By Christopher Miskimon

During World War II the Sherbrooke Fusiliers was an independent armored regiment attached to 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade during the Normandy campaign. Its initial assignments were to support several infantry units. The day after the D-Day landings, the regiment fought the first tank battle of the campaign against the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. From there, it went on to fight at Caen and during Operation Atlantic, the battle for Verrieres Ridge. Next came Operations Totalize and Tractable, the fighting around the Falaise Gap. After clearing the town of Falaise, the Sherbrooke Fusiliers pursued the now-retreating Germans toward the Seine River at Rouen. It was hard fighting, with only more to follow.

This book provides a deep look at a Canadian tank unit during some of its hardest fighting. The author is a retired Lt. Colonel of the Canadian Army with ties to the regiment and its legacy. He uses his military expertise to create a solid image of the unit and its exploits against some of the best units the German army could field in Normandy. The book is solidly researched and well-written. A planned follow-up book will examine the regiment’s later battles.

Armored Thunder: The Canadian Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment in the Normandy Campaign (Daniel M Braun, Pen and Sword Books, South Yorkshire UK, 2024, 262 pp., maps, photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index, $49.95, HC)

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