In Chariots of Iron

In Chariots of Iron is the personal memoir of Corporal Ray W. Lane, an Alberta boy, during WW II in the Canadian Army. It begins with his training on Vancouver Island, an eye-opening view of army life in Eastern Canada and Britain and bloody front-line experience in Normandy and Northern Europe. Indeed, Corporal Lane got an unwelcome promotion to crew commander of his Sherman tank when the former crew commander suffered a fatal head wound.



After V-E day, there is a period of re-adjustment to civilian life. The author describes the smell of the tank’s diesel fumes mingled with the smell of a friend’s blood as it dripped on the tank’s hot transmission and cooked. After the War, Lane could smell this mixture whenever he was near a diesel-powered vehicle.