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The Italian Campaign, 1943-1945One of Canada’s successful campaigns was fought in Italy. Canadian troops played a vital role in the Italian campaign which led to the liberation of Italy during the Second World War. In this campaign, which was fought in Sicily from July 10 to August 6, 1943, and in mainland Italy from September 3, 1943, to February 25, 1945, the fighting was particularly bitter. The Germans, taking full advantage of mountain peaks and swiftly running rivers, made Allied advance very difficult and costly. As they pushed from the south to the north of Italy over a 20-month period, Canadians faced difficult battles against some of the German army’s best troops. They fought in the dust and heat of the summer, the snow and cold of winter, and the rain and mud of the spring and fall. Canadian casualties in the fighting totalled more than 26,000, including nearly 6,000 who were killed. This campaign was the first large-scale land operation in which the Canadian Army stationed in Great Britain took ing Ashore in SicilyIn July 1943, Canadian and Allied troops fought a four-week battle to gain a base on the island of Sicily. It was a difficult task. Just getting men and equipment to the region was dangerous. The Canadians were to be part of the British Army. Three ships carrying Canadian troops from Great Britain to Sicily in late June 1943 for the attack were sunk by enemy submarines. 58 Canadians drowned and 500 vehicles and a number of guns were lost. Nevertheless, the Canadians arrived late in the night of July 9 to join the invasion.The Conquest of SicilyThe Italian Campaign began in the early morning of July 10, 1943 when Canadian and British troops landed on the island of Sicily in the south of Italy. Canadian soldiers from the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade had an active and important role in this effort, codenamed “Operation Husky.” The assault was one of the largest seaborne operations in military history, involving nearly 3,000 Allied ships and landing craft.The fighting in Sicily would last more than four weeks, during which the Canadians would battle through hundreds of kilometres of difficult mountainous country. More than 1, 300 Canadians became casualties, almost 600 of which were fatal.The Sicilian campaign was a success. The operation had secured a necessary air base from which to support the liberation of mainland Italy as well as helped secure the Mediterranean Sea for Allied shipping. Another result of the Allied invasion of Sicily was the overthrow of the Italian dictator, Mussolini. Although the new Italian government surrendered to the Allies on September 3, 1943, the Germans were not prepared to lose Italy and seized control. Thus, it was German troops that the Allies faced in their advance up the Italian peninsula. The fall of Sicily cleared the way for the Allies’ next step: landing in mainland Italy.Liberating Mainland ItalyThe invasion of the Italian mainland was to be the next great operation. The Allies came ashore in mainland Italy on September 3, 1943. After losing Sicily, however, Germany was determined to hold the Italian mainland. To slow the Allied advance, the Germans took advantage of the mountainous landscape and turned the length of the Italian peninsula into a series of defensive positions. These defensive lines were well protected 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. The winter weather was atrocious and would grind further offensives to a halt. Under heavy enemy mortar and machine-gun fire, the Canadian and Allied troops breached the German defences and poured through.Battle of OrtonaThe streets of Ortona after the Canadian advance.One of the most difficult battles for the Canadian troops was the Battle of Ortona during the Christmas of 1943. Ortona was an ancient town of castles and stone buildings located on a ledge overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Its narrow, rubble-filled streets limited the use of tanks and artillery, forcing Canadians to engage in vicious street fighting and smash their way through walls and buildings – “mouseholing”, as it was called. Canadian soldiers were forced to fight from house to house, and often from room to room as they slowly pushed back the German occupiers. House-to-house can be a most vicious method of fighting because enemy troops are at close quarters and can quickly surprise and kill one another. In the Battle of Ortona, many troops were killed on both sides within only a few days.The End of the CampaignFighting continued into the spring of 1945 when the Germans finally surrendered. Canadian troops, however, did not participate in the final victory of the campaign. By February 1945, they had been transferred to Northwest Europe where they joined the Allied advance into the Netherlands and Germany to help finally end the war in Europe.The army and some local Italians organized Christmas dinner in the vast hall of the local church. Imagine the tired faces of the young men, sharing Christmas dinner at long tables, a choir singing carols in the background. They went back out to fight that very hour. One Canadian veteran writes about a comrade: “If he’d known what would befall him in that next hour, he would have hung back and had seconds!”The Italian CampaignHow long did the Italian campaign last? ______________________________What made the Allied advance in Italy so difficult?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________How many Canadian casualties were there in the fighting? ______________________________How many Canadians were killed? ________________________How long did it take the Canadians and Allies to conquer Sicily? __________________________What happened to Canadians on their way from Great Britain to Sicily? __________________________________________________________________________________________________Why was it important for the Allies to conquer Sicily before attacking the mainland?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What was the codename for the invasion of Sicily? ____________________________________What was an important battle that Canadians participated in during the Italian campaign?What challenges did Canadians face in this battle? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Why did the Canadians not participate in the final victory campaign in Italy? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ................
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