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Valour in the Victory Campaign is a record of the men of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division in the final weeks of the Second World War when the Canadian Army made a dramatic advance across the Rhine River, liberated central Holland, and ended the war on the north coast of Germany. Although this period has not been well described in other popular histories, the Canadian forces had to use all their skills to gain every key mile against frantic German forces now defending their homeland. In these final dramatic weeks, men still died, while other rose to heights of bravery. |
| (Photo Credit: National Archives of Canada, PA- 145972) |
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Valour in
the Victory Campaign contains the exact citations for all men of the 3rd
Canadian Infantry Division, along with the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade in support, who were awarded gallantry decorations in the battles from
January to May 1945. The citations are arranged in chronological order, with a narrative
text showing the context in which all these acts of courage took place. The book contains
as complete a list as possible, from available government records, of those men who
received gallantry awards in the final five months of the war: the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service Order, the Military Cross, the
Distinguished Conduct Medal, and the Military Medal for courage in battle This book is not a military history of the battles of 1945, but is a record of what happened to a number of Canadian soldiers, as told through the citations for gallantry decorations. |