Canadian Army, Operation Husky WW2

On July 10, 1943, Allied forces arrived on the shores near Pachino, Sicily, to begin their invasion of Italy. The 1st Canadian Infantry Division and 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade moved alongside British and American troops to carry out two main objectives: break the German line of defence and free Italy from Fascism.

On that day nearly 70 years ago, Operation Husky began — the first independent Canadian role in the Second World War. For 28 days, Canadian soldiers battled German forces, marching across 193 kilometres of Sicily’s dusty, sweltering landscape, farther than any other division of the Allied forces. By the end of the campaign, Italy had surrendered and German troops had retreated. No other division made as large a contribution to the victory in Sicily as did the Canadians, but it came at a cost: 562 dead, 2,310 injured and 17 missing.

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