Illustrated with Paintings by Canadian Army War Artists
Maps drawn by
Lieutenant C.C.J. Bond
Published by Authority of the Minister of National Defense
NOTE
In the writing of this volume the author has been given full access to relevant official documents in possession of the Department of National Defence; but the inferences drawn and the opinions expressed are those of the author himself, and the Department is in no way responsible for his reading or presentation of the facts as stated.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page Preface vii I. The First Canadians Overseas, 1939-1940 1 Canada Goes to War 1 The Beginning of the Canadian Army Overseas 4 Alarums and Excursions: Norway 8 Alarums and Excursions: Dunkirk 9 To France After Dunkirk 13 II. On Guard in Britain, 1940-1941 18 After the Fall of France 18 The 7th Corps and the Invasion Summer 19 The Air Battle of Britain 21 "All the Rifles of Canada" 24 The Canadian Corps 26 The Expansion of the Army During 1940 27 Development of the Army Overseas, 1941 29 Training and Equipping the Canadian Corps 31 III. New Tasks and Problems, 1941-1942 34 To the Roof of the World: The Expedition to Spitsbergen 34 Tunnellers at the Rock 37 Fighting the Luftwaffe 38 The Corps Moves into Sussex 39 The First Canadian Army 41 Defensive Measures in Canada 42 The Question of the Employment of the Overseas Army 44 The Completion of the Field Force 48 Changing Policies on Manpower 48 The Canadian Women's Army Corps 50 IV. At the War's Turning-Point, 1942 51 The Climactic Year 51 Canadian Raiding Operaitons: Aspirations and Disappointments 53 The Origins of the Dieppe Operation 54 Training and Planning for Dieppe 59 V. The Raid on Dieppe, 19 August 1942 64 The Plan and the Crossing 64 The Enemy at Dieppe 66 The Fortunes of the Commandoes 70 The Canadian Flank Attacks: Puys 71 The Canadian Flannk Attacks: Pourville 73 The Frontal Attack on Dieppe 75 Churchills on the Beach 76 The Landing of the Reserves 77 The Withdrawal from the Main Beaches 79 As the Germans Saw It 81 The Significance of Dieppe 83 VI. Canadian Troops Go to the Mediterranean 87 Canadians in North Africa 87 The Training Goes On 88 The Division of the Army and the Change in Command 92 The End of the Long Wait 93 Off to Sicily 94 VII. The Italian Campaign: Sicily and Southern Italy, July-November 1943 97 Allied Strategy in the Mediterranean 97 The Assault on Sicily 97 Across the Sicilian Mountains 100 The Fighting for Agira 103 The Sicilian Balance-Sheet 105 First on the Continent 106 Campobasso and Termoli 110 VIII. The Italian Campaign: The Battles of the Winter Line, December 1943-April 1944 115 The Battle of the Sangro 115 The Crossing of the Moro 117 The Fight for the Gully 120 Christmas in Ortona 121 Winter in the Salient 124 IX. The Italian Campaign: The Liri Valley Offensive, May-June 1944 128 "To Destroy the Enemy South of Rome" 128 The Great D eception 130 "The Honour to Strike the First Blow" 134 Breaching the Hitler Line 136 The Passage of the Melfa 141 The End of the Battle for Rome 143 X. The Italian Campaign: Through the Gothic Line to the Lombard Plain, July 1944-February 1945 146 Back to the Adriatic: The Attack on the Gothic Line 146 The Coriano Ridge and the Fortunato Feature 150 Mud to the Help of the Enemy 153 The Savio Crossing 154 Tanks in the Mountains 156 The Advance across the Rivers 158 Clearing the Senio Line 161 Holding the Winter Line 163 The Canadians Leave Italy 164 Twenty Months in Italy 165 XI. The Campaign in North-West Europe: The Plan and the Invasion of Normandy, June 1944 168 The OVERLORD Plan 168 The Canadian Role in the Invasion 170 The Final Stage of Preparation 172 Battle on the Beaches 176 The Advance to the Final Objectives and the First German Counter-Attacks 180 XII. The Campaign in North-West Europe: The Battle of Normandy, June-August 1944 185 The Consolidation of the Bridgehead 185 The Capture of Caen and the Attack Across the Orne 187 The Canadian Holding Attack on 25 July 190 The Struggle on the Falaise Road 194 An Order of the Führer 199 The Gap and the Cauldron 203 XIII. The Campaign in North-West Europe: The Channel Ports, September 1944 210 The Pursuit Through France and Belgium 210 Clearing the Channel Coast: Le Havre and the Flying-Bomb Sites 212 The Capture of Boulogne and Calais 214 The Thrust to Arnhem 217 XIV. The Campaign in North-West Europe: The Battle of the Scheldt and the Winter on the Maas, September 1944-February 1945 220 The Plan for Opening the Scheldt 220 Closing the South Beveland Isthmus 221 Clearing the Breskens Pocket 223 The Taking of South Beveland and Walcheren 225 The Watch on the Maas 230 The Crisis in Infantry Reinforcements 232 XV. The Campaign in North-West Europe: The Battle of the Rhineland, February-March 1945 236 Planning the Rhineland Offensive 236 Operation VERITABLE Begins 240 Breaching the Siegfried Line 242 Moyland Wood and the Goch-Calcar Road 245 Operation BLOCKBUSTER: On to the Rhine 247 The Victory in the Rhineland 253 XVI. The Campaign in North-West Europe: The Advance to Victory, March-May 1945 256 "Over the Rhine, then, Let Us Go" 256 First Canadian Army Returns to the Battle 260 Operations in the Western Netherlands 264 "We Were Out in Front Pushing On" 268 XVII. The Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1945 273 The Dispatch of Canadian Troops to Hong Kong 273 Hong Kong and its Defences 278 The Attacko n Hong Kong 280 The Landings on Hong Kong Island 282 The Defence of the Western Part of the Island 284 The Fall of Hong Kong 286 War in the Aleutians 288 The Enterprise Against Kiska 289 Plans for the Pacific Force 291 XVIII. Canadian Soldiers in Many Roles, 1939-1945 294 Canadian Officers in the British Army 294 The Canadian-American Special Service Force 296 Canadians in the Underground War 299 Civil Affairs Officers 302 The Canadian Forestry Corps 303 Conclusion 306 Repatriation and Demobilization 306 The National EWffort in Two Great Wars 308 An Army of Citizen Soldiers 309 APPENDICES "A" Persons Holding Principal Appointments, Canadian Army, 1939-1945 315 "B" Composition of the First Canadian Army (5 May 1945) (Armored Corps, Artillery and Infantry) 526 "C" Organization of Infantry and Armoured Divisions, by Units (May 1945) 318 Index 325 ILLUSTRATIONS Landing in Sicily. By Major W.A. Ogilvie, M.B.E. Frontispiece Guarding the Sussex Coast. By Major C.F. Comfort 40 Dieppe Raid. 76 Campobasso. By Major C.F. Comfort 110 Canadian Field Guns near Ortona. By Major C.F. Comfort 122 The Hitler Line. By Major C.F. Comfort 140 The Gothic Line. By Capt. G.C. Tinning 150 Engineers Clearing Roads through Caen. By Capt. O.N. Fisher 186 Escape Route, Normandy. By Major W.A. Ogilvie, M.B.E. 206 The Nijmegen Bridge. By Capt. D.A. Colville 222 Artillery in Action on the Maas. By Capt. B.J. Bobak 234 Le Règiment de Maisonneuve Clearing Den Heuvel. By Capt. G.D. Pepper 246 MAPS In Colour 1. North-West Europe, 1939-1945 (Front) 2. The Dieppe Operation, 19 August 1942 80 3. Sicily, 10 Julyy-17 August 1943 106 4. Operations in Southern Italy, September 1943-January 1944 126 5. Liri Valley Offensive, May 1944 144 6. The Adriatic Sector, 25 August 1944-25 February 1945 164 7. Eastern Flank of the Normandy Bridgehead, June-July 1944 194 8. Expansoin of the Normandy Bridgehead 200 9. The Falaise Road and the Pocket, August 1944 208 10. The Pursuit and the Channel Ports, August-September 1944 218 11. Battle of the Scheldt, October-November 1944 230 12. Battle of the Rhineland, First Canadian Army Front, February-March 1945 254 13. The Final Phase: The Netherlands and Germany, March-May 1945 272 14. Hong Kong, 7-25 December 1941 288 15. The Central Mediterranean, 1943-1945 (End) MAPS In Black and White 1. The Ortona Area, December 1943-April 1944 119 2. The Coriano-San Fortunato Area, September 1944 149 3. The North Pacific Ocean, 1941-1945 277
Transcribed and formatted by Patrick Clancey, HyperWar Foundation