The Brigade

Battalion- and company-level account of the vital contributions of Canadian soldiers to victory in Europe in World War II Based on war diaries, casualty reports, and after-action interviews The author is one of Canada's preeminent military historians Consisting of the Calgary Highlanders, the Black Watch, and the French-speaking Règiment de Maisonneuve, the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade landed in France in early July 1944 as part of British General Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group. That summer, the brigade participated in hellish battles in Normandy, including Caen and Verriéres Ridge. The 5th went on to distinguish itself in Belgium, where it endured foul weather and fierce resistance near Antwerp in October 1944, and ended the war with bloody streetfighting in the towns of Holland.