Historical note: The Canadians in Italy

By the spring of 1944, 76,000 Canadians were fighting in Italy. In the fighting from July 10th, 1943 to May 31, 1944 the Canadians had suffered 25,264 casualties including 5,900 deaths. As in World War One, the Canadians established a tremendous reputation for their toughness. The Germans knew to expect the worst whenever the Canadians moved into an area. The fighting up the peninsula of Italy, with its fortress-like villages and mountainous terrain was some of the toughest fighting Canadians faced in the war.

The Allied leaders had hoped that an invasion of Italy would be fairly easy. Churchill called it the "soft under-belly of the Third Reich". This was not true. By June, 1944 the Allies had only advanced as far as Rome. Allied leaders now shifted their focus to a new battleground.- the northern coast of France and the beaches of Normandy.