Commemoration of the National Historic Significance of the Canadian Campaign in Sicily

View of “Roger” and “Sugar” Beaches, the site of landing of units of the 1st Canadian Division during the invasion of Sicily, near Pachino. © Library and Archives Canada, Frank Royal, PA-166751.

On July 10, 1943, several thousand Canadian soldiers landed on beaches on Sicily’s southeast coast. Overcoming light resistance on landing, they began a tough march through the mountainous terrain of central Sicily in debilitating heat. Their first serious fighting came when they met entrenched Germans in the centre of the island who contested every metre of ground until the withdraw to the Italian mainland to fight again. The names of Leonforte, Assoro, Agira, Regalbuto, and Etna resound in the memories of the Canadians who fought there.

The Canadians were part of the largest sea invasion in history to that date. Operation Husky, as the assault landing was code-named, was an unprecedented joint and combined operational achievement comparable in scale and complexity to the invasion of Normandy in 1944. Seven separate army divisions sailed from ports in the United States, Scotland, and North Africa to converge off Malta before turning north to Sicily. Two airborne divisions flew in from Tunisian airfields the night before the landings. Three hundred fighting vessels protected 2,000 other ships and landing craft. They were guarded from above by a vast armada of Allied aircraft. Their common objectives were to free Mediterranean shipping lanes and drive Italy from the war.

The decision to send Canadians to Italy was not taken lightly. Canadian soldiers had been in Britain since late 1939. Repetitious training for little apparent purpose had caused morale problems among volunteers who had left families, farms, and jobs to fight the war and get home. This was particularly galling after the late-arriving Americans went into operations in North Africa in 1942. Public clamour to get the troops into action, and the wish of senior Canadian commanders to gain operational experience, led to a request to be included in Operation Husky. The British agreed and soldiers went to Scotland for assault training before boarding transports at the end of June for the voyage to the Mediterranean.

Canadians in all three military services participated in the invasion. Four Royal Canadian Navy landing craft flotillas carried assault troops from ships to shore. Overhead, Royal Canadian Air Force medium bombers struck military targets on the island and fighters supported the ground fighting. Most of the Canadians involved were in the army’s 1st Canadian Infantry Division and 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade. Both were composed of units from all regions of Canada.

Except for the disastrous Dieppe raid the year before, Sicily was the Canadian Army’s first major European action of the war. It was the beginning of Canada’s two-year commitment to fight in the Mediterranean. Operational experience came with a price, however. More than 500 Canadians were killed and almost 2,000 wounded in Sicily in July and August 1943.