Steel Cavalry: The 8th (New Brunswick) Hussars and the Italian Campaign
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by Lee Windsor
Goose Lane, Fredericton, New Brunswick, 2011
200 pp., illus., $18.95 paperback
Steel Cavalry chronicles how the 8th (New Brunswick) Hussars went from a cavalry unit of volunteers who were “usually responsible for providing their own horses, uniforms, saddles, and swords” to one of Canada’s most famous and battle-proven armoured regiments.
Lee Windsor explains that the term “Hussar” originated in Hungary and referred to “small, highly independent units of light cavalry ideal for operating detached from the main army on reconnaissance, patrol, or as a rapid mobile force able to strike enemy weak spots or isolated posts.”
Of course, by the Second World War, light cavalry had taken on a whole new meaning. In 1936, the 8th Hussars became “motorized cavalry.” That year, no horses were brought to camp, but instead “privately owned motorized vehicles were brought in at a rate of one for every eight personnel.”
At the start of World War II, the 8th Hussars were mobilized as a motorcycle regiment, before converting to tanks in 1941.
Most of the book is taken up with facts and war stories from the 8th Hussars’ Italian campaign that began in 1943.
Windsor provides a compelling account, often at a personal level, of how the Hussars proved themselves to Canada and to the world in the bloody battles at the Gothic Line and Coriano Ridge.
His book is well-researched and includes great photos and maps that should appeal to anyone interested in military history.
This review appeared in the August-September 2012 issue of Canada's History magazine.
— Mark McAvoy (Read bio)
Mark McAvoy is a student Red River College in Winnipeg and recently completed an internship at Canada's History magazine.