Picture of the day

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-the-gothic-line

4ef14c98-88c1-442e-9488-5af0e3125d86.jpg

Battle of the Gothic Line
Click to expand...


Private L.V. Hughes, 48th Highlanders of Canada, sniping a German position in 1944, near the Foglio River, Italy, during the Battle of the Gothic Line.(Department of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-116842 )
Click to expand...

In the Second World War, Canadians began fighting in Italy in July 1943. By the summer of 1944, the Allies had pushed German forces to one of their last defensive positions — a stretch of heavily fortified territory in northern Italy known as the Gothic Line. The main job of breaking the Line fell to the I Canadian Corps, which accomplished the task after a month of difficult combat, at a cost of more than 4,500 casualties. Although overshadowed by the Allied invasion of France, cracking the Gothic Line was among Canada's greatest feats of arms of the war.
Click to expand...
The glory of accepting the Axis surrender fell to the Brazilians, as the Canadian fire brigade was sent to Walcheren in early 1945. It seems the strategic Axis priority was to keep an escape route into Austria open until the very end.

Its just as well. Can you imagine the further cost if Allied forces had to fight uphill along the Po River Valley and into the Alps?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Rob
fat tony said:
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-the-gothic-line

4ef14c98-88c1-442e-9488-5af0e3125d86.jpg







The glory of accepting the Axis surrender fell to the Bazilians, as the Canadian fire brigade was sent to Walcheren in early 1945. It seems the strategic Axis priority was to keep an escape route into Austria open until the very end.

Its just as well. Can you imagine the further cost if Allied forces had to fight uphill along the Po River Valley and into the Alps?
Click to expand...
Yes the ‘D-Day Dodgers’ had a pretty tough go from Pachino to Northern Italy. Father was wounded twice by mortar and contracted malaria.

I have the orders (marked secret complete with broken seal) given to my father to send him on the advance party to ‘Leghorn’ then Marseilles during Operation Goldflake.

The sea trip was via US Navy LST. I have the LST ship number on the orders as well as the Canadian manifest and contacted the US LST Association to share it with them a number of years ago.

Apparently the ‘administrative’ move of the Canadians was effectively concealed from the Germans as a result of deception plan implemented. One of the Regimental records of the event said that “### (my father) quietly slipped away during the night” which I presume was a precursor to their unit movement
 
*lawrence said:
It' was illegal at the time (most likely still is), to advertise recruiting for a foreign military in the US, SOF were actually advertising the sale of the poster........ LOL
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about the legalities in Canada, but I can remember recruitment for Rhodesian Private Volunteer outfits, which were being advertised in both prominent newspapers at the time, Province/Sun.

They were application interviews were held in one of the Convention rooms of the Sheraton Hotel in Burnably.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom