Sherbrooke Fusiliers at St. Andre sur Orne July 20-22, 1944

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Wolfkin
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Sherbrooke Fusiliers at St. Andre sur Orne July 20-22, 1944

#1

Post by Wolfkin » 26 Sep 2006, 09:24

Hello all!

I am wondering if anyone has any information on the actions of the Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment in the area of St. Andre sur Orne on the days of July 20-22, 1944. I have some information but could always use some more to better understand these actions. Thank you in advance!

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Wolfkin

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Martin_Schenkel
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#2

Post by Martin_Schenkel » 27 Sep 2006, 07:34

Which sources have you looked in so far? I might be able to dig something out, but don't want to re-type what you already have.


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#3

Post by Wolfkin » 27 Sep 2006, 08:34

Hello Martin!

Well, I have information that I have kind of compiled together myself from several different books. The books I checked for the Canadian perspective are The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps History from the RCAC Association, Fields Of Fire by Terry Copp, Bloody Victory and A Nation Forged In Fire by Granatstein and for the German perspective there is a little in The Leibstandarte Volume IV/1 by Lehmann, In The Firestorm Of The Last Years Of The War by Tieke and Steel Inferno by Reynolds.

The problem is that all the information is little bits and pieces and it makes it hard to really put together a balanced picture of what happened. I am trying to look at both the Canadian and German sides of the story and see if I can get a good picture. The problem is that I can not get enough details on what actually happened and some of the accounts in the above-mentioned sources are not complete. Detailed information on the Sherbrooke Fusiliers is hard to come by, which is strange, because I believe that their actions on these days was most impressive.

I hope you can help!

Cheers,

Wolfkin
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#4

Post by Martin_Schenkel » 28 Sep 2006, 04:08

There's a bit in Stacey's Vol.3 of the official history (I have a copy if you want info from it), although probably not much new info from what you already have, since the books you mentioned probably use Stacey as a source.

I'd imagine you'll find a bit more info in the links below, but it may still not be quite as detailed as I think you are looking for.

http://www.dnd.ca/dhh/downloads/ahq/ahq058.pdf
http://www.dnd.ca/dhh/downloads/cmhq/cmhq162.pdf

Quite frankly, I doubt you'll find much additional info outside of war diaries and regimental histories. The Sherbrooke Fusiliers have a printed history (Jackson, Lt. Col. H.M. The Sherbrooke Regiment (12th Armoured Regiment). Montreal: 1958), although I can't vouch for the info contained in it, and it's probably hard to obtain. Your best bet would probably be to get ahold of the regimental war diary from the national archives in Ottawa. There's also probably good info in the printed histories of the infantry regiments that the Fusiliers were supporting at the time. The war diaries of WW2 armoured regiments are available on microfilm, and thus easily obtained through inter-library loan. The reference information for the Sherbrooke Fusiliers microfilm is here:

http://data4.collectionscanada.ca/netac ... ml&r=0&f=S

You might also try contacting the regiment directly for information. The Sherbrooke Fusiliers no longer exist, but are perpetuated by the Sherbrooke Hussars:

http://www.army.dnd.ca/SHERBROOKE_HUSSARS/index_e.htm

Hope that helps somewhat.

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#5

Post by Wolfkin » 28 Sep 2006, 08:13

Hello Martin!

Thank you very much for this information! I now have an idea for some more areas to look to find more information, those microfilms look very interesting! I do believe that the books I mentioned above use Stacey as a source for some of their material. Thank you again!

Cheers,

Wolfkin
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#6

Post by JonS » 28 Sep 2006, 10:19

Blackburn "Guns of Normandy" has a couple of chapters on this.

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#7

Post by Wolfkin » 30 Sep 2006, 23:34

Hello Jon!

Guns of Normandy has information on these battles? I didn't know that! I actually just saw this book in a store here the other day! I think I'm going to run over and see if it is still there and pick it up! Thanks for pointing this book out to me!

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Wolfkin
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#8

Post by JonS » 01 Oct 2006, 12:01

Well, not a lot, but it might help with context and sequencing.

Still, it'll be money well spent. Blackburns trilogy (Where the hell are the guns, Guns of Normandy, and Guns of victory) are simply outstanding.

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#9

Post by Wolfkin » 07 Oct 2006, 02:14

Hello Jon!

I picked the book up! It indeed does look good, I haven't read it yet but I flipped through the pages. At first glance it does not seem to be very detailed, on the order of my preference regarding the Sherbrookes, but it does seem to be very descriptive in accounts of various engagements. I definitely do not regret buying it as it looks like it will be a very good read. Thank you again for suggesting this book!

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Wolfkin
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#10

Post by JonS » 07 Oct 2006, 02:49

There is an awful lot of very good WWII history coming out of Canada recently. Fendick, Mowat (well, not that recent, but still), Blackburn, Copp, etc, plus the CMH journal.

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