At the two Canadian military cemeteries in Normandy, where over 5,000 Canadian citizen-soldiers are buried, modern cynicism shatters in the face of profligate sacrifice. That the sacrifice was not in vain is without doubt. But was it meted out in careful measure, or squandered for want of better training and better tactical leadership?

Over the last 50 years, leading academic historians have opined that the Canadian army that fought in Normandy from June through August 1944, suffering over 18,000 casualties in the process, succeeded despite failure on the battlefield and by relying on “numerical and material superiority.” In short, Canadians overcame by brute force alone an enemy that had “better morale, tactics, doctrine and leadership.”

In Fields of Fire, Professor Terry Copp proposes to do nothing less than tear down this theory of inferiority, claiming that “the evidence demonstrates that the achievement of the Allied and especially the Canadian armies in Normandy has been greatly underrated while the effectiveness of the German army has been greatly exaggerated.”

Copp points out that, in fact, no sweeping qualitative judgment can be made for any of the armies in Normandy. It becomes apparent that “combat motivation and combat effectiveness varied across time for individuals and units…. Units that were brave and effective in one situation could be cautious and wholly ineffective in another.” He shows that the Allies may have had a strategic numerical and material superiority, but that this did not translate into tactical reality – weapons and armour were outclassed by their German counterparts, and neither air nor naval tactical support came up to claims.

Copp is not entirely successful in proving this new view of the Canadian contribution to the Allied invasion. Often his proofs seem stretched, but the result is a lively and scholarly history of the Canadian role in Normandy. It is a tremendous addition to the canon – one of only three of this nature and breadth, and the first in almost 20 years.

Canadian regimental histories of the Normandy campaign have revealed determination and extraordinary courage in unforgiving circumstances. There’s a visceral thrill to read proof, however stretched at times, that the sacrifice of so many citizen-soldiers did not produce lacklustre results.