as best book on international affairs.
Whitaker was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1990 and appointed an officer of the French Legion of Honor in 1995.
He was survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter from a first marriage and four stepdaughters.
