In 1948, Grandview Heights in northeast Vancouver was developed as a sub-division to provide low rental housing for Veterans after the Second World War. Initially the streets were to be named after wildlife, but this was changed and the streets were named after personalities, battles and events from the two World Wars. The Chair of the Street Naming Sub-Committee was Alderman Halford Hal Wilson, who served as a Major during the Second World War.
This street commemorates those who fought at Falaise in the Second World War and was named on March 23, 1948. Lieutenant General Guy Simonds developed an innovative plan to break through to the critical road junction at Falaise. Using radio beams, searchlights, and tracer fire to steer them, the Canadians would attack at night in conjunction with an immense air bombardment. To help nullify the German anti-tank defences, Simonds instructed his men to convert some of their self-propelled artillery into armoured personnel carriers the first of their kind. With the infantry riding in relative safety inside what were soon dubbed "Kangaroos," with the enemy blasted from above by American bombers, and using darkness as a screen, Simonds intended to puncture the enemy line.
