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In
Canada’s first sustained land operation
of the war, Canadian troops helped capture
Sicily in a five-week campaign beginning
10 July 1943. In September, the Allies
invaded the Italian mainland and, although
Italy soon surrendered, the occupying
Germans fought for every metre of the
mountainous terrain. Casualties were
heavy on both sides. In December, Canadian
troops captured the Adriatic port of
Ortona following a ferocious house-to-house
battle.
In
early 1944, Canada reinforced its commitment
in Italy and organized its forces there
into I Canadian Corps. In May, the Canadians
broke the ‘Hitler Line’ defences
south of Rome and later that summer pierced
the heavily-defended ‘Gothic Line’
fortifications further north. In February
1945, I Canadian Corps transferred to
Northwest Europe. More than 92,000 Canadians
served in Italy at a cost of 26,000 casualties,
including more than 5300 dead.
See also :
Canadian
Newspapers and the Second World War : The Sicilian and Italian Campaigns,
1943-1945
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