Valour in the Victory Campaign: The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division Gallantry Decorations, 1945

Sidney Allinson is a Victoria-based communications consultant, Canadian
news correspondent for Britain’s The Army Quarterly and Defence, and
the author of Military Archives: International Directory of Military
Publications and The Bantams: The Untold St

This book’s subtitle—“The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division Gallantry
Decorations 1945”—refers to the many military decorations for
bravery that resulted from the division’s last bitter combats fought
near war’s end on the Dutch-German border. Robert Fowler’s
compilation identifies those Canadians who received British Commonwealth
decorations, including the Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Order,
Military Cross/Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, and Mention In
Despatches, plus a score of foreign decorations. The official citations
make for compelling reading. (Recommendation for a decoration could be
based only upon the report of an officer who personally witnessed an act
of bravery under fire.) Each brief account provides a snapshot of combat
incidents that together constitute a mural of battlefield conditions.
The bibliography offers useful guidance to those readers who wish to
learn more about gallant the Canadian soldiers who fought in Northwest
Europe in 1945.