Into the Breach

A riveting memoir about war and peace from Canada’s former top soldier, General Wayne Eyre, chronicling his forty-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces and providing insights on our security, our sovereignty, and our place in a rapidly changing world

When soldiers step forward to take on a difficult task, many say they are going “into the breach.” Few Canadian senior military leaders have jumped into the breach more often than General Wayne Eyre, who was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff in 2021, serving as both commander of the Canadian Armed Forces and as military advisor to the prime minister and cabinet. A career soldier, Eyre rose steadily through the ranks and commanded at all levels in our military, from platoon to the Canadian Army, interspersed with many deployments abroad. Into the Breach recounts his decades-long journey through conflict and crisis with captivating honesty and revealing detail, including his time leading peacekeeping missions in Cyprus, Croatia, and Bosnia; overseeing Canada’s evacuation operation after the fall of Afghanistan; supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression; and confronting Chinese intimidation in the Pacific and suspected spy balloons over North America. Eyre also describes battling floods and wildfires across Canada, supporting the country during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and fighting in the halls of power for the resources to defend our nation as threats increased daily—including to our Arctic sovereignty. Both an enthralling personal account of a distinguished career spent in service and a tribute to the rich history of our military and its members, Into the Breach concludes by addressing the precarious place in which Canada now finds itself from a defence and national security perspective. In this new era of increased global disorder and unrelenting operational demands for the Canadian Armed Forces, Eyre’s thoughts are imperative for all Canadians to contemplate as they consider whether they, too, are ready to jump into the breach.