Royal Canadian Army rank question

[mhartman118]

I have come across an obituary for my grandmother's cousin. She and her husband were killed in an auto accident in Canada in 1939. I know that her husband was in the Royal Canadian Army. Before her husband's name is the prefix "Lt. Bd." I'm pretty confidant that the "Lt." stands for lieutenant, but I can't figure out what "Bd." means. Can anyone help me?

Thanks,
Michelle

[Barnbarroch]

I expect you've googled it; I did and was none the wiser. You might have to contact the Canadian Army PR dept. The only guess I can come up with is bombardier, but that is no more than a guess and I'm not convinced by it myself!
Good luck,
Jamie.

[Bob White]

Some Googling and reading leads me to think that it's BD instead of B.D. and BD likely stands for battle dress. Possibly this would mean that he was buried in his battle uniform? Just guessing as I knew nothing about this subject 15 minutes ago. I second Jamie's recommendation. :)

[mwphelps]

I have sent this question to a friend of mine who is a retired Canadian Army Colonel. In the meantime, I found this via a google search. It is a segment of a web page at

http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/procedures/training.htm

which discusses the training system used by the Canadians during WWII.

"Training changed in 1942 when The Calgary Highlanders introduced "Battle Drill" to the Canadians, borrowing from the 47th (London) Division. Battle Drill focused on individual and small subunit collective training - the actual nitty-gritty of what a section did in battle."

My friend may have more data on this, but I suspect this citation is an indication this person went through or served as part of this training program during the war.

[Jan Powell]

… her husband was in the Royal Canadian Army. Before her husband's name is the prefix "Lt. Bd." I'm pretty confidant that the "Lt." stands for lieutenant, but I can't figure out what "Bd." means.
I think you are right in the Lt is usually Lieutenant. Bd is usually Brigadier. I have never seen the two together as a rank, but I did an internet search and found that together they are a rank in Brazil.
Alternatively, was he a chaplain? BD can be Bachelor of Divinity.
Just trying a bit of lateral thinking here. :)

[mwphelps]

"Training changed in 1942 when The Calgary Highlanders introduced "Battle Drill" to the Canadians, borrowing from the 47th (London) Division. Battle Drill focused on individual and small subunit collective training - the actual nitty-gritty of what a section did in battle."

I just re-read the whole posting, and noticed that this obit was from 1939, so the whole "Battle Drill" training thing would not have occurred by that time. So scratch that idea...

My Canadian friend was also unaware of the abbreviation, but would like to see the original obit to do more research on it. It is possible to post an image of the original, or perhaps a URL to it online?