Synopsis of
Valour in the Victory Campaign

Of all the periods in the campaign in Northwest Europe in World War II, the last few months are less known to the public than the more dramatic periods of 1944. But some of the hardest fighting took place in this period. For example Reverend R. Myles Hickey, Padre of the North Shore Regiment, described the village of Keppeln in the Rhineland as "Hells Corner" after his regiment's attack on it. Professor Terry Copp has written that, while the Dutch people "showered their liberators with kisses and flowers and love, ... April was also the cruellest month; while the war had been won, the killing did not stop." It was still a period calling for the utmost courage in battle, in order that victory finally be achieved.

Valour in the Victory Campaign tells the story of the acts of gallantry carried out in these battles by men of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and 2nd Armoured Brigade.

It is the story of Sergeant Aubrey Cosens of The Queen's Own Rifles who posthumously won Canada's highest honour, the Victoria Cross, for his bravery in the Rhineland.

It includes the almost suicidal charge of tanks of the 1st Hussars against a multitude of German anti-tank guns at Keppeln, for which Major John Powell of The 1st Hussars was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

Regimental padres, although non-combatants, also needed courage to carry out the duties in giving moral support to the men in their care. Honorary Captain John MacMorran Anderson of The Highland Light Infantry of Canada received a Bar to his Military Cross for risking his life to save wounded men in the fighting in the Rhineland.

It includes the dramatic story of Private Leo Major of Le Régiment de la Chaudière who received the Distinguished Conduct Medal for creeping through the German lines at night to be forever remembered by the Dutch as the "Liberator of Zwolle."

Probably the last act in the war, for which a decoration was awarded, was that of Private Chesley Roy Mathews of The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders, who received the Military Medal in repulsing a German counter-attack on May 3, the day before the cease fire was announced.

Table of Contents

Synopsis of Valour in the Victory Campaign

Synopsis of
Valour in the Victory Campaign