The River Battles
Canada's Final Campaign in World War II Italy
Seiten
2020
Douglas & McIntyre (Verlag)
978-1-77162-235-6 (ISBN)
Douglas & McIntyre (Verlag)
978-1-77162-235-6 (ISBN)
The story of I Canadian Corps's crossing of the Emilia-Romagna plain, in the thirteenth instalment of the bestselling Canadian Battle Series.
The story of I Canadian Corps’s crossing of the Emilia-Romagna plain, in the thirteenth instalment of the bestselling Canadian Battle Series.
The Canadians called it the Promised Land. In late September 1944, the Emilia-Romagna plain before I Canadian Corps stretched to the far horizon—a deceptively wide-open space where the tanks could run free. Throughout British Eighth Army, hopes ran high that once it entered the plain, the Germans could be driven from Italy. As soon as the advance began, however, the plain’s true nature was revealed: the land was criss-crossed by rivers, canals and drainage ditches over which all bridges had been demolished.
With higher command urging haste, the Canadians entered a long and nightmarish series of battles to win crossings over each waterway, whose high banks provided the Germans with perfect defensive positions. Early fall rains caused rivers to spill their banks and transformed the countryside into the worst quagmire the soldiers had ever seen.
More than five months of battle followed, with weeks of hard fighting required to advance from one river to the next. Each month, conditions only worsened, and the casualty rates rose appallingly. As their comrades fell one by one, most soldiers sought merely to survive. Doing that much required every measure of stamina, courage and fighting skill they possessed.
The fifth and final Canadian Battle Series volume set in Italy, The River Battles tells the story of this campaign’s last and hardest months. In riveting detail and with his trademark “you-are-there” style, Mark Zuehlke shines a light on this forgotten chapter of Canada’s World War II experience.
The story of I Canadian Corps’s crossing of the Emilia-Romagna plain, in the thirteenth instalment of the bestselling Canadian Battle Series.
The Canadians called it the Promised Land. In late September 1944, the Emilia-Romagna plain before I Canadian Corps stretched to the far horizon—a deceptively wide-open space where the tanks could run free. Throughout British Eighth Army, hopes ran high that once it entered the plain, the Germans could be driven from Italy. As soon as the advance began, however, the plain’s true nature was revealed: the land was criss-crossed by rivers, canals and drainage ditches over which all bridges had been demolished.
With higher command urging haste, the Canadians entered a long and nightmarish series of battles to win crossings over each waterway, whose high banks provided the Germans with perfect defensive positions. Early fall rains caused rivers to spill their banks and transformed the countryside into the worst quagmire the soldiers had ever seen.
More than five months of battle followed, with weeks of hard fighting required to advance from one river to the next. Each month, conditions only worsened, and the casualty rates rose appallingly. As their comrades fell one by one, most soldiers sought merely to survive. Doing that much required every measure of stamina, courage and fighting skill they possessed.
The fifth and final Canadian Battle Series volume set in Italy, The River Battles tells the story of this campaign’s last and hardest months. In riveting detail and with his trademark “you-are-there” style, Mark Zuehlke shines a light on this forgotten chapter of Canada’s World War II experience.
Mark Zuehlke’s Canadian Battle Series is the most detailed accounting of any army in World War II written by a single author. He is the winner of the 2014 Pierre Berton Award. In 2006, series volume Holding Juno won the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize. He lives in Victoria, BC.
| Erscheinungsdatum | 20.06.2019 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Canadian Battle Series |
| Zusatzinfo | Photo Insert |
| Verlagsort | Toronto |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 241 mm |
| Themenwelt | Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Allgemeines / Lexika |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► 1918 bis 1945 | |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-77162-235-0 / 1771622350 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-77162-235-6 / 9781771622356 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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