Product Description

The 1st Canadian Parachute Bn jumped into Normandy on D-Day as part of 6th British Airborne Division. They fought with distinction for the rest of the North-West Europe campaign, making a second combat jump at the Rhine crossings in March 1945, and fighting in Holland until VE-Day. In the post-war years the Canadian SAS and the Mobile Striking Force maintained an airborne capability, formalized in 1968 with the raising of a Canadian Airborne Regt, which later served overseas in Cyprus and Somalia. Since its disbandment in 1995 a parachute capability has been maintained by companies of light infantry units – Royal 22e Regt, Princess Patricia's, and Royal Canadian Regt - which served against the Taliban and al-Quaida in Afghanistan, 2002–03. This book details the fascinating and proud history of the Canadian Airborne Regiments.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #171707 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-29
• Released on: 2006-08-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

Review
"It makes for fascinating reading -- I've never heard of another force more at the whim of politics and the changing nature of warfare." -Rowan Baylis, AeroScale (September 2006)

"... is largely an organizational history that recounts in intriguing fashion the frequent ups and downs of these forces. The book also contains a good summary of the service and combat history of the airborne units, up through their recent deployments to Bosnia and Afghanistan... there is much information to be gleaned...from the phoots, Carlos Chagas' excellent color plates, and the informative captions." -Military Trader

About the Author
LtCol Horn PhD is the former CO of 3 Commando, Canadian Airborne Regt and of 1 Bn, Royal Canadian Regt, and Adjunct Professor of History at the Royal Military College of Canada. He has published several books. Michel Wyczynski is an archivist with the National Archives of Canada, the Canadian Airborne Forces Museum and the Airborne Regiment Association.

Customer Reviews

Excellent book
Keeping with the ongoing trend of Osprey to provide first rate colour plates combined with information by knowledgeable authors, this book is an excellent precis of Canadian airborne soldiers. The authors have produced other works on the subject which are well known. The colour plates are of a higher standard than many recent Osprey titles, and the subject matter is fairly completely covered. I've not given a 5 since the book seems to lack the interesting sidebars found in other recent Osprey titles, and little attention is actually paid to parachute equipment, as the focus of the text is on history. Still, an invaluable aid to those interested in this subject matter. Some bias also slips into the text, such as a statement to the effect that all staff officers without exception must dream of commanding an airborne battalion - an unfair assumption on the part of the author, a former airborne officer! However, good detail in the coverage, including the Militia jump companies.