Download Phase 3: July 1943 to June 1944

Phase 3:
July 1943 to June 1944
After the great victories in 1942-1943,
the war shifted in favour of the Allies.
From 1943 onward, the Allies were on
the offensive on all fronts.
Global Context
U.S. forces fought to push the
Japanese back and recaptured the
Philippines.
On the eastern front in Europe, the
Soviet army fought to push the
German army back to Berlin.
The aerial bombing of Germany,
which the Allies had begun in 1940,
dramatically escalated with the
increased production of bomber
and fighter aircraft in the United
States and Canada.
Canada's Contribution
Canada's air force had expanded greatly
and by 1943 there was an all-Canadian
bomber group.
The bombing of the industrial
sections of German cities was
carried out around the clock.
The goal was to destroy Germany's
industry and therefore its ability to
wage war.
The death toll in Bomber Command
was higher than in any other
branch of the services because so
many aircraft were lost.
The Canadian fighting force had
expanded from a single division to a full
army.
After El Alamein, the Allies, including
the First Canadian Division, invaded
the island of Sicily, known as the "soft
underbelly" of Italy.
Sicily fell to the Allies, who then
invaded mainland Italy, Germany's
ally.
The loss of Sicily led to the
eventual overthrow of the Italian
government.
Sicily’s government was replaced in
August 1943, and the new
government surrendered in
September.
Additional German forces were
quickly sent to Italy to replace the
Italian forces, and the campaign
continued.
As the fighting intensified in Italy,
more Canadian units were moved
there from Britain, dividing the
Canadian army into two groups.
The Italian campaign was a slow,
hard-fought battle.
German soldiers were skilled
combatants and inflicted heavy
casualties.
Canadian soldiers distinguished
themselves in the house-to-house
and hand-to-hand battle for the city
of Ortona in 1943.
In the spring of 1944, Canadian
soldiers also took part in the attack
against the German army at the town of
Cassino with its mountaintop
monastery.
Canadian soldiers continued to
fight in Italy until February 1945,
when they were moved to
northwest Europe to rejoin the rest
of the Canadian army.
Front-is the term used to describe the
line of contact between two enemy
forces.