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The Long Road Home: The Autobiography of a Canadian Soldier in Italy in WWII

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This book ranks with the other great classic memoirs of World War II: The Forgotten Soldier, If You Survive, The Other Side of Time, The Road to Huertgen, and the greatest, Those Devils in Baggy Pants. Cederberg writes in a manner that vividly describes the force and horror of war, painting images in the mind that are not easily forgotten. An excellent read!

The Long Road Home is the fascinating, if somewhat racy, account of Fred Cederberg's travels from his home in Canada to the war in Italy. Cederberg spares few details of the courage and the horror of war, and shows how love and lust often bloomed among the destroyed buildings and shattered souls. Cederberg's memoir is first-hand and first-rate, a must-read for anyone interested in seeing how our boys fared in the forgotten war in Italy.

This book is not about warfare by the usual rules, of people being nice as seen in "Saving Private Ryan." It may even upset some folks. But, it is like the stories sometimes told by combat veterans in the Legion Halls after they've had a few beers, are feeling relaxed and are with someone they trust.

It is a story about soldiers who were fiercely proud to be Canadians. Americans were fighting for grand ideas such as "saving the world for democracy" and the Four Freedoms of Norman Rockwell. Canadians were there to do a job. They did it, with kindness, compassion and brutality as the occasion required. Sgt. Cederberg never brags about being Canadian; it was tacitly assumed that if one had to ask, they couldn't understand even if it was explained to them.

Read this, and you'll understand why Americans described Canadian soldiers "going about their job like hockey players."

They are like the Australians and Israelis, known for having an incredible espirit de corps. Americans are great for show, such as Patton insisting that all American troops wear ties and show proper respect for officers. One American mucky-muck, appalled by the easy-going attitude, remarked to a Canadian officer, "Your troops don't seem to have much discipline, such as saluting officers." In reply he was told, "Well, when a salute is needed I wave at them, and they generally wave back." So much for formal procedures. But, when it came to fighting, they were unsurpassed.

The US has a formal definition of a country, such as the Pledge of Allegiance, Salute to the Flag, and a national anthem which is played more than Coca Cola commercials. Canadians are less formal, but no less proud of their country. It's called pride.

In another story, Cederberg tells of the Germans firing propaganda leaflets which showed a naked woman sitting on the edge of a bed, while a soldier without his pants is getting ready to take off his shirt. The message was that while British troops were in Italy, others were having fun in England. "That a Canadian?" one of the men asked Cederberg, who replied, "It can't be, the guy's wearing a tie."

Don't ever mistake the Canadians for the British. As Cederberg writes, "I went out that afternoon with Albert and Alex-Joe, drank six pints of mild and bitters and threw up twice (once after punching out a Scottish corporal who had insisted we were a disgrace to British arms).

"He had it coming," said Alex-Joe. "because we aren't even British, we're Canadians."

Time and again, that spirit and typically Canadian humor shows through. So does the grim determination to get the job done. When stationed near an Italian town, they were warned that lone Allied soldiers were sometimes attacked by die-hard fascist youths. Sure enough, a Canadian was knifed in the neck. When his buddies couldn't find his attackers, they went back to camp.

A few minutes later, the Canadians began a mortar barrage on the town. Officers tried to stop it, and were gently restrained. Once they learned the reason for the barrage, they joined the cover-up to protect their men. When the Italian police came to investigate, every weapon was spotless with no sign of recent use. They left, empty handed. The Italians buried their nine (or 34) dead (depending on whose version was accepted). There were no further assaults on Canadians.

Wonderful book, wonderful story. Rest assured, Spielberg will never make a movie of it. It's too good, and too real.

I first read this book in 1984 after I received a signed copy from the author with kind remarks about my father, Ed Kerr. My father was one of the soldiers in the book. He passed away in December of 1983 and never got to see the book although he did know about the book and had talked with the author, Fred Cederberg. This book helped to answer some questions of Dad's time in Italy as he never talked much about the war. Clearly that time in Italy still had deep emotional pain for him and it is too bad that he never got to read it.

The book is well worth reading and relays the experiences of Canadian soldiers from all parts of Canada and how they had come together with courage to meet the horrors of war. It is also great to see recognition for the so called "D-Day Dodgers" as their contribution to the war was no less valiant.

This is a very unique way to write an autobiography. The author has taken his Canadian army WW2 expereinces in Italy to create a novelized work. The book truly reads like fiction with near constant dialogue between the author and his squadies. There is only minimal narrative to describe the general situation. Each chapter begins with a descriptive drawing to set the theme.

I certainly thought this book was a just fiction until the real pictures showed up toward the middle. Here we get to see our protagonist Sgt. Fred Cederberg and some of his associates. For much of the book we get a pretty earthy look at what life was like for a fresh young man just off the praire. For Fred and his companions this was their first time away from Canada. For more than a year the bulk of the Canadian army was stationed in England, awaiting combat postings. This gave Fred and co. a lot of time to become familier with the locals. For many it was their first sexual rite of passage in dealing with members of the opposite sex. Fred certainly seems to have made out better than average!

The book moves along with a very in your face format. The style no doubt intended to show how quickly life was moving then. Not until late 1944 does Fred and the Cape Breton Highlanders finally get into action. Italy was not a glamerous theater, although fighting under the specter of so much history was no doubt surreal in its own way. The constant narrative banter between Fred and his buddies is diffuclt to follow at times, and the mix of nick-names and surnames is confusing. Still, we get an idea of how these young Canadian related and saw things.

Combat comes and goes with sudden violent eruptions, followed by frequent breaks, furroughs and indifferent whoring! Fred gets promoted Sargeant pretty early on because he seems an on the ball kinda guy. His skills in managing his mates are noteworthy. From reading a work like this one sees first-hand how NCOs held the platoon and squad level fighting together. Officers come and go, but sargeants like Fred hold it all together. This work gives a pretty good look at what the fighting Canadian soldier was like in WW2. He may come acorss almost like a GI, but with a difference. An exciting, and different take on what has been done many times before and since.

Mr.Cederberg brings his experiences to life as you read this book.A very vivid tale as Cederberg shares blood,sweat and tears,in the Italian theatre of World War Two.

The book is a novelization of Mr. Cederberg's experiances in Italy during the second World War. I couldn't put it down, I kept imagining myself there. A fantastic book. I hope this is not Mr. Cerderberg's last.