Canadian Battles In WWII

The Battle of the North Atlantic The goal for the Allies in this war was to ship supplies to England (weapons, food, medical supplies, etc.). Germany used U-boats to sink these ships. Canada used the convoy system to protect its merchant ships. The Canadian-made ‘Corvette’ traveled in the convoy of ships. This battle went on over the duration of the war. It was vital to the success of the allies.

A convoy of Allied Ships

August 19, 1942 The Dieppe Raid (Canada’s first major action in Europe) At Dieppe Canada hoped to quickly attack the Germans who had taken over France. The raid was a failure because they did not arrive under the cover of darkness as planned. As a result the Germans were ready for the attack and easily mowed down soldiers as they landed on the beaches. More Canadians died at Dieppe than on any other day of the war. Of 5000 troops, 1400 were killed /wounded, while approx were taken prisoner. This was a lesson for the D-day landing in Normandy.

The Dieppe Beachfront

Corpses on the beach next to two Churchill tanks of the 14th Armoured Regiment (Calgary) stuck in pebbles. Department of National Defence / National Archives of Canada C

Officer and soldiers examining a Churchill tank stuck on the beach in front of the boardwalk after the battle, its left track broken. Wounded men lying on the ground are about to be evacuated. Dieppe, August 19th, 1942.

"The second the boat scraped the beach, I jumped out and started to follow the sappers (combat engineers) through the barbed wire. My immediate objective was a concrete pillbox on top of a 12-foot parapet about 100 yards up the beach. I think I had taken three steps when the first one hit me. You say a bullet or a piece of shrapnel hits you but the word isn't right. They slam you the way a sledgehammer slams you. There's no sharp pain at first. It jars you so much you're not sure exactly where you've been hit – or what with." - Lt-Col Dollard Ménard, Fusiliers Mont-Royal

Canadian prisoners escorted by German guards marching through Dieppe, August 19th, 1942.

December, 1943 The Battle of Ortona Canadian troops began their fight in Italy by easily driving up the peninsula from the Southern tip of Sicily in an attempt to drive German soldiers back to Germany. German forces made a stand at Ortona to try to protect Rome from falling. Canadian troops distinguished themselves at Ortona by defeating elite German soldiers and capturing the city on December 27. This was one of Canada’s greatest achievements in the war.

The Italian Campaign

Germans under fire in Ortona Tanks Attack Ortona Germans Defending a Street Canadian Infantry in Ortona

Mussolini, after being killed, was hung at a gas station along with 15 other leading fascists. People were allowed to desecrate his body in order to take out their frustrations with his rule.

June 6, 1944 D-Day Invasion “Operation Overlord” was the name given to the largest allied surprise attack in WWII. The purpose was to launch a massive invasion to regain control of German- controlled Europe in France. Canadian forces joined the British and Americans and were assigned an Eastern section of Normandy’s beaches called “Juno” beach. Canadian troops successfully took Juno Beach from German control. By the end of D-Day more than 155,000 soldiers and 6000 vehicles had landed in France. The allies successfully destroyed the defending Germans and began to move inland. This forced Germany to fight a war on two fronts.

The Atlantic Wall!

Landing craft with Canadian troops approach the Normandy beach. Canadian soldiers land on Juno Beach Reinforcements arrive at a Normandy German prisoners captured on D-Day

The Liberation of Northern Europe Once the Nazis were forced out of France, the occupied countries of Europe needed to be liberated. The Canadians were assigned the Netherlands and Belgium. The Germans resisted this liberation and were ordered to fiercely defend their ground by Hitler. Despite this, Canada freed these countries. On May 7, 1945 Germany surrendered to the invading allied forces, known as VE-Day (Victory in Europe).

Crowd welcoming the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders of Canada to Leeuwarden, Netherlands. Infantry of the South Saskatchewan Regiment lying down and firing through a hedge near Dutch farmhouse. German soldiers being disarmed by troops of the Canadian Corps at a small arms dump in the Netherlands, May 11th, 1945.