French-Canadian Infantry Units in Normandy with Caroline D’Amours (The Maple Leaf Route, Part VI)

French Canada’s response to the Second World War is often reduced to questions related to its voluntary enlistment rates and its massive rejection of conscription. As a result, its contributions to Canada’s war effort are often marginalized. Still, like so many Canadian units, the Régiment de la Chaudière, the Régiment de Maisonneuve, and the Fusiliers Mont-Royal fought with determination and courage in Normandy. In this talk, Caroline D’Amours will examine how issues like casualties, reinforcements, morale but also identity and language specifically impacted the experience of French-Canadian infantrymen in Normandy. War diaries, censorship reports, memoirs, and oral histories help understand the way French-Canadian infantrymen cope with the realities of the Normandy battlefield.