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Canada’s Main Contributions
•The Battle of the Atlantic
•Hong Kong
•The Italian Campaign
•D-Day on Juno Beach
•Dieppe
Introduction
• Canadian troops played a vital role in the 20month Mediterranean campaign which led to the
liberation of Italy during the Second World War.
• Fought in Sicily from July 10 - August 6, 1943
• Fought in mainland Italy from September 3, 1943 February 25, 1945
• The Germans took full advantage of mountain
peaks and swiftly running rivers.
• There were 25,264 Canadian casualties in the
fighting, including more than 5,900 who were
killed.
The Conquest of Sicily
• The 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the
1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade
• En route, 58 Canadians were drowned
when enemy submarines sank three ships
of the assault convoy, and 500 vehicles
and a number of guns were lost.
• Canadian troops pressed through the
Southern Coast.
• American troops cleared the western part
of the island.
• British troops took the east coast.
• In taking Sicily, the Allies aimed to trap the
German and Italian Armies and prevent
their retreat across the Strait of Messina
into Italy.
• Sicily had been conquered in 38 days.
• Canadian casualties throughout the
fighting totaled
• 562 killed,
• 664 wounded and
• 84 prisoners of war.
Canadians in Italy
• With Sicily in Allied hands, the Italian
dictator, Mussolini, was overthrown.
• New Italian government surrendered on
September 3, 1943
• The Germans immediately seized control
• The 1st Canadian Division,
• The 5th British Division and
• The 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade
• By the end of September, the German
hold on northern and central Italy was
still unshaken, but the Allies had
overrun a vast and valuable tract of
southern Italy.
• Allied armies stood on a line running
across Italy from sea to sea.
• The next objective was Rome.
• From October 1, 1943 – December 28,
1943, Canadian troops fought in battles
to liberate towns like Campobasso,
Vinchiaturo, Termoli, Cassino, and
Ortona.
• By now the Canadian Army in Italy had
reached its peak strength of nearly
76,000.
• Total casualties in the Corps had
climbed to 9,934 in all ranks, of which
2,119 had been fatal.
• Canadian troops participated in 2 more
major battles in Italy between the spring of
1944 to February 1945:
• The Battle of Liri Valley
• Rimini
• Canadian troops did not stay in Italy for
the final victory.
• Troops needed a well-deserved break and
to prepare for D-Day at Normandy.
Canadian Cemeteries and
Memorials in Italy
• Canada has more than 5,900 identified
war dead in Italy, buried mainly in 18
Commonwealth War Cemeteries or
commemorated on the Cassino Memorial.
• 1939-1945
WITHIN THIS CEMETERY STAND MONUMENTS
WHICH BEAR THE NAMES OF SOLDIERS OF THE
BRITISH COMMONWEALTH AND EMPIRE WHO FELL
IN THE ASSAULTS UPON THE SHORES OF SICILY
AND ITALY OR IN LATER BATTLES TO FREE ITALIAN
SOIL AND TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR
DENIED A KNOWN AND HONOURED GRAVE.
AROUND THEM ARE THE GRAVES OF THEIR
COMRADES WHO DIED FIGHTING IN THESE PARTS
TO OPEN THE WAY TO ROME AND THE NORTH