BRIGADE: THE 5th CANADIAN INFANTRY BRIGADE IN WORLD WAR II

Consisting of the Calgary Highlanders, the Black Watch, and the French-speaking Regiment de Maisonneuve, the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade landed in France in early July 1944 as part of British General Bernard Montgomery's Twenty-first Army Group. That summer, the brigade participated in hellish battles in Normandy, including Caen and Verrieres Ridge. The 5th went on to distinguish itself in Belgium, where it endured foul weather and fierce resistance near Antwerp in October 1944, and ended the war with bloody street-fighting in the towns of The Netherlands.