Beyond D-Day: Maintaining morale in the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division June--July 1944

Abstract

This thesis evaluates the "human dimension" of military history and focuses primarily on soldiers from the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division during the first half of the Normandy campaign, 6 June to early July 1944. This study concerns itself with the subject of morale and the individual's experience in war. Therefore, it couples an exploration of the challenging physical and psychological conditions that the infantry confronted in battle, with a discussion of how they coped with, and persevered through, the awful bloodbath beyond D-Day. Five critical and related themes are addressed 1) anticipation versus reality; 2) privation and hardship; 3) improvisation and adaption; 4) coping, culture, and comradeship; and 5) administration and morale. By placing the common soldier at the centre of attention, this thesis reveals an interesting and innovative perspective into a variety of important subjects that are virtually unknown in the relevant historiography.