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South Albertas:
A Canadian Regiment at War
by Donald E. Graves
The 29th Canadian Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment (South Alberta
Regiment) was formed
in 1940 from five Alberta militia units, and most of its original
members came from western Canada.
Almost forgotten today, the SAR forged a splendid combat record
and was the only Canadian unit to
receive the Victoria Cross during the Normandy campaign of 1944
and the only Canadian armoured
regiment to receive that medal during the Second World War. As
the Allies advanced across
northwest Europe, the South Albertas were often in the lead and
photographs of their Sherman tanks
garlanded with flowers and flags and surrounded by jubilant civilians
are familiar to many.
The story of this proud unit takes the "boys from the
bald-headed prairie" from the Rockies to the
Rhine, and it is a chronicle of gallantry, sacrifice, military
professionalism and humour, for
although the South Albertas took their soldiering seriously, they
never took themselves seriously.
This trait will endear them to readers who follow this engaging
account of a group of enthusiastic
but green young recruits, products of the Depression, from the
time they enter service in 1940
through the years of preparation in Canada and Britain, to the
turmoil of combat in 1944-1945,
and into the postwar world.
Three chapters deal with the SAR's most famous action, the
Battle of the Falaise Gap in August 1944,
where Major David Currie earned the Victoria Cross in four days
of vicious fighting in and around
the little Norman village of St. Lambert-sur-Dives. Based on new
research in French, German and
Polish sources, this is the most complete account of this action
yet to appear in print. New research
has also been incorporated in the accounts of the SAR's other
major actions, including Operation
BLOCKBUSTER in 1945, an ill-fated attack that has been called
the "Charge of the Light Brigade"
of Commonwealth armour.
This book is lavishly illustrated with more than 300 maps,
photographs, cartoons, and scale drawings
of fighting vehicles (Ram tanks, Sherman tanks, Crusader tanks
and others), plus eight pages of colour
illustrations including specially commissioned artwork and rare
wartime photographs. Appendices
contain details of the Regiment's battle honours, awards and decorations;
fatal casualties; organization,
weapons and tactics; a complete nominal roll; and a glossary of
hundreds of military terms, acronyms
and abbreviations that appear in the text.
Written in plain language for the general reader, South
Albertas: A Canadian Regiment at War is a
record of the part played by Canada's young men in this century's
greatest conflict. It will appeal to
those interested in Canadian history, military history, armoured
warfare during World War II,
and the meaning and the cost of courage.
Donald E. Graves studied history at the University of
Saskatchewan in Saskatoon before serving as
director of the Army Museum, Halifax Citadel, and being employed
as an historian by the Canadian
Forces. He is the managing director of Ensign Heritage Group,
a private firm that specializes in heritage
consulting, research and travel, and often leads guided tours
to the sites of the battles in North America
and Europe that he writes about in his books.
South Albertas: A Canadian Regiment at War is Don Graves's
seventh book. His study of the 1814
Battle of Lundy's Lane, Where Right and Glory Lead!, has
been called "an exercise in military history
at its best." He is currently at work on a history fo the
South Alberta Light Horse, to be published in 2005.