Product Description

Canadian troops landing on Juno Beach on 6 June 1944 were fulfilling the promise made by their government in 1939, 'to take up arms against an aggressor state whose policy threatened to destroy free government everywhere'. It was a noble cause about which the Canadian people remain extremely proud. Canadian 3rd Division, assaulting the Normandy beaches to help liberate the French people from Nazi tyranny, numbered many descendants of European forebears. Famous Canadian formations with European antecedents such as the New Brunswick Regiment, La Regiment de la Chaudiere, the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders and the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada overcame chaos on the beaches and endured heavy casualties. Their determination and drive saw them progress further inland than troops from any other of the Allied beachheads. The Juno Beach landings were just the start of the Canadians' long struggle to Germany and victory. In the coming days they would face some of Hitler's toughest troops, including 12 SS-Panzer Division 'Hitlerjugend', in a war of ideals where duty faced fanaticism and surrender often led to massacre. Ken Ford takes the reader back to the battlefields of June 1944, revisiting the scenes of the fighting in the green fields and lanes of Normandy, identifying the places that remain from the war and remembering the young men who fell in the service of Canada and the Allied cause.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42409 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

About the Author
Ken Ford spent twenty-nine years as a telecommunications engineer before retiring to the life of a bookshop owner. He is now a full-time author and has written over a dozen books on various aspects of the Second World War including four for Sutton: Battleaxe Division(1999), D.Day Commando (2003) and Battle Zone Normandy: Sword Beach (2004) Ken lives in Southampton.

Customer Reviews

A good introduction to the battlefield
Having recently prepared a battlefield tour for Canadian customers, I can with confidence suggest that this book gives overdue focus and detail to the efforts and achievements of the Canadians on D Day. It also gives due reference to the German defenders and their actions.

It is basically split into three sections which logically deal with the needs of the battlefield visitor. Firstly the history is explained coherently and is assisted by excellent quality maps, (something sadly missing from so many military history books theses days). These include several colour maps produced before the landings indicating the allied expectations of German defences.
Then the reader is offered five battlefield tour routes, emphasising different aspects of the Canadian D Day action. All are easy to follow and again supplemented by colour IGN maps. A good selection of D Day photographs is included giving a basis for comparison. Of course a little 1944 imagination is required but that is ever the case with battlefield touring.
The third section small section 'Further Research' touches on something that is often overlooked following a battlefield tour. Most battlefield tourists return enthused to follow up their visit with research and this section helps the general reader direct their energies in the best way.
Overall an excellent book and indispensable to any battlefield guide seeking a well focussed book to prepare a tour detailing the Canadian assault on D Day, as well as a being a good reference book for the general reader.

Mike McCarthy
Editor, 'The Battle Guide'
Guild of Battlefield Guides