The New Brunswick Rangers in the Second World War

by Matt Douglass

In 1943, the New Brunswick Rangers were sent to Britain, converted into a heavy weapons support unit, and shipped off to Normandy. Originating as a 19th century militia, the New Brunswick Rangers were placed on active service for the first time during the Second World War, serving first in the Maritimes and Newfoundland. In 1943, the Rangers were sent to Britain, where they were converted to a heavy weapons support unit, armed with machine guns and mortars in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. In this illuminating account, Matthew Douglass uncovers their participation in the their arrival in Normandy and their contributions to the battles in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Present at many of the critical moments of the campaign, the Rangers participated in the Battle of the Falaise Gap, which cleared the way for the advance on Paris and the German border; the Battle of the Scheldt, which secured the vital supply lines of the port of Antwerp; and the Battle of the Reichswald, when German resistance on the west bank of the Rhine was finally broken. Drawing on archival photographs and original source documents, Douglass's account of the Rangers' wartime experiences is a crucial piece in understanding the role of heavy weapons support units on the Western Front. The New Brunswick Rangers in the Second World War is volume 27 of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series.

180 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2020

Reviews

[Kristopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book, as others have said, definitely go into it expecting something more academic.

One thing that could have been improved is the maps. I appreciate the author's attempt to provide a visual aid, but I feel like more could have been done to make the locations of troops, battles, etc. clear. Like, near the end of the book the author talks about how the Rangers were ordered to hold a line of villages, and on the next page there is a map with NOTHING actually highlighted, leaving me to manually find each village and connect the dots in my mind. Surely drawing a line wouldn't have been hard? This is a consistent issue I had throughout the book and it kind of defeats the point of including these visual aids when they need to actively be deciphered by the reader.

But overall the book is great for people interested in New Brunswick's military history. I especially appreciated how the book handled the casualties and gave some information on where they were from. Definitely a more humanizing and personal approach than typical history books which approach things from such a high level that individual soldiers' stories are lost.

[James Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primarily of great interest to war historians as the movements of the Rangers are very detailed. A product of extensive research.

[Andrew Theobald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply researched operational history of a long-neglected machine gun unit. A welcome addition to the history of New Brunswick during the Second World War.