What was the Italian Campaign for Canada?
Answer
The Allied campaign to liberate Italy from July 10, 1943 to May 2, 1945 in which the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and 5th Canadian Armoured Division (later the I Canadian Corps) fought through Sicily, Ortona, the Liri Valley, the Hitler Line, and Rome, suffering about 5,900 killed and 19,500 wounded.
Explanation
The Italian Campaign for Canada was the Allied campaign to liberate Italy from July 10, 1943 to May 2, 1945 in which the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 5th Canadian Armoured Division (later combined as the I Canadian Corps under Lieutenant-General Tommy Burns and then Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes) fought through Sicily, Ortona, the Liri Valley, the Hitler Line, and Rome. About 92,000 Canadians served in Italy, suffering about 5,900 killed and 19,500 wounded. The Italian Campaign was Canada's longest continuous combat operation of the war.
The Sicily landings (Operation Husky, July 10, 1943) were the Italian Campaign's opening phase. The 1st Canadian Infantry Division landed at Pachino on the Sicilian south coast as part of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's British Eighth Army. Major Canadian engagements in Sicily included Leonforte (July 21 to 22, 1943), Agira (July 24 to 28, 1943), and the Adrano battle (August 4 to 7, 1943). Sicily fell on August 17, 1943.
The Italian mainland campaign began on September 3, 1943. Canadian forces fought through some of the most difficult terrain of the war, including the Apennine Mountains. The Battle of Ortona from December 20 to 28, 1943 was particularly brutal: the 1st Canadian Infantry Division fought house-to-house through the Adriatic port town against the German 1st Parachute Division. The Canadians employed 'mouseholing' (blowing passages between adjoining buildings to avoid exposed streets) and other innovative urban warfare tactics. The eight-day battle is sometimes called 'Little Stalingrad' or the 'Italian Stalingrad'.
The Liri Valley campaign of May 1944 saw the I Canadian Corps' first operations as a complete corps. Canadians broke through the Gustav Line and the Hitler Line in the Liri Valley between Cassino and Rome (May 11 to 30, 1944) and participated in the liberation of Rome on June 4, 1944. After D-Day in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the Italian Campaign became a secondary theatre. The I Canadian Corps participated in the Gothic Line battles in the Apennines (August to September 1944) and the Adriatic offensives of late 1944. By February 1945 the I Canadian Corps was transferred to North-West Europe to join Field Marshal Montgomery's 21st Army Group for the final campaign in Germany. The Italian Campaign is commemorated by the Italian Campaign Memorial at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and the Cassino Memorial. Canadian Italian Campaign veterans long lobbied for separate recognition; the Italian Campaign Star (a service medal) was awarded retroactively in the post-war period.
Why this matters for your test
The Italian Campaign was Canada's longest continuous combat operation of the Second World War. Recognising the July 1943 to May 1945 dates and the Battle of Ortona of December 1943 gives candidates two specific anchors.
Source: Veterans Affairs Canada; Canadian War Museum
