Canadian Airborne Forces since 1942

(Paperback)

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Description

Canada's 1st Parachute Battalion earned a fearsome reputation on D-Day and in the two months of grim fighting that followed. It jumped again in the Rhine crossings, and fought its way deep into Germany by VE-Day - only to be disbanded soon afterwards. In the post-war era soldiers struggled to keep airborne skills alive until an ambitious new Airborne Regiment was raised in 1968. Since its controversial disbandment in 1995, the airborne torch has been carried onwards by the Parachute Companies of three Canadian infantry regiments who have recently served in Afghanistan. This book details the fascinating history of the Canadian Airborne forces.

Reviews

"It makes for fascinating reading -- I've never heard of another force more at the whim of politics and the changing nature of warfare." --Rowan Baylis, AeroScale (September 2006)

"... is largely an organizational history that recounts in intriguing fashion the frequent ups and downs of these forces. The book also contains a good summary of the service and combat history of the airborne units, up through their recent deployments to Bosnia and Afghanistan... there is much information to be gleaned...from the phoots, Carlos Chagas' excellent color plates, and the informative captions." --Military Trader

Author Bio

LtCol Horn PhD is the former CO of 3 Commando, Canadian Airborne Regt and of 1 Bn, Royal Canadian Regt, and Adjunct Professor of History at the Royal Military College of Canada. He has published several books. Michel Wyczynski is an archivist with the National Archives of Canada, the Canadian Airborne Forces Museum and the Airborne Regiment Association. Carlos Chagas was born in Rio de Janeiro and attended the National School of Fine Arts in Brazil. Following his graduation he has received several commissions which have included traditional painting, comic strip artwork, book and magazine covers, and advertising. His main interest is the military history of the two World Wars and he enjoys building plastic models of this period.