Book Reviews Forgotten Victory. First Canadian Army and the Cruel

BOOK REVIEWS Forgotten Victory. Battle Series is highly acclaimed, and First Canadian he brings the same expertise and atten- tion to this volume as he did to those Army and the Cruel before. His writing is exceptional, and Winter of 1944-45 he handles complex and potentially by Mark Zuehlke tedious military detail with such ease Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2014 and expertise that the narrative flows 528 pages, $37.95 HC quickly, with almost a novel-like inten- sity. This literary outcome is due to Reviewed by Bernd Horn his mastery of combining first person his is the eleventh book dramatic accounts and experiences with in Zuehlke’s cele- contextual meticulous details of the brated Canadian Battle larger operation. Series. In his latest book, Zuehlke, an The research, as noted already, Taward winning and highly acclaimed is similarly first-rate, and the book military historian, tackles the story contains a wealth of endnotes that of the Canadian Army and its role consist of excellent primary and in the victory in Europe through the seminal secondary sources. The work bitter Rhineland Campaign. Zuehlke also includes a comprehensive select is abundantly clear on his thesis, bibliography, and a very thorough namely that Operation Veritable, index. Moreover, the book also which began on 8 February 1945, possesses a series of informative and lasted for 31 days in abominable appendices that outline Allied and conditions (in fact the worst winter German commanders, the organiza- in northwest Europe in 50 years), tional make-up of the Canadian Army is largely a forgotten battle, despite in the Rhineland Campaign, and a help- its critical contribution to ending the ful table of rank equivalency. war in Europe. Further adding to the value of the book are seven very detailed The author picks up the story with the Allied failure of maps that allow the reader to position the major operations and Operation Market Garden, Montgomery’s master plan for break- battles geographically. Adding to this level of visualization is an ing through the German defences and driving to the heart of insert of 29 outstanding black-and-white photos that also provide industrialized Germany. He moves quickly into the impact of the visual support to the text. The select photos highlight the key German Ardennes offensive and the differences of opinion among personalities, equipment used, and the miserable terrain in which the Allied commanders on how best to react to it. These two events the Canadians were required to fight. set the stage for the last great Canadian offensive of the war. The This book is excellent. Furthermore, I strongly recommend fighting was savage, Canadians forced to fight a tenacious enemy, as it as a must read for military practitioners, students of Canadian well as harsh and bitter weather and unforgiving terrain. Although military history, or anyone with an interest in the Second World Operation Veritable progressed slower than desired, by 10 March War and/or military affairs. 1945, it was finally over. The path was now open for the final Allied advance that would lead to victory in Europe. And, as Zuehlke Colonel (ret’d) Bernd Horn, OMM, MSM, CD, PhD, served asserts, it was the First Canadian Army that was responsible, for many years as a Regular Force infantry officer. He is also an having just won one of the war’s most decisive victories. adjunct professor at the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, as well as an adjunct professor of Not surprisingly, particularly considering that Zuehlke was history at the Royal Military College of Canada. Additionally, he the 2014 Pierre Berton Award recipient, the book is exceptionally is a Fellow of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute. well written and meticulously researched. Zuehlke’s Canadian 70 Canadian Military Journal • Vol. 15, No. 4, Autumn 2015.

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