Captain Arthur W. Gullachsen graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a Master’s Degree in History in 2005. After joining the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in late 2006, he was posted to CFB Gagetown’s The 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment in late 2008. In 2013 Captain Gullachsen was then selected for the Post Graduate Training list and gained acceptance into the PhD Program in History at Western University in London, Ontario. Graduating in 2016, he was then posted as Military Faculty to the Royal Military College of Canada. A Second World War specialist, Captain Gullachsen’s areas of expertise include the study of the replacement of equipment and personnel losses as well as German armoured forces during the late war period. He is also interested in twentieth century airpower and seapower. Captain (Dr.) Gullachsen was promoted to Professor in the RMC History Department in 2024.
University Degrees
- 2013-2016
- PhD, Canadian Military History, University of Western Ontario. October 2016.
- PhD Dissertation title: An Army of Never Ending Strength: The Reinforcement and Re-equipment of the Canadian Army's Combat Arms Regiments in North West Europe 1944-1945.
- 2003-2005
- Master of Arts, Canadian Military History, University of New Brunswick. April 2005.
- MA Thesis Title: The Defeat and Attrition of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, A Case Study: June 6th-July 12th, 1944.
- 1994-1997
- Bachelor of Arts, Advanced, History, University of Manitoba. April 1997.
Research Interests
- Second World War German armoured forces
- Canadian military history
- Twentieth Century Airpower
- Twentieth Century Seapower
- Late Second World War military history
Courses Taught
- HIE 202: Introduction to Canadian Military History (Full Year Course)
- HIE 203: Introduction to Canadian Military History.
- HIE 207: History of Canada
- HIE 271: Introduction to Military History and Thought.
- HIE 289: The Impact of Science and Technology on Society and the Environment.
- HIE 342: The History of the Second World War.
- HIE 446: The Third Reich at War (Seminar Course)
- HIE 396: Airpower in the Twentieth Century (2022)
- HIE 384: Seapower in the Twentieth Century (2023)
Publications
Independent Monographs
- Gullachsen, A.W. The Defeat and Attrition of the 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend: Volume I: The Bridgehead Battles 7-11 June 1944. Oxford and Philadelphia: Casemate Publishing. 2024.
- Gullachsen, A.W. Bloody Verrières: The I. SS-Panzerkorps Defence of the Verrières-Bourguebus Ridges: Volume II: The Defeat of Operation Spring and the Battles of Tilly-la-Campagne, 23 July – 5 August 1944. Oxford and Philadelphia: Casemate Publishing. 2023.
- Gullachsen, A.W. Bloody Verrières: The I. SS-Panzerkorps’ Defence of the Verrières-Bourguébus Ridges, Normandy, 18 July – 3 August 1944: Volume I: Operations Goodwood and Atlantic 18-22 July 1944. Philadelphia, PA: Casemate Publishing, January 2022.
- Gullachsen, A.W. An Army of Never-Ending Strength: The Reinforcement of the Canadian Army 1944-1945. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2021
Articles, Peer Reviewed
- Gullachsen, A.W. “The Night of the Panthers: The Assault of I./SS-Panzer Regiment 12 on Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse”. Canadian Military History, 30, 1 (2021).
- Gullachsen, A.W. Chapter 7: “Retaining the Moral High Ground: The Canadian Army and Waffen-SS Prisoners of War, Normandy, July 1944”. Published in the Upholding Army Ethics in Large-Scale Combat Operations, the 2021 volume of the Large-Scale Combat Operations series published by the U.S. Army University Press in September 2021.
- Gullachsen, A.W. Chapter 8: “The Battle of Bretteville”. Published in The Last 100 Yards: The Crucible of Close Combat in Large-Scale Combat Operations, the 2019 volume of the Large-Scale Combat Operations series published by the U.S. Army University Press in June 2019.
- Gullachsen, A.W. "No Shortage of Tanks!!: The Canadian Army’s System for the Recovery, Repair and Replacement of A and B Vehicles and Major Weapons Systems in North West Europe 1944-1945". Canadian Military History, 27, 1 (2018).
- Gullachsen, A.W. "Destroying the Panthers: The Effect of Allied Combat Action on I./SS-Panzer Regiment 12 in Normandy, 1944". Canadian Military History, 25, 2 (2016).
Book Chapters, Peer Reviewed
- Gullachsen, A.W. Chapter 7: “Retaining the Moral High Ground: The Canadian Army and Waffen-SS Prisoners of War, Normandy, July 1944”. The Ethics of Large-Scale Combat Operations, Fort Leavenworth: U.S. Army University Press, 2021.
- Gullachsen, A.W. Chapter 9: “The Battle of Bretteville”. The Last 100 yards: The Crucible of Close Combat in Large-Scale Combat Operations, Fort Leavenworth: U.S. Army University Press, 2019.
Articles, Non-peer Reviewed
- Gullachsen, A.W. “Panzer Lehr: The Employment of German Armoured Units based on Instructional Personnel 1943-1945”. (Spanish translation.) Published in the August 2021 issue of Desperta Ferro by Desperta Ferro Ediciones Publishing of Madrid Spain.
- Gullachsen, A.W. “Breaking Breskens Pocket: Arthur Gullachsen details the Regina Rifles’ bloody assault across the Leopold Canal, spearheading the Canadian effort to clear the southern banks of the Scheldt estuary.” Published in the November 2019 issue of Britain at War Magazine by Key Publishing of Stamford, England.