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Breakout from Juno: First Canadian Army and the Normandy Campaign, July 4-August 21, 1944
The ninth book in the Canadian Battle Series, Breakout from Juno , is the first dramatic chronicling of Canada's pivotal role throughout the entire Normandy Campaign following the D-Day landings.
On July 4, 1944, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division won the village of Carpiquet but not the adjacent airfield. Instead of a speedy victory, the men faced a bloody fight. The Canadians advanced relentlessly at a great cost in bloodshed. Within 2 weeks the 2nd Infantry and 4th Armoured divisions joined coming together as the First Canadian Army.
The soldiers fought within a narrow landscape extending a mere 21 miles from Caen to Falaise. They won a two-day battle for Verrières Ridge starting on July 21, after 1,500 casualties. More bloody battles followed, until finally, on August 21, the narrowing gap that had been developing at Falaise closed when American and Canadian troops shook hands. The German army in Normandy had been destroyed, only 18,000 of about 400,000 men escaping. The Allies suffered 206,000 casualties, of which 18,444 were Canadians.
Breakout from Juno is a story of uncommon heroism, endurance and sacrifice by Canada's World War II volunteer army and pays tribute to Canada's veterans.
On July 4, 1944, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division won the village of Carpiquet but not the adjacent airfield. Instead of a speedy victory, the men faced a bloody fight. The Canadians advanced relentlessly at a great cost in bloodshed. Within 2 weeks the 2nd Infantry and 4th Armoured divisions joined coming together as the First Canadian Army.
The soldiers fought within a narrow landscape extending a mere 21 miles from Caen to Falaise. They won a two-day battle for Verrières Ridge starting on July 21, after 1,500 casualties. More bloody battles followed, until finally, on August 21, the narrowing gap that had been developing at Falaise closed when American and Canadian troops shook hands. The German army in Normandy had been destroyed, only 18,000 of about 400,000 men escaping. The Allies suffered 206,000 casualties, of which 18,444 were Canadians.
Breakout from Juno is a story of uncommon heroism, endurance and sacrifice by Canada's World War II volunteer army and pays tribute to Canada's veterans.
544 pages, Hardcover
First published October 7, 2011
9 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
Mark Zuehlke
53 books91 followersOn January 1, 1981, Mark Zuehlke walked away from a journalism career to pursue magazine and book writing fulltime. He has never looked back. In 1992, Mark published his first book—Magazine Writing From the Boonies (co-authored with Louise Donnelly)—and now concentrates almost exclusively on writing of books.
Fascinated by Canada’s military heritage, Mark first set to writing about the role Canadians played in World War II after discussing the Battle of Ortona with several veterans in a Royal Canadian Legion following a Remembrance Day Ceremony in Kelowna, B.C. Discovering no book had been written on this pivotal battle, Mark decided to fill that gap. Ortona: Canada’s Epic World War II Battle was the result. The book’s success encouraged him to develop The Canadian Battle Series, which documents the Canadian World War II experience and has resulted in his being declared by Jack Granatstein as the nation’s leading popular military historian.
Mark is also an award winning mystery writer, whose popular Elias McCann series has garnered much critical praise. Set in storm-swept west coast Vancouver Island village of Tofino, the series follows the investigations of reluctant community coroner Elias McCann. Hands Like Clouds, the debut title in this series, won the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for the 2000 Best First Novel and the third instalment, Sweep Lotus, was nominated for the 2004 Arthur Ellis Best Novel.
When not writing, this Victoria, British Columbia resident can often be found tinkering around the Fernwood heritage house he shares with partner and fellow writer Frances Backhouse. He enjoys hiking, backpacking, cycling, kayaking, travelling, and cooking.
Fascinated by Canada’s military heritage, Mark first set to writing about the role Canadians played in World War II after discussing the Battle of Ortona with several veterans in a Royal Canadian Legion following a Remembrance Day Ceremony in Kelowna, B.C. Discovering no book had been written on this pivotal battle, Mark decided to fill that gap. Ortona: Canada’s Epic World War II Battle was the result. The book’s success encouraged him to develop The Canadian Battle Series, which documents the Canadian World War II experience and has resulted in his being declared by Jack Granatstein as the nation’s leading popular military historian.
Mark is also an award winning mystery writer, whose popular Elias McCann series has garnered much critical praise. Set in storm-swept west coast Vancouver Island village of Tofino, the series follows the investigations of reluctant community coroner Elias McCann. Hands Like Clouds, the debut title in this series, won the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for the 2000 Best First Novel and the third instalment, Sweep Lotus, was nominated for the 2004 Arthur Ellis Best Novel.
When not writing, this Victoria, British Columbia resident can often be found tinkering around the Fernwood heritage house he shares with partner and fellow writer Frances Backhouse. He enjoys hiking, backpacking, cycling, kayaking, travelling, and cooking.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 10, 2024
A deep dive into the two months after D-Day, and the savage battle Canadian, British and Polish troops fought in Normandy against the Waffen SS.
The book is moving at times, recounting the courage and tenacity of the Allied soldiers. It is a good antidote to some of the nasty, spiteful things that have been written about their supposedly poor performance by some well known historians.
Mr. Zuehlke does rely, in my opinion, far too heavily on battle reports and official war diaries - these can be helpful, but tend to get repetitive when repeated verbatim too often. Someone with Zuehlke's knowledge and expertise should be giving us more of his opinions, insights and analysis so the reader understands the overall picture.
Another issue is that the author often throws out a snippet of information, without explaining or elaborating. I found it very frustrating to be told that Canadian reinforcements after D-Day were so poorly trained some couldn't hold a rifle properly. What? Or that the Waffen SS sometimes used wooden bullets. What? Or that the tactical air force used a "cab rank" system. What? All these comments required me to put down the book and go do some research. A book of this length and detail should take the time to elaborate on these things. It should also spend more time on the weapons in use - a paragraph or two about the PIAT vs the Panzerfaust for example, or about the small arms used by both sides would have been welcome. When he does take the time to explain, as he does with the invention of the Kangaroo APC, he does a stellar job. I wish he had done it more often...
He also does a great, fair-minded job to discussing the support Bomber Command offered to the Allied armies: when it worked and when it didn't. He treats the "bomber boys" with respect and elaborates on the challenges they faced, not engaging in a hatchet job on them as so many have done.
A solid book with good maps, well worth reading for anyone interested in this critical battle and the role Canadians played in defeating the Waffen SS in Normandy.
The book is moving at times, recounting the courage and tenacity of the Allied soldiers. It is a good antidote to some of the nasty, spiteful things that have been written about their supposedly poor performance by some well known historians.
Mr. Zuehlke does rely, in my opinion, far too heavily on battle reports and official war diaries - these can be helpful, but tend to get repetitive when repeated verbatim too often. Someone with Zuehlke's knowledge and expertise should be giving us more of his opinions, insights and analysis so the reader understands the overall picture.
Another issue is that the author often throws out a snippet of information, without explaining or elaborating. I found it very frustrating to be told that Canadian reinforcements after D-Day were so poorly trained some couldn't hold a rifle properly. What? Or that the Waffen SS sometimes used wooden bullets. What? Or that the tactical air force used a "cab rank" system. What? All these comments required me to put down the book and go do some research. A book of this length and detail should take the time to elaborate on these things. It should also spend more time on the weapons in use - a paragraph or two about the PIAT vs the Panzerfaust for example, or about the small arms used by both sides would have been welcome. When he does take the time to explain, as he does with the invention of the Kangaroo APC, he does a stellar job. I wish he had done it more often...
He also does a great, fair-minded job to discussing the support Bomber Command offered to the Allied armies: when it worked and when it didn't. He treats the "bomber boys" with respect and elaborates on the challenges they faced, not engaging in a hatchet job on them as so many have done.
A solid book with good maps, well worth reading for anyone interested in this critical battle and the role Canadians played in defeating the Waffen SS in Normandy.
August 18, 2019
Zuehlke has done a great job of describing the Canadian effort in World War 2, in all of his books. So much that I went to Courselle sur Mer this summer.
However, I had a hard time keeping track of “where are we now, and what date is it?” while I listened to this book. I assume the physical book contains maps and illustrations, which helps relieve my problem of keeping track of the timeline. That said, this book, and Zuehlke’s books in general, are small gems describing lesser told tales from the Canadian perspective in World War 2.
However, I had a hard time keeping track of “where are we now, and what date is it?” while I listened to this book. I assume the physical book contains maps and illustrations, which helps relieve my problem of keeping track of the timeline. That said, this book, and Zuehlke’s books in general, are small gems describing lesser told tales from the Canadian perspective in World War 2.
February 11, 2019
All of Marks books are a treasure when it comes to the history of the Canadian Forces during World War 2. They have given me a historical account of the units my family fought with Calgary Highlanders, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Queens Own, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. There is mention of all the Units for Canada Black Watch, Alberta South Regiment and numerous others. I have read all his books and have learned so much about Canadians in The Second World War.
November 14, 2019
The last and final book in the trilogy of the Canadian participation in the D-Day landings. This manuscript takes us along the route from Caen to Falaise and the surrounding battles and operation plans. These are very in depth illustrations with detailed maps that help the reader stay abreast of the various brigades/battalions involved. Mr. Zuehlke has established himself as one of Canadas finest historical authors.
January 8, 2020
Zuehlke is one of my favourite military historians. This is a riveting account of the Canadians breakout from Normandy against the desperate and hard fighting Germans.
June 27, 2021
Mostly a recount of small unit actions.
July 27, 2024
Want a hard copy for maps and pics. Great detail down to the company and occasional platoon/section level.
November 11, 2016
It is fitting to have finished this epic story of bravery and sacrifice of our Canadian soldiers on Remembrance Day. Zuehlke has done his usual incredible job of researching, and bringing in the personal recollections of veterans of the gruelling breakout from the Juno D-Day beach through Caen to close the Falaise gap to encircle most of the German forces in Normandy. The third book of his D-Day to Falaise trilogy, it is a long, dense book, due to the complexity of the Canadian front, and the large number of Canadian regiments involved. There are the usual tales of incredible determination, and some upper-level bungling leading to unnecessary deaths. Lots of friendly fire artillery and bombing, as well.
My main frustration with this volume is, once again, the correlation of text to maps. Unlike his other books, there is no master map with keys to the insets, which helps. I found myself flipping back and forth between the maps, too, as I went through the chapters because they are not all necessarily in chronological order. Also, a number of towns and villages are named, but not shown on the maps.
My main frustration with this volume is, once again, the correlation of text to maps. Unlike his other books, there is no master map with keys to the insets, which helps. I found myself flipping back and forth between the maps, too, as I went through the chapters because they are not all necessarily in chronological order. Also, a number of towns and villages are named, but not shown on the maps.
April 29, 2014
Mark has to be placed on a stand along side some of the greatest writers of History and I would compare his books to the "Longest Day" or " a Bridge to Far". He covers Canadian's engagement in WW2 and I love the way he gives the insight of the individual soldier thoughts and fears. This is a series of books and it deserves serious reading and thought.
The Canadian Army fought long and hard in Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, Holland and Germany. They earned a place in history and thanks to these books I believe these books bring to light the bravery, the fears of the common troops and their sacrifice. These books should become mandatory reading for Candian History Students.
The Canadian Army fought long and hard in Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, Holland and Germany. They earned a place in history and thanks to these books I believe these books bring to light the bravery, the fears of the common troops and their sacrifice. These books should become mandatory reading for Candian History Students.
April 10, 2012
Amazing evidence of a lack of coordination between bomber command and troops on the ground. Allied forces on the ground used yellow smoke canisters to indicate their identity to artillery and other friendly forces yet bomber command pathfinders used yellow smoke to mark their targets for bombing! Small wonder that everytime the heavy bombers were called in to soften up German resistance significant friendly casualties were inflicted.
The tenacity and bravery of our guys is truly inspiring.
The tenacity and bravery of our guys is truly inspiring.
September 12, 2013
I've enjoyed reading more about the Canadian contribution to the Second World War. It's spectacular to recognize the growth in the Canadian Army to field so many troops. It's amazing what they were able to achieve.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews