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History

Wars & Campaigns

►Boer War
►First World War

►►Western Front

►►►Trench Warfare: 1914-1916

►►►Allied Offensive: 1916

►►►Allied Offensives: 1917

►►►German Offensive: 1918

►►►Advance to Victory: 1918

►►Siberia
►Second World War
►►War Against Japan
►►North Africa
►►Italian Campaign

►►►Sicily

►►►Southern Italy

►►►The Sangro and Moro

►►►Battles of the FSSF

►►►Cassino

►►►Liri Valley

►►►Advance to Florence

►►►Gothic Line

►►►Winter Lines
►►North-West Europe

►►►Normandy
►►►Southern France
►►►Channel Ports

►►►Scheldt
►►►Nijmegen Salient

►►►Rhineland

►►►Final Phase
►Korean War
►Cold War
►Gulf War

Operations 

Battle Honours

Boer War

First World War
Western Front
Trench Warfare: 1914-1916

Allied Offensive: 1916

Allied Offensives: 1917

German Offensive: 1918

Advance to Victory: 1918

Second World War

War Against Japan

South-East Asia

Italian Campaign

Battle of Sicily

 Southern Italy

The Sangro and Moro

Battles of the FSSF

►Monte Camino

.5 Nov-9 Dec 43

►Monte la Difensa-	2-8 Dec 43
Monte la Remetanea	.

►Hill 720	25 Dec 43
►Monte Majo	3-8 Jan 44.
►Radicosa	4 Jan 44
►Monte Vischiataro	8 Jan 44

►Anzio	22 Jan-22 May 44
►Rome	.22 May-4 Jun 44

►Advance	.22 May-22 Jun 44
to the Tiber	.

►Monte Arrestino	25 May 44
►Rocca Massima	27 May 44
►Colle Ferro	2 Jun 44

Cassino

►Cassino II	11-18 May 44
►Gustav Line	11-18 May 44

►Sant' Angelo in	13 May 44
Teodice	.
►Pignataro	14-15 May 44

Liri Valley

►Liri Valley

18-30 May 44

►Hitler Line

18-24 May 44

►Aquino

18-24 May 44

►Melfa Crossing

24-25 May 44

►Ceprano

26-27 May 44

►Torrice Crossroads

30 May 44

Advance to Florence

►Advance	17 Jul-10 Aug 44
to Florence	.

►Trasimene Line

20-30 Jun 44

►Sanfatucchio

20-21 Jun 44

►Arezzo

4-17 Jul 44

►Cerrone

25 - 31 Aug 44

Gothic Line

►Gothic Line

25 Aug-22 Sep 44

►Monteciccardo

27-28 Aug 44

►Montecchio

30-31 Aug 44

►Point 204 (Pozzo Alto)

31 Aug 44

►Monte Luro

1 Sep 44

►Borgo Santa Maria

1 Sep 44

►Tomba di Pesaro

1-2 Sep 44

►Coriano

3-15 Sep 44

Winter Lines

►Rimini Line

14-21 Sep 44

►San Martino-	14-18 Sep 44
San Lorenzo	.

►San Fortunato

18-20 Sep 44

►Casale

23-25 Sep 44

►Sant' Angelo	11-15 Sep 44
in Salute	.

►Bulgaria Village

13-14 Sep 44

►Cesena

15-20 Sep 44

►Pisciatello

16-19 Sep 44

►Savio Bridgehead

20-23 Sep 44

►Monte La Pieve

13-19 Oct 44

►Monte Spaduro

19-24 Oct 44

►Monte San Bartolo

11-14 Nov 44

►Lamone Crossing	2-13 Dec 44
►Capture of Ravenna	3-4 Dec 44

►Naviglio Canal

12-15 Dec 44

►Fosso Vecchio

16-18 Dec 44

►Fosso Munio

19-21 Dec 44

►Conventello-	2-6 Jan 45
Comacchio	.

►Granarolo

3-5 Jan 44

Northwest Europe

►Dieppe

19 Aug 42

Battle of Normandy

►Normandy Landing

6 Jun 44

►Authie

7 Jun 44

►Putot-en-Bessin

8 Jun 44

►Bretteville

8-9 Jun 44

-l'Orgueilleuse

.

►Le Mesnil-Patry

11 Jun 44

►Carpiquet

4-5 Jul 44

►Caen

4-18 Jul 44

►The Orne (Buron)

8-9 Jul 44

►Bourguébus Ridge

18-23 Jul 44

►Faubourg-de-

18-19 Jul 44

Vaucelles

.

►St. André-sur-Orne

19-23 Jul 44

►Maltôt

22-23 Jul 44

►Verrières Ridge-Tilly--

25 Jul 44

la-Campagne

.

►Falaise

7-22 Aug 44

►Falaise Road

7-9 Aug 44

►Quesnay Road

10-11 Aug 44

►Clair Tizon

11-13 Aug 44

►The Laison

14-17 Aug 44

►Chambois

18-22 Aug 44

►St. Lambert-sur-

19-22 Aug 44

Dives

.

►Dives Crossing

17-20 Aug 44

►Forêt de la Londe

27-29 Aug 44

►The Seine, 1944

25-28 Aug 44

Southern France

►Southern France

15-28 Aug 44

Channel Ports

►Dunkirk, 1944

8-15 Sep 44

►Le Havre

1-12 Sep 44

►Moerbrugge

8-10 Sep 44

►Moerkerke

13-14 Sep 44

►Boulogne, 1944

17-22 Sep 44

►Calais, 1944

25 Sep-1 Oct 44

►Wyneghem

21-22 Sep 44

►Antwerp-Turnhout	24-29 Sep 44
Canal	.

The Scheldt

►The Scheldt	1 Oct-8 Nov 44
►Leopold Canal	6-16 Oct-44
►Woensdrecht	1-27 Oct 44
►Savojaards Platt	9-10 Oct 44
►Breskens Pocket	11 Oct -3 Nov 44
►The Lower Maas	20 Oct -7 Nov 44
►South Beveland	24-31 Oct 44
►Walcheren	31 Oct -4 Nov 44
Causeway	.

Nijmegen Salient

►Ardennes	Dec 44-Jan 45
►Kapelsche Veer	31 Dec 44-
.	21Jan 45
►The Roer	16-31 Jan 45

Rhineland

►The Rhineland

8 Feb-10 Mar 45

►The Reichswald	8-13 Feb 45
►Waal Flats	8-15 Feb 45
►Moyland Wood	14-21 Feb 45
►Goch-Calcar Road	19-21 Feb 45
►The Hochwald	26 Feb-
.	4 Mar 45
►Veen	6-10 Mar 45
►Xanten	8-9 Mar 45

Final Phase

►The Rhine	23 Mar-1 Apr 45
►Emmerich-Hoch	28 Mar-1 Apr 45
Elten	.

►Twente Canal	2-4 Apr 45
►Zutphen	6-8 Apr 45
►Deventer	8-11 Apr 45
►Arnhem, 1945	12-14 Apr 45
►Apeldoorn	11-17 Apr 45
►Groningen	13-16 Apr 45
►Friesoythe	14 Apr 45
►Ijselmeer	15-18 Apr 45
►Küsten Canal	17-24 Apr 45
►Wagenborgen	21-23 Apr 45
►Delfzijl Pocket	23 Apr-2 May 45
►Leer	28-29 Apr 45
►Bad Zwischenahn	23 Apr-4 May 45
►Oldenburg	27 Apr-5 May 45

Korean War

►Kapyong

21-25 Apr 51

Domestic Missions

►FLQ Crisis

International Missions

►ICCS            Vietnam 1973

►MFO                 Sinai 1986-

Peacekeeping

Exercises

The North-West Europe campaign involved formations of the First Canadian Army during the Second World War. The campaign included Canadian participation in several major periods of action;  

• Dieppe 19 August 1942

• Battle of Normandy 6 June 1944 - 25 August 1944

• Channel Ports September 1944

• Battle of the Scheldt October 1944

• Nijmegen Salient November 1944 - February 1945

• Battle of the Rhineland February 1945 - March 1945

• Final Phase March 1945 - April 1945

The Battle Honour North-West Europe was granted to regiments who served in any of these major periods of action. The Battle Honour's title is suffixed with the addition of the years of service, i.e. North-West Europe, 1944-45 for a unit engaged in combat in phases of the campaign during both 1944 and 1945.

The First Special Service Force was also awarded this battle honour as the only Canadian ground unit to serve in Southern France.

Normandy

The allied invasion of the Continent was one of the most inevitable military operations of the Second World War; it was also one of the most widely debated. The Americans campaigned vigorously with their British allies for an immediate return to the Continent as early as 1942; the British had commitments in North Africa and felt that once that continent had been cleared of Axis forces, the best approach to attacking the Axis would be through the Mediterranean. The latter view won out. The raid on Dieppe in August 1942 was an extension of the successful (and costly) commando raiding program instituted by the British. As forces headed to the Mediterranean in 1943 to participate in what became the Italian Campaign, large numbers of men remained in the UK, including the bulk of the First Canadian Army.  

On 6 June 1944, the Allies returned to the continent with the largest amphibious invasion in history; Canada provided the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade and the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion to the assault force, and took responsibility for one of the five landing beaches. D-Day, as the date of the invasion has become famously known, was a success. The following 90 days that comprised the Battle of Normandy has been a controversial subject ever since, due to the slow progress of the Allied armies in defeating the Germans. In the end, Operation OVERLORD pushed the Germans out of Normandy ahead of the arbitrary schedule set before the invasion - but at great cost in lives.

Channel Ports

The collapse of the German Army in Normandy took the Allies by surprise; it was anticipated that on D+90 (i.e. 90 days after the initial landing) the Germans would be fighting on the line of the River Seine. The Germans withdrew past the Seine in advance of that date, and in fact retreated as far as Belgium. Paris fell in late August, and Antwerp in Belgium was taken in early Sep.  

After Falaise the Germans were in such disarray that the Allies might have driven straight to Berlin if they had been able to focus even a third of their combined strength on a relatively narrow front and then put all their logistics effort into keeping it moving. But military alliances have their own agendas and their own political prices. Who would quarterback such a thrust? Who would carry the ball? Montgomery and Patton were the obvious choices but they could never have worked together.¹

General Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of SHAEF, opted for a "broad front" strategy in which all the armies under his command advanced abreast. Priorities were given where needed. In August 1944, the invasion of Southern France drove Axis forces out of the south and eventually enabled the front line in North-West Europe to extend from the North Sea to the Swiss border. From north to south, Eisenhower had three army groups operating:

• 21st Army Group (Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery)

  • First Canadian Army (General H.D.G. Crerar)

  • British 2nd Army (General Miles Dempsey)

• 12th Army Group (General Omar Bradley)

  • U.S. 1st Army (Lieutenant-General Courtney Hodges)

  • U.S. 3d Army (Lieutenant-General George S. Patton, Jr.)

• 6th Army Group (Lieutenant-General General Jacob L. Devers)

  • U.S. 7th Army (Lieutenant-General Alexander Patch)

  • French 1st Army  (Général Jean de Lattre de Tassigny)

The U.S. 9th Army arrived on the Continent in September 1944, saw action at Brest, and later joined 21st Army Group. It was re-assigned to the 12th Army Group after the Rhine crossings in March 1945.

Priority in September was given to Operation MARKET-GARDEN, an airborne operation even larger than the massed parachute and glider landings in Normandy had been. The objective - to put a force across the Rhine River and into Germany, threatening the Ruhr industrial region, outflanking the Siegfried Line defences, and ending the war in 1944 - was not met. In the meantime, First Canadian Army spent September fighting along the North Sea coast on the left flank of the Allied armies. Their goals were to eliminate V-2 Rocket sites and open up the Channel Ports so that Allied supplies would not have to be drawn from the Normandy beaches. With Allied armies as far from Normandy as Antwerp in Belgium and Aachen in Germany, millions of gallons of gasoline were being expended in transporting supplies to the front line. The Germans resisted stubbornly in the port cities, and some even held out until May 1945, left "masked" in the Allied rear. The need to liberate a large port facility became acute by the end of September 1944.

While Antwerp had fallen with port facilities intact to the Allies, the British forces that captured the city had not taken the step of advancing a few miles beyond the city and cutting off the neck of the South Beveland Peninsula. With the Scheldt Estuary - the waterway connecting Antwerp to the sea - in German hands, the port facilities were useless to the Allies. Priority shifted from the MARKET-GARDEN fighting (the British 1st Airborne Division had been reduced from 10,000 men to 2,000 in the space of 10 days when efforts by ground forces to link up with them stalled) to the clearing of the Scheldt. Canadian forces spent the month of October clearing the approach to the South Beveland Peninsula to the north of the estuary, and the Breskens Pocket to the south. The task was completed by 1 November, and British commandos landed on Walcheren Island itself to clear the large coastal guns there.

Nijmegen had been one of the cities liberated in MARKET-GARDEN, and the salient opened in the German line remained garrisoned by US paratroopers until the Canadians relieved them in place. The winter passed by relatively uneventfully for the Canadians. To the south, the Germans launched a major offensive in The Ardennes (known popularly since as the Battle of the Bulge). Had the offensive been successful in its object - driving through the Allies to the Meuse River and dividing the US and British forces - additional offensive action was contemplated against the Canadian Army around Nijmegen. In the event, the only major action was a minor clash at Kapelsche Veer in early 1945.

That a major Allied offensive action would take place in 1945 was not a surprise to anyone. The Germans had one major terrain feature left in the west - the River Rhine. Operation VERITABLE was launched in Feb 1945 to clear the Germans off of what land remained in their hands to the west of the river. Executed in conjunction with Operation GRENADE, a US offensive to link up with them and similarly clear the west bank of the Rhine, the operation was notable for its extensive artillery preparation and the terrible conditions of mud and flooded terrain. While Field Marshal Montgomery prepared for a set piece crossing of the Rhine once the west bank was cleared, US armies to the south were effecting their own crossings. General Patton's US 3d Army managed an assault crossing of the river, while General Hodges' US 1st Army seized an intact bridge at Remagen, near Bonn. The main crossing by 21st Army Group was done in dramatic fashion, with a large amphibious assault backed by a full scale airborne assault across the river (Operation VARSITY). Once again, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion took part in the airdrop and 3rd Canadian Infantry Division provided forces for the amphibious phase.  

The final phase of the war was fought across the Rhine following the massive crossing, called Operation PLUNDER. During this period, I Canadian Corps was repatriated to First Canadian Army from Italy. As II Canadian Corps drove into the northern Netherlands, I Canadian Corps went into the line and drove west, liberating or assisting in the liberation of Arnhem, Deventer and Apeldoorn and crossing the Ijssel. To the north, Canadian units cleared the Netherlands to the north coast, with major fighting at Groningen and the Delfzijl Pocket at the end of Apr, before crossing the border again into Germany for the final battles at Leer, Bad Zwischenhahn, Oldenburg and Wagenborgen.