The 8th Hussars is one of Canada’s oldest cavalry regiments, tracing its roots to Loyalist cavalry during the American Revolution and its later founding in 1848, when 11 widely dispersed groups of soldiers (the cavalry equivalent of infantry platoons) were united as the New Brunswick Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry.

Steel Cavalry opens with a brief history of the Hussars from these beginnings to the start of the Second World War, where it launches into the main story.

When that war broke out in 1939, the Hussars, then a militia cavalry unit, were converted to an armoured regiment and traded in their horses to begin a new era of mechanization.

Due to a shortage of tanks, initially the Hussars were equipped with motorcycles; hardly the vehicle of choice to go up against Hitler’s panzers as they introduced a new term to warfare, blitzkrieg — lightning war.

Although the unit was now an armoured regiment, it was armoured in name only: it did not have any tanks.

It was not until after the Hussars arrived in England that the regiment received it first tanks — or rather tank. On Nov. 11, 1941, a "severe, bony and obsolete thing" arrived in unit lines, a "precious thing" that at night was "covered with tarpaulin and tucked away with all the care that would be given to a bride."

It was an American Christie Combat Car, a predecessor of the famed Sherman. Regrettably, the tank needed a major mechanical overhaul and had to be returned, to the great disappointment of all Hussars.

A mishmash of other vehicles followed: Stuart light tanks, Lee medium tanks, scout cars, which allowed Hussars to learn the traditional triumvirate of armoured skills: driving and maintenance, radio communications and gunnery.

At the end of March 1942, Canadian Ram I tanks began arriving. The troopers were told that these were not merely training vehicles, but the ones in which "they would meet the enemy."

After additional training in England, the regiment was re-equipped again, this time with Ram II tanks and by mid-January 1943 was at its full war establishment of 54 tanks.

In October, the unit was informed it was going to Northern Ireland for a major exercise, where it would receive Sherman tanks. Only part of the story was true; the regiment was issued with Shermans but they received them in Italy. The Hussars were plunged into the Italian campaign and it is here that the story takes off. The regiment fought through some of the toughest battles of the entire campaign: the slugfests of Ortona, the Liri Valley, Melfa River and Gothic Line.

These well-known, bloody battles cemented the Hussars’ reputation.

Author Lee Windsor has done an excellent job of chronicling the accounts of these hard-fought battles.

Using a combination of individual soldier’s stories and previously published regimental histories, he has painted a vivid picture of modern

armoured warfare as Canada’s citizen soldiers took on and defeated some of the best divisions in the German Army.

Steel Cavalry includes several battle maps — essential components of any good military history — drawn by Mike Bechthold, probably Canada’s pre-eminent military map maker.

Unfortunately, the printing quality did not extend to an adequate reproduction of Bechthold’s otherwise excellent maps. They are generally "fuzzy" and the print is far too small. Fortunately, a large number of excellent contemporary photographs accompany the text.

Windsor is deputy director of the Brigadier Milton F. Gregg, VC, Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick. He served with the 8th Hussars and later with the West Nova Scotia Regiment.

The New Brunswick Military Heritage Project is an initiative of the Gregg Centre, a non-profit organization devoted to raising the public awareness of the military history of the province. One of the main activities of the project is the publication of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series, a joint initiative of Goose Lane Editions and the project. Steel Cavalry is Vol. 18 in this very worthy and well-received series.

John Boileau served in the Canadian Armoured Corps for 37 years.