“In the Access to History series I’ve found battles and their consequences presented in brief, crisp narratives, supplemented by readable maps and apt quotes of participants, better than I once thought possible.”                                 Doug Fisher, Legion Magazine

The Access to Canadian History Series is a unique series of booklets, profusely illustrated with color reproductions of war art, specially designed maps, and drawings, Each volume focuses on a specific battle, which allows the reader to see the action through the eyes of the men who were there. They are concise and effective in their use of quotations, maps and ephemera. Each volume is written by a leading authority on his subject. Nine volumes are currently available; four of the First World War and five on the Second World War.

NO.6: D-DAY! THE CANADIANS AND THE NORMANDY LANDINGS
by DR. R.H. Roy

Dr. Reg Roy is an eminent expert on the Normandy battle. In this volume he concisely puts together the greatest military operation of the war with the significant role played by Canada. This volume concentrates on the preparations, logistics, strategies and planning that made this high-risk venture a relative cake-walk, at least for the Canadians on Juno. The days after the landings would bring the inexperienced Canadians face-to-face with a hard-hitting fanatical opponent, with their backs to the wall. Dr. Roy brilliantly explains the bitter fighting and brutal encounters with the 12th SS, and the quickly learned lessons that finally subdued our zealous enemy, and allowed for breathing room on the beaches and the establishment of a secure beachhead that would allow for the ultimate breakout and the defeat of Nazi Germany.

“What the Americans, British and Canadians were trying to do was get back a whole continent that had been taken from its rightful owners and whose citizens had been taken captive by Adolf Hitler’s German army. It was one of the most monumentally unselfish things one group of peole ever did for another.” Andy Rooney, US Army