A Military History of Canada: From Champlain to the Gulf War

Canadians formed the only all-volunteer overseas army of any of the major invading forces. They quickly commanded respect among senior Allied planners and on D-Day they were assigned Juno Beach. From the beach at Bernieres-sur-Mer to Falaise, and up the coast to the channel ports to the Scheldt, Nijmegen, the Rhineland, and ultimately near war's end into heavily defended Holland where the Dutch population faced starvation, these volunteers pushed forward relentlessly, usually in small sections, a point man in front, covering each other. This is the story from the regiment members themselves

In their 'Canada Weapons of War' series this booklet covers a little known topic, the Coastal Artillery placed along the Canadian coast (sorry, an obvious statement I know) during WW2 to defend against the possibility of an attack by the Japanese. Looking back and knowing the history of the war it may seem to have been unlikely, but at the time it would have been a real concern. The result was a succession of gun emplacements located in potential target areas up and down this long coastline. The guns varied from lighter AA weapons to heavier coastal artillery such as the 9.2 inch guns, and going purely from the photos included, they all appear to have been in open emplacements, though roofed observation positions were used along with them. The booklet is essentially a wartime report by Major Nicholson as a historical report but it has been edited for a modern audience. It makes for some interesting reading and explores the background to decisions of what guns were sited where and why different size weapons were chosen appropriate to the risk. Today it is what we would consider a basic Risk Assessment and providing solutions appropriate to the risk and as far as resources allowed. In the end of course there were no direct attacks so these defences were not put to the test of combat but it makes for some interesting reading on a little know subject of WW2.