THE 3RD CANADIAN INFANTRY DIVISION - THE ALLIED UNITS OF THE LIBERATION

The 3^rd Canadian Infantry Division was one of the assault units on the Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944, but it had already covered itself in glory during the First World War, on the battlefields of Mount Sorrel, the Somme in 1916, Vimy and Passchendaele in 1917. 

After Normandy, the 3rd Division fought hard to clear the Channel ports of Boulogne and Antwerp, and pushed relentlessly to liberate western Belgium and Holland before entering Germany. Following the capitulation of May 1945, this major formation formed the nucleus of the occupation forces before finally returning home and being disbanded in the summer of 1946. The division's traditions outlived it, however, through a NATO brigade in Germany during the Cold War and until 1993. Reactivated on 6 June 2014 for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the new 3rd Division saw its units distributed across western Canada. 

Table of contents:

1. The 3rd Canadian Division in the Great War. 2. The 3rd Canadian Division in 1939–1945: mobilisation. 3. Preparation for the Normandy landings. 4. Juno Beach, 6 June 1944. 5. The Battle of Normandy. 6. The Channel ports. 7. The Netherlands and the Rhine. 8. The occupation in Germany. 9. The 27th Brigade. 10. The 3rd Infantry Division, 2014–2017. 11. Facts and figures. 12. Heroes and generals. 13. Insignia and tactical markings.

The authors:

Ed Storey, from a family of regular soldiers, has just retired as a Warrant Officer in the Royal Engineers after a 35-year career, including several missions with the UN in Yugoslavia, Honduras on humanitarian duties, and in Bosnia and Afghanistan under NATO. His final mission earned him the honour of overseeing the repatriation of the remains of the 158 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011. 

A specialist and passionate student of his country's military history, Ed Storey has written numerous articles on modelling, vehicles, uniforms and insignia, and is regularly invited to lecture at universities and military colleges. He has also played an active role at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.