Howard Margolian

In great detail. this volume examines the murder of approximately 147 Canadian soldiers in the first days of the Normandy invasion by the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth". Margolian begins his study with a description of the redevelopment of the Canadian Armed Forces after the neglect of the between the wars years as WW II started in earnest. He also presents a history of the section of the German armed forces known as the SS and why Hitler wanted such a force separate from the regular German Army.

The author then covers the training of both sides of the forces who would meet in Normandy on June 7 to 12 and what he was able to find in his research of the wanton killing of Canadian soldiers after they surrendered. He names places, officers who seemed to encourage the murders and possibly pulled the trigger themselves in some cases and witnesses if there were any. Very detailed.

The latter part of the book is about the investigations into the killings and the attempts to bring the perpetrators to justice which mainly failed for the many reasons that he explains.… (meer)