Peewees on Parade

Through a quirk in organization, No. 12 Platoon of the South Alberta Regiment received the shortest men in their company and was promptly dubbed the "Peewee Platoon." What they lacked in height they made up in energy, and their youthful high spirits soon found an outlet in "practical jokes, harassment, devilry, or anything else that would cause a disturbance." John Galipeau was a young inexperienced lad from a homestead in northern Alberta whose family had suffered their share of hardship in the Depression. Like most of his generation, he was quick to apply to enlist when war came, but initially he was turned down because of his height. Eventually he was accepted and soon found himself in the South Alberta Regiment. In Peewees on Parade John Galipeau recounts his wartime experiences with the famed "South Albertas." Infantry training on the Prairies and in British Columbia, and a period on guard duty on the Welland Canal, were followed by conversion to tanks and the move to England to continue preparations for the Allies' return to France. The South Albertas were in the thick of hard-fought actions in Normandy, including the Battle of the Falaise Gap, before beginning the rapid sweep across northwest Europe that culminated in the liberation of the Netherlands. Written from the vantage point of the ordinary soldier, Peewees on Parade is a story full of characters, anecdotes and experiences that recaptures what the author calls "those insane years and the young men who shared them with me." Book jacket.Galipeau, John A. is the author of 'Peewees on Parade' with ISBN 9781896941301 and ISBN 1896941303.