The death of Lt. Col. Ralph Crowe, in the attempt to take Agira, is described by Dancocks[1]:
"Fate intervened at this point. With radio communications breaking down, Colonel Crowe, in Nissoria, was anxious to restore control over his scattered battalion. Around 1800, hearing the sound of firing in the distance, he apparently concluded that his wayward companies had cleared the hills and reached their objectives. Setting out with a small party of signallers and engineers, he brazenly walked up the slope south of the road, calling "RCR!" Not until he was wounded by a machine-gun bullet did Crowe realize that he had blundered into the heart of the enemy defences. Taking up a rifle, the colonel returned the fire, until a second enemy bullet killed him. . .."
Dancocks noted that the loss of the colonel and his second-in-command (Major Pope) were the only casualties amongst the RCR officers in the Sicily campaign.
[1] p. 76. Daniel G. Dancocks "The D-Day Dodgers: The Canadians in Italy", McClelland & Stewart Inc., Toronto, 1991