Building the Army’s Backbone : Canadian Non-Commissioned Officers in the Second World War Hardback

by Andrew L. Brown

Part of the Studies in Canadian Military History series

Hardback

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Description

In September 1939, Canadaâ€™s tiny army began its remarkable expansion into a wartime force of almost half a million soldiers.

No army can function without a backbone of skilled non-commissioned officers (NCOs) â€“ corporals, sergeants, and warrant officers â€“ and the army needed to create one out of raw civilian material.

Building the Armyâ€™s Backbone tells the story of how senior leadership created a corps of NCOs that helped the burgeoning force train, fight, and win.

This innovative book uncovers the armyâ€™s two-track NCO-production system: locally organized training programs were run by units and formations, while centralized training and talent-distribution programs were overseen by the army.

Meanwhile, to bring coherence to the two-track approach, the army circulated its best-trained NCOs between operational forces, the reinforcement pool, and the training system.

The result was a corps of NCOs that collectively possessed the necessary skills in leadership, tactics, and instruction to help the army succeed in battle.