The New Brunswick Rangers In The Second World War

"Originating as a 19th century militia, the New Brunswick Rangers were placed on active service for the first time during the Second World War, serving first in the Maritimes and Newfoundland. In 1943, the Rangers were sent to Britain, where they were converted to a heavy weapons support unit, armed with machine guns and mortars in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. In this illuminating account, Matthew Douglass uncovers their participation in the war: their arrival in Normandy and their contributions to the battles in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Present at many of the critical moments of the campaign, the Rangers participated in the Battle of the Falaise Gap, which cleared the way for the advance on Paris and the German border; the Battle of the Scheldt, which secured the vital supply lines of the port of Antwerp; and the Battle of the Reichswald, when German resistance on the west bank of the Rhine was finally broken. Drawing on archival photographs and original source documents, Douglass's account of the Rangers' wartime experiences is a crucial piece in understanding the role of heavy weapons support units on the Western Front. The New Brunswick Rangers in the Second World War is volume 27 of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series. Matthew Douglass holds degrees in history from the University of New Brunswick where he carried out fieldwork in France and Belgium. His publications, including articles in Canadian Military History, feature studies of the Royal Canadian Regiment's role in garrisoning Bermuda in the First World War and the Canadian campaigns in Sicily and the Netherlands in the Second World War. "--

Canadians and War Volume 1 brings together four diverse works of research from four Canadian scholars. Canada's military history is a living, breathing thing, with endless perspectives and accounts to be heard, and this collection seeks to bring some of those little-known stories to light. See the effects of Canada's proud military history throughout the world and the century. Go to a Maritime fishing village in "e;Lunenburg's 'Quiet Riot' and Maritime Resistance to the 1917 Military Service Act"e; by Maryanne Lewell. Fly high above Sicily in "e;Canada's Eagles over HUSKY: Canadian Airmen in the Battle of Sicily"e; by Alexander Fitzgerald-Black. Experience the Dutch occupation through the eyes of a child in "e;Who Were Their Liberators?"e; by Matthew Douglass. Finally, let Lieutenant Colonel W.A. Leavey, (retired) bring his four decades of military experience to hilarious light in "e;Canadian Army Humour: Second World War."e;Jeremy Lammi (Editor)Jeremy Lammi received a Masters of Strategic Studies from the University of Calgary. He is the president of Lammi Publishing Inc.Maryanne Lewell (Author)Maryanne Lewell is a PhD candidate at the University of New Brunswick, where she is studying the Acadians of the Maritime Provinces in the Great War.Alexander Fitzgerald-Black (Author)Alexander Fitzgerald-Black has been published in a number of popular and academic periodicals. Most recently, he wrote an article for Airforce Magazine entitled "e;Two Canadian Aces of 'The Greatest Air Battle of the Mediterranean War.'"e;Matthew Douglass (Author)Matthew Douglass obtained his Master's in History at the University of New Brunswick in 2013, where he examined the combat effectiveness of the New Brunswick Rangers, an Independent Heavy Machine Gun company during the Second World War.W.A. Leavey (Author)A 42-year veteran of the Canadian Army Infantry, W.A. (Bill) Leavey holds a Master's degree in English from the Royal Military College, and he has written two books of anecdotes for the RHC and RCR, entitled War Stories, Anecdotes and Lies.

Colonel G.W.L. Nicholson's Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 was first published by the Department of National Defence in 1962 as the official history of the Canadian Army’s involvement in the First World War. Immediately after the war ended Colonel A. Fortescue Duguid made a first attempt to write an official history of the war, but the ill-fated project produced only the first of an anticipated eight volumes. Decades later, G.W.L. Nicholson - already the author of an official history of the Second World War - was commissioned to write a new official history of the First. Illustrated with numerous photographs and full-colour maps, Nicholson’s text offers an authoritative account of the war effort, while also discussing politics on the home front, including debates around conscription in 1917. With a new critical introduction by Mark Osborne Humphries that traces the development of Nicholson’s text and analyzes its legacy, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 is an essential resource for both professional historians and military history enthusiasts.

Soldiers, of the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, WW2, Who They Were and the Battles They Fought, is a history of Canada's contribution to WW2, told in brief biographies of about 200 soldiers of all ranks. Author, Bruce Morton, the official historian of the regiment, previously recorded the regiment's history in his books One Hundred Years and the French equivalent Cent Ans, both recognized and promoted by the Juno Beach Centre. At all times during the war, the majority of these NS(NB)R soldiers, were men who had been born in New Brunswick or were living there before the war. About 60% were of English, Irish, or Scottish descent, 35% were French, and the balance were First Nations, Blacks, and others. Their fathers were most frequently small farmers, or fishermen who worked in the logging business in the winter. Amenities at home for many were limited to a wood stove, oil lamps, a well, and an outhouse. Most of these soldiers came from large families with 8 to 12 children, and it was common for siblings or a parent to die at an early age. Most of the men who served with the NS(NB)R left school after completing grade five to grade eight, and they had all lived through the ten years of the Great Depression (1929-39). The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment was part of the first wave of the landing on Juno Beach on D-Day (June 6, 1944). Soldiers describe their casualty-intensive battles in Normandy, and during the capture of the French ports along the English Channel, the brutal Battle of the Scheldt, and the Invasion of Germany.

From the deadly shores of North Africa to the invasion of Sicily to the fierce jungle hell of the Pacific, the contribution of the World War II Ranger Battalions far outweighed their numbers. They were ordinary men on an extraordinary mission, experiencing the full measure of the fear, exhaustion, and heroism of combat in nearly every major invasion of the war. Whether spearheading a landing force or scouting deep behind enemy lines, these highly motivated, highly trained volunteers led the way for other soldiers -- they were Rangers. With first-person interviews, in-depth research, and a complete appendix naming every Ranger known to have served, author Robert Black, a Ranger himself, has made the battles of WWII come to life through the struggles of the men who fought to win the greatest war the world has ever seen.

Follows a legendary unit of American fighting men from D-Day through the end of World War II.

A transnational history of how Indigenous peoples mobilised en masse to support the war effort on the battlefields and the home fronts.