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The campaign in
Southern Italy marked the beginning battles of the fighting on
the Italian mainland and the next phase of the the Italian Campaign of the Second World War
for Canadian forces deployed to Europe.
Background
Before the Battle of
Sicily was even underway, Allied planners were confronting
post-Sicily strategy in the Mediterranean. Limited by the range of
fighter aircraft, among other tactical considerations, the use of
Sicily as a base limited the next step into Italy to only a few
options. In September 1943, Operation BAYTOWN put Allied troops
ashore across the Straits of Messina at Reggio; among the first
troops ashore were the 1st Canadian Infantry Division.
Invasion of Italy
The 8th Army, to whom
the Canadians still belonged, was scheduled to land in Calabria four
days ahead of the American 5th Army's landings at Salerno further
north. A small number of German defenders were present, tasked with
fighting a delaying action, alongside Italian defenders whose
quality was in doubt, given Italian political upheaval following the
deposing of wartime leader Benito Mussolini. The Canadians returned
to continental Europe behind a massive bombardment at a cost of only
9 casualties, to find the enemy skilfully using demolitions among
the rugged countryside to keep the advance painfully slow.
The American landings
at Salerno on 9 September were a costly affair, with the invasion
force bogged down in the beachhead and British forces tasked to link
up unable to do so on schedule. The link-up between British and
Americans came on the 16th. The Canadians shifted their advance from
the west coast, to the east, fighting their way into Potenza on
September 20th. By the next day, the Allied front in Italy extended
from the Salerno beaches to Bari. A month of fighting had cost the
Canadians fewer than 200 casualties.
October
The 1st Canadian
Division was sent next towards Campobasso at the start of October
over mountainous roads, to repeat a sequence of events that would
become familiar during the course of the Italian campaign - costly
attacks over treacherous terrain against determined resistance,
followed by repeated attacks, after which the Germans simply
withdrew to the next defensible positions. A Canadian column of
tanks and infantry attacked for five days to gain 18 miles as the
crow flew. Various small-unit actions during October cost the
Canadian Army in Italy 650 casualties.
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