First Blood In Normandy

On June 7, 1944, the Canadian 9th Brigade continued with its original D-Day objective--the capture of the airfield west of Caen. Advancing alone, tanks of The Sherbrooke Fusiliers and infantry of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders were suddenly ambushed in the French village of Buron by a colossus of steel that was hurled at them by the fanatical Nazi and war criminal, SS-Standartenfuhrer Kurt Meyer. His elite Hitlerjugend--young, political "boy" soldiers of the 12 SS Panzer Division--were utterly ruthless in carrying out the cold-blooded orders of their leader, including executing wounded and captured prisoners. Where was Allied air cover that day? Why was the advance of a SS Panzer Division not noticed? Was military intelligence ignored? Did the British unwittingly let the Canadians down? Could the carnage have been avoided? Was the ruthless Meyer, "the beast of Caen," really guilty? Author John H. C. Gilbert has written this expose in memory of his French-Canadian father, Trooper L.J. Gilbert, a Sherbrooke tank gunner. This fresh and in-depth analysis is the result of the author's research, war records, and short anecdotes from his father. Woven together they reveal how the village of Buron witnessed one of the most brutal battles during the breakout from Normandy.