Information Sheet

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Introduction

The Second World War began in 1939. Soon, most of Europe was under German control. In 1941, Germany began to move its military forces across Russia. By 1943 the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, asked for help from the Allied Forces to ease the pressure of this attack. The Allies agreed to help and decided to use Italy as a platform to attack German territories and resources. This effort is known today as the Italian Campaign.

The Italian Campaign was an important military effort for Canada during the Second World War. Some 100,000 Canadians, along with their allies, Great Britain, France, and the United States, played a vital role in the Italian Campaign. As they moved from the south to the north of Italy over a 20-month period, Canadians showed how determined they were to protect global peace and freedom. They faced difficult battles with some of the German Army's best troops. They fought in the dust and heat of summer, the snow and cold of winter, and the rain and mud of spring.

The Invasion of Sicily

The Italian Campaign began with the invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky. Canadian soldiers from the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade took an active and important part in this effort.

The invasion began in the early morning of July 10, 1943, when Canadian and British troops landed near Pachino (close to the southern tip of Sicily). Together, they covered more than 60 kilometres of shoreline. The Americans covered more than another 60 kilometres of the Sicilian coast. The invasion represents one of the largest seaborne invasions in military history, involving nearly 3,000 ships and landing craft from the Allied Forces.

As a result of the success of the invasion of Sicily:

• Sicily was occupied by Allied Forces, and the way cleared for landing in Italy;
• the Mediterranean Sea was secured for Allied ships; and,
• these events contributed to the downfall of Italian leader Benito Mussolini, which then brought Italy to join the Allied side.

Many hardships were experienced:

• The 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade encountered enemy submarines as they sailed to Sicily from Great Britain in late June 1943, to join the invasion. The enemy sank three of their ships: 58 Canadians drowned, and 500 vehicles and a number of guns were lost.
• The invasion of Sicily would last more than four weeks, during which Canadians would fight through hundreds of kilometres of difficult mountainous country. By the end, the invasion had seen more than 1,300 Canadian casualties, almost 600 of which were fatal.

Liberating Mainland Italy

After losing Sicily, Germany was determined to hold the Italian mainland. To stop the invasion of the Allied Forces, the Germans took advantage of the mountainous landscape and turned the length of the Italian peninsula into a series of defensive positions which stretched from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Adriatic Sea. These defensive positions (or "lines" as they were called) were heavily defended with machine gun nests, barbed wire, land mines, and artillery positions.

Canadians joined other Allied troops in what amounted to a painstaking crawl up the Italian mainland over poor roads and through heavy rain.

One of the most difficult battles for the Canadian troops was the Battle of Ortona (Christmas 1943). This was a very difficult battle because Ortona was an ancient town of castles and stone buildings located on a ledge overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Its steep, rubble-filled streets limited the use of tanks and artillery. This meant the Canadians had to engage in vicious street fighting and smash their way through walls and buildings ("mouseholing," as it was called). The Canadians captured the town on December 28 after seven days of struggle.

Fighting in the Italian Campaign continued through another hard year as the Allies made their way north through many German defensive positions. Notable for Canada was the Battle in the Liri Valley, with the ensuing liberation of Rome by the American Army on June 4, 1944. In the fall of 1944, the Allies broke through Germany's defensive lines in the north. Fighting continued into the spring of 1945.

Conclusion

Canadian troops did not participate in the final victory of the Campaign because in February 1945, the 1st Canadian Corps began the move to Northwest Europe to be reunited with the First Canadian Army. There they joined the Allied Forces movement into the Netherlands and Germany to participate in the conclusion of the war.

Canadian casualties in the Italian Campaign totalled more than 26,000, nearly 6,000 of which were fatal. Many of the Canadians who died in Italy are buried in the many Commonwealth war cemeteries there, or are commemorated on the Cassino Memorial, located in the Cassino War Cemetery south of Rome.

The Canadians who fought their way through Italy from 1943-1945 deserve to be remembered. They left their homes and their families to stand up for what Canada, as a country, believed. They went to war to stop aggressive nations, not to fight for power, influence or territory. They went to war because they believed that everyone has a right to freedom, truth, justice, knowledge and peace. Just like you, these men and women came from all walks of life. They joined together and made the extraordinary sacrifice of their safety, security, and sometimes their lives, to fight for the rights and freedom of others.

Today, the belief in freedom and fundamental human rights for all people is a part of our everyday life. We can be proud that Canadians continue to help defend these rights, at home and around the world. We honour Veterans when we learn about Canadians, past and present, who have served our nation to protect peace and freedom.