Remembering all of our brave vets
Re: ‘ Unconquerable resolve’ needed now, Terry Glavin, June 6 Terry Glavin states, “Apart from Dieppe, the only major fighting that Canadian soldiers had done in the Second World War before D- Day was during the Japanese siege and conquest of Hong Kong.”
This statement reveals a major historical error and an injustice to those many Canadians who fought and died during the Italian Campaign from July 10, 1943, to Feb. 25, 1945.
Almost a year before the June 6, 1944 D-day operation, the 1st Canadian Division on July 10, 1943, landed in Sicily, and augmented in October 1943 by the addition of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, fought up the Italian mainland and participated in the liberation of Rome on June 4, 1944. Up to D- Day, Canadian casualties were: Sicily: 2,227, Moro River and Ortona: 2605, and Liri Valley: 3713. After D- Day the operations in Italy continued with casualties at the Gothic Line and Rimini — 4,511 —and finally the Advance to the Savio — 2,581.
Canada had participated and concluded the battle around Cassino and the Hitler Line by May 1944, just a month before the D-day landings.
( Source: Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War Vol II The Canadians in Italy 1943-1945 by Lt.- Col. G.W.L. Nicholson.)
R. I. Stewart, Victoria, B. C. This column omitted the Sicily and Italy campaigns where the 1st Canadian Division engaged in heavy and significant fighting beginning in 1943. Significant battles fought by Canadians prior to D- Day include the Battle of Ortona fought over Christmas 1943, during which the Loyal Edmonton Regiment and the Seaforth Highlanders ( a regiment in which I served decades later) engaged in brutal urban combat to take the town over a period of eight days. The battle was referred to at the time and after as a little Stalingrad.
Stephen Mulrain, Calgary
Editor’s note: Terry Glavin apologizes for his oversight. There has been a lot of coverage of D- Day. In one piece the author mentioned that thousands of Canadians lost their lives that day. They did not lose their lives. They gave their lives, so that we would not lose ours. There is a big difference between losing and giving, and we should all be thankful for their ultimate gift.
Angelo Nikolakakis, Montreal