The long road home: The autobiography of a Canadian soldier in Italy in World War II

Publisher: Stoddart
Product Code: YB01954
ISBN: 0773750509
Author: Fred Cederberg
Condition: Collectible Very Good

Price: $39.99

Signed and dated by the author on the title page, with a detailed inscription on the cover verso. Book in very good condition; cover shows shelf wear.

At age eighteen, Fred Cederberg joined the Canadian Army. After training in Canada, he arrived in England in November 1941. Further training followed, notably in the form of massive mock battles with names like 'Spartan,' all as realistic as possible. While still in England, he reached the rank of sergeant. Between-times, he enjoyed the pleasures wartime Britain had to offer. His attachment to his pals and to the regiment is illustrated by his refusal to return to Canada for officer training. A posting to Italy and action was in the air, so a stretch of deliberate absence without leave to miss the boat home resulted in demotion to corporal and, rumour confirmed, a posting, with his unit to Italy. Their entry into the Mediterranean was greeted by an attack by torpedo aircraft with some sinkings, their first brush with the enemy.After landing in Italy, the long slugging match up the Adriatic coast began, and the months of training were put to the test. Boys became men, and their world narrowed down to objectives to be taken and points to be defended. There is no talk of grand strategy; the war is an immediate thing, a world of noise, pain, discomfort, death, and destruction, where a warm meal is a blessing. Commonplace heroism in the fierce struggle to advance, survive, and protect one's companies is accepted in the name of a job to be done, a war to be won.' - A.F. Greenwood
Binding
Paperback  
Edition
1985
Condition
Collectible Very Good
Collector Alert
Signed
Language
English