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Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy (Joanne Goodman Lectures)

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Up until this release of this book I had searched in vain for a definiive account of the Canadian contribution to the battle of Normandy. I had read all the tired old books continuing the myth of the so-called lack of agression and achievement by Canadian and British troops. Many of these books were simply re-hashing the work of other authors, none of whom had been to Normandy, none of whom tried to look at the subject afresh.

Well Terry Copp has masterfully looked at the whole battle from D-Day to the closing of the Falaise gap, and explains the real history for us all. It's quite heavy-going and Fields of Fire certainly isn't written for 5 year olds. It requires your full attention and you'll need to keep the maps to hand to concentrate and follow the ebb and flow of the battle. The rewards however will be well worth the time you spend here. There is simply no better book about the Canadians in Normandy. Copp knows Normandy well, his little comments about what the terrain looks like could only have been written by someone who knows the lay of the land. I say this as someone who has to know the land myself as a tour guide in the region.

EXCELLENT

The much vaunted and overly glamorized 12th SS were systematically destroyed in the fields of Normandy in three short months. And who did it? Primarly, a bunch of civilians from Canada - clerks and farmers, mailmen and college students, athletes and fathers. I know what you're thinking, surely that's because they had all that artillery and air power, sheer mass against those few brave tactical geniuses Liddell Hart admired so much. True, the western allies did have advantages, most obvious in the air (but tactical air power was hardly a deciding factor on the battlefield,) but they were the ones storming across open fields into well entrenched positions manned with automatic weapons, mortars, assault guns and heavy tanks including the Tiger. If you think Wittmann was brave charging into Villers Bocage in a 57 ton behemoth, how much braver did you have to be in a Sherman without the armor protection or deadly 88mm?

If you're interested in having your eyes opened to what the fighting in Normandy was really like, read this book. No, the Canadians weren't supermen, but they weren't inept either. They, like their German counterparts, fought long and hard against difficult odds. This book goes a long way to provide some much needed balance to the story of Normandy. The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division came ashore on the 6th of June and did themselves, their country and the cause of freedom proud. Don't believe me? Read the book. Terry Copp is among the finest military historians writing today. Check out his sources, no Stephen Ambrose here, this guy does real research.

Canadian historian Terry Copp's 2003 "Fields of Fire", an expanded version of his 1998 Joanne Goodman lectures, analyzes the performance of the Canadian Army in the Normandy campaign of June to August 1944. The author takes issue with a traditional interpretation that the Allies in general and the Canadian Army in particular performed poorly, were outfought by superior German units, and prevailed only through brute application of firepower and numbers.

Based on extensive research, Copp concludes that the Canadian Divisions of 21st Army Group was well-led and well-trained, and fought hard and generally successfully from D-Day to the close of the campaign. Along the way, Copp challenges the notion that Allied air power played as significant a role in the fighting as is often portrayed, and has plenty of criticism for British Field Marshal Montgomery's overall handling of the Normandy Campaign.

Copp's narrative details each of the major operations undertaken by Canadian combat formations, from the D-Day assualt into the Juno beachhead to the extended battle for Caen, to the mishandled effort to close the so-called Falaise Pocket and destroy the German Army in Normandy. Copps' account is scholarly yet highly readable, and buttressed with maps, photographs, and extensive footnoting.

"Fields of Fire" was the winner of the Society for Military History's Distinguished Book Award for 2004 (European Military History), and is very highly recommended to students of the Battle of Normandy as necessary balance to any appraisal of the Canadian Army in that campaign.

I recently watched the TV series - Band of Brothers, which I enjoyed, but as a Canadian I wanted to know more about the Canadian contribution. Terry Copp's book was exactly what I was looking for. I had only a basic understanding of the Normandy campaign, and was surprised to learn that typically the allied effort in Normandy, especially that of the Canadian and British armies, is criticized. Copp seems to provide a balanced perspective of the Canadian effort highlighting both strengths and weaknesses, and made it clear to me that Canadians contributed over and above the call of duty. This book is easy to read, but in some cases I found it difficult to follow the battles on the maps that were provided.

Mr Copp's book is a must for any serious student on Normandy, and the Canadian contribution. While it helps to have an understanding of the Commonwealth campaign in Normandy, it is not required. I enjoyed Mr. Copp's unique "Canadian" look at much facts and criticisms leveled at the Canadian Forces. I feel that Mr. Copp brilliantly dispelled many of the facts that have seen as truths of the campaign. A great read for a student of Normandy, Canada, and the War.

Once you start reading this book, it's pretty hard to actualy stop. Kopp manages to make each sentence important and worthwhile, which makes for a book that is both "short" and intense. At long last a book in which the commonwealth is not regarded as 2nd rate player behind the US forces. An amazing story of courage with the right ammount of technical details and historical accuracy for it to be used in serious research.

At last, a Canadian with pride in his country's achievements.

If Americans are blustering braggarts, Canadians are cautious colonials. It's one thing to take pride in a rebuilt Louisbourg, once the most expensive fortress in North America noted mainly for its easy surrenders that made British rule possible. It's much more relevant to recognize and honour the real courage of Canada's World War II armed forces.

During the 1960s, I spent many an evening in the Royal Canadian Legion hall in Orillia, listening to war stories. My wife's relatives were in Normandy. This book, with typical Canadian obsession to scholarly detail, is a start in recognizing and honouring their valour. Copp plodded through every scrap he could find about the campaign. Nonetheless, the smell of combat is missing. He doesn't understand the flavour and feel of a Punch Imlach who once described hockey as "war"; he fails to understand Canadians went to war like a bunch of hockey players on a power play.

It should be read in conjunction with 'The 12th SS' by Hubert Meyer; as one reviewer of Meyer's book states, the 12th SS were trained as rigorously as US Marines. The SS had Tigers; Canadians had US Shermans. As one veteran told me, their constant drill was bailing out fast, because like the 'Ronson' lighter the Sherman lit up every time when hit by an 88mm shell. The 88 was mythic, as was the MG 42; but, Canadians never faltered. In literature, the equivalent story is the immortal legend of Beowulf facing Grendl. In reality, the Canadian weakness was the lingering colonial tendency of senior officers to listen too often to the British or Yanks. Instead, Canada needs to nurture a bard who understands Beowulf.

Had the Canadians faltered, the invasion would have collapsed. The Caen to Falaise campaign was the "hinge" of the German defence; once broken, it collapsed. It's why the 12th SS was at Caen, not at St. Lo.

Almost every other country produces novels, films, memorials and great histories about its wars. Only Canada finds fault in its victories. Instead of 'The Longest Day' with a blowhard John Wayne, or 'Saving Private Ryan' as multiplex mayhem and madness, a Canadian feature film should be 'Hockey in a Bloody Rink'. This book is a start, even though it's as thrilling as an accountant's report and as daring as a professor's essay in a historical review. Now, someone needs to hoist a few beers in a few Legion Halls to understand the spirit and mood and courage of the enlisted men.

There's a joke about a Canadian who won a Olympic Gold Medal and was so proud he had it bronzed. It's doubtful any medal won in Normandy was "bronzed". In Canada, pride is in the deed and not in the boast. The Canadians in Normandy beat the best of the Germans, and ever since endured the "Yes, but we could have done better . . . ." syndrome of armchair critics. The attitude still exists, as seen in the 'Globe and Mail' almost every day. In Canada, even a world class achievement "could have done better".

Well, no one could have done better than the Canadians in Normandy. This book honours a long neglected area of Canadian pride. If anyone wants another good example, may I suggest J. B. Lamb's 'The Corvette Navy'. He wrote about an earlier almost unknown but highly significent Canadian battle to stop the "happy days" of the U-boats. However, how many memorials in Canada feature a corvette? How many books other than Lamb?

This book is a start. Maybe deference is still typically Canadian. It could be better. It does rise brilliantly above all American, British and German accounts. It is the one book to read if any book is read about the Normandy campaign. But, it could be better (how more Canadian could anyone be?!?!)