142-470: Allied victory Peak strength : Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Invasion of Italy Winter Line Gothic Line 1945 Spring Offensive Invasion Inland The Allied invasion of Sicily , also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky , was a major campaign of World War II in which
284-462: A Europe first stance, giving first priority to defeating Nazi Germany. The Japanese had great difficulty replacing their losses in ships and aircraft, while American factories and shipyards produced ever increasing numbers of both. Fighting included some of the largest naval battles in history and massive Allied air raids over Japan , as well as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki . Japan surrendered unconditionally on 15 August 1945 and
426-729: A bombing of the city of Darwin on 19 February, which killed at least 243 people. At the Battle of the Java Sea in late February and early March, the IJN defeated the main ABDA naval force, under Admiral Karel Doorman . The Dutch East Indies campaign ended with the surrender of Allied forces on Java and Sumatra. In March and April, an IJN carrier force launched a raid into the Indian Ocean . British Royal Navy bases in Ceylon were hit and
568-539: A cavalry squadron and a cyclist company, three infantry brigades (the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigades, each of four battalions), representing all parts of Canada, three field artillery brigades (roughly equivalent to modern regiments) armed with 18-pounders and engineers, together with elements of the Army Service Corps and the Army Medical Corps. The total war establishment of
710-564: A cavalry squadron, cyclist company, four infantry brigades, three artillery brigades (equivalent in terms of numbers to the regiments used in the Second World War and after) armed with 18-pounders , and divisional engineers, with supporting troops of the Canadian Army Service Corps and Canadian Army Medical Corps . The strength of the division was placed at 17,873 all ranks, with 4,943 horses. The 4th Brigade
852-469: A considerable threat to the Allied invasion fleet. Eisenhower called a meeting for 2 May with Montgomery, Cunningham and Tedder, in which Montgomery made new proposals to concentrate the Allied effort on the southeast corner of Sicily, discarding the intended landings close to Palermo and using the south-eastern ports. After Alexander joined the meeting on 3 May, Montgomery's proposals were finally accepted on
994-500: A defensive perimeter to absorb and defeat Allied counterattacks; Japanese decisonmakers believed such a military situation would lead to a negotiated peace that would preserve Japanese territorial gains. Japanese planning divided the early war into two operational phases. The First Operational Phase was further divided into three separate parts in which the major objectives of the Philippines, British Malaya, Borneo, Burma, Rabaul and
1136-746: A four-month campaign. The Japanese achieved major military victories, but world opinion—in particular in the US—was hostile to Japan's invasion, especially after the Panay incident . In addition, the Japanese had failed to destroy the Chinese army, which continued to resist from the new Nationalist capital in Chongqing , or in the case of the Communists, Yan'an . In 1939, Japanese forces tried to push into
1278-559: A halt. The Japanese media, influenced by military propagandists, began to refer to the embargoes as the " ABCD line " ("American-British-Chinese-Dutch"). The Japanese Imperial General Headquarters (GHQ) began planning for a war with the Western powers in April or May 1941. Japan increased its naval budget and placed large formations of the Army, along with their attached air components, under
1420-405: A landing in such poor conditions. Landings were made in the early hours of 10 July from 2:45am on 26 main beaches spread along 170 kilometres (105 mi) of the southern and eastern coasts of the island between the town of Licata where the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, under the command of Major General Lucian Truscott, landed at Torre di Gaffe, red beach, and Mollarella and Poliscia, green beaches in
1562-476: A long period of static warfare which would last them throughout the winter. In September, the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division meant that a national corps headquarters could take to the field to command the division. Major-General Arthur Currie took command of the division in September. Active operations resumed again in the spring of 1916, participating in the Battle of Mount Sorrel , and then restoring
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#17327873344631704-475: A major armed clash in January 1941 , effectively ending their co-operation. Japanese strategic bombing efforts mostly targeted large Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Wuhan , and Chongqing , with around 5,000 raids from February 1938 to August 1943. Japan's strategic bombing campaigns killed between 260,000 and 350,934 non-combatants . As early as 1935, Japanese military strategists had concluded that
1846-699: A military alliance with Germany and Italy, becoming one of the three main Axis Powers . The war entered a new phase with Japanese defeats at the Battle of Suixian–Zaoyang , the 1st Battle of Changsha , the Battle of Kunlun Pass and the Battle of Zaoyi . After these victories, Chinese nationalist forces launched a large-scale counter-offensive in early 1940; however, due to a lack of military-industrial capacity, they were repulsed in late March 1940. In August 1940, Chinese communists launched an offensive in Central China ; in retaliation, Japan instituted
1988-585: A naval bombardment and seaborne landing by the British 1st Infantry Division ( Operation Corkscrew ) the island garrison surrendered. The Pelagie Islands of Lampedusa and Linosa , some 140 km (90 mi) west of Malta, followed in short order on 12 June. The Allies used a network of tunnels and chambers located below the Lascaris Battery in Valletta , Malta (the "Lascaris War Rooms"), for
2130-649: Is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston , and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command . It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short notice, and is staffed and equipped to meet Canada's military objectives to counter any potential threat. Formed during the First World War in August 1914, the 1st Canadian Division was a formation of the Canadian Expeditionary Force . The division contained
2272-900: Is also used, referring to the period from the Mukden Incident of 1931 through 1945. The major Allied participants were China , the United States and the British Empire . China had already been engaged in a war against Japan since 1937 . The US and its territories, including the Philippine Commonwealth , entered the war after being attacked by Japan . The British Empire was also a major belligerent consisting of British troops along with colonial troops from India as well as from Burma , Malaya , Fiji , Tonga ; in addition to troops from Australia , New Zealand and Canada . The Dutch government-in-exile (as
2414-615: The 1st Canadian Division , before Canada's formal entrance into the Second World War , to be later joined by both the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions . The division, under the command of Major General Andrew McNaughton , left Halifax from Pier 21 in two heavily escorted convoys. The first departed on 10 December, three months after the declaration of war, and the second departed on 22 December 1939, with additional troops reaching England in February 1940. In 1941,
2556-565: The 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade . Members of the RCR were present in France at least until 16 June, after the French capital of Paris had fallen to German forces , and returned almost immediately after. The 48th's withdrawal was not without some excitement. The division returned to England for the defence of Great Britain in the case of a German invasion . Soon afterwards, Major General McNaughton
2698-701: The 1st Canadian Infantry Division ). The Western Task Force (Task Force 343) was commanded by Lieutenant General George S. Patton and consisted of the American Seventh Army . The two task force commanders reported to Alexander as commander of the 15th Army Group. The U.S. Seventh Army consisted initially of three infantry divisions, organized under II Corps , commanded by Lieutenant General Omar Bradley . The 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions , commanded by Major Generals Terry Allen and Lucian Truscott respectively, sailed from ports in Tunisia , while
2840-820: The 231st Independent Infantry Brigade Group from Suez. The 1st Canadian Infantry Division was included in Operation Husky at the insistence of the Canadian Prime Minister , William Mackenzie King , and the Canadian Military Headquarters in the United Kingdom. This request was granted by the British, displacing the veteran British 3rd Infantry Division . The change was not finalized until 27 April 1943, when Lieutenant-General Andrew McNaughton , then commanding
2982-861: The 45th Infantry Division , under Major General Troy H. Middleton , sailed from the United States via Oran in Algeria . The 2nd Armored Division , under Major General Hugh Joseph Gaffey , also sailing from Oran, was to be a floating reserve and be fed into combat as required. On 15 July, Patton reorganized his command into two corps by creating a new Provisional Corps headquarters, commanded by his deputy army commander, Major General Geoffrey Keyes . The British Eighth Army had four infantry divisions and an independent infantry brigade organized under XIII Corps , commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey , and XXX Corps , commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese . The two divisions of XIII Corps,
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#17327873344633124-554: The 5th and 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Divisions , commanded by Major-Generals Horatio Berney-Ficklin and Sidney Kirkman , sailed from Suez in Egypt . The formations of XXX Corps sailed from more diverse ports: the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, under Major-General Guy Simonds , sailed from the United Kingdom , the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division , under Major-General Douglas Wimberley , from Tunisia and Malta , and
3266-730: The Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany ). It began with a large amphibious and airborne operation , followed by a six-week land campaign, and initiated the Italian campaign . To divert some of the Axis forces to other areas, the Allies engaged in several deception operations, the most famous and successful of which
3408-659: The Allied invasion of Italy on 3 September. The German leader, Adolf Hitler , "canceled a major offensive at Kursk after only a week, in part to divert forces to Italy," resulting in a reduction of German strength on the Eastern Front . The collapse of Italy necessitated German troops replacing the Italians in Italy and to a lesser extent the Balkans , resulting in one-fifth of the entire German army being diverted from
3550-886: The Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theater , was the theater of World War II that was fought in eastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean , the Indian Ocean , and Oceania . It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the Pacific Ocean theater , the South West Pacific theater , the Second Sino-Japanese War , and the Soviet–Japanese War in the last few months of the war. The Second Sino-Japanese War between
3692-582: The Canadian Expeditionary Force was raised in August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the Great War , concentrated at Valcartier Camp in Quebec, and set off for England in the largest trans-Atlantic convoy to date two months later. Training and reorganization commenced upon arrival in the United Kingdom in October 1914, and it was not until 26 January 1915 that the division was officially organized, under
3834-552: The Canadian First Army in the United Kingdom, deemed Operation Husky to be a viable military undertaking and agreed to the detachment of both the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Tank Brigade . The "Red Patch Division" was added to Leese's XXX Corps to become part of the British Eighth Army. In addition to the amphibious landings, airborne troops were to be flown in to support both
3976-754: The Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942, the Allied governments appointed the British General Archibald Wavell to the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), a supreme command for Allied forces in Southeast Asia. This gave Wavell nominal control of a huge force, albeit one that was thinly spread across a vast area, from Burma to the Philippines to northern Australia. Other regions, including India, Hawaii, and
4118-687: The Empire of Japan and the Republic of China had been in progress since 7 July 1937, with hostilities dating back to 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria . However, it is more widely accepted that the Pacific War itself began on 7 December (8 December Japanese time) 1941, when the Japanese simultaneously attacked American military bases in Hawaii , Wake Island , Guam , and the Philippines ,
4260-607: The Gothic Line throughout the summer, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division spent the next several months fighting, as it had the previous fall, for a succession of heavily defended river crossings surrounded by high ground. By the time the division reached the Senio , as the icy rain began giving way to snow in the Canadian sector, a decision had been reached to transfer the entire I Canadian Corps , 1st Infantry Division included, to
4402-700: The Khmer Issarak , and the Hukbalahap . The Soviet Union fought two short, undeclared border conflicts with Japan in 1938 and again in 1939 , then remained neutral through the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact of April 1941, until August 1945 when it (and Mongolia ) joined the rest of the Allies and invaded the territory of Manchukuo , China, Inner Mongolia , the Japanese protectorate of Korea and Japanese-claimed territory such as South Sakhalin . Mexico provided air support in
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4544-1016: The Kwantung Army to oversee its occupation of Manchukuo and the China Expeditionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, created the Southern Expeditionary Army Group at the outset of its conquests of South East Asia. This headquarters controlled the bulk of the Japanese Army formations which opposed the Western Allies in the Pacific and South East Asia. In 1931, without declaring war, Japan invaded Manchuria , seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industrial economy. By 1937, Japan controlled Manchuria and
4686-695: The Netherlands . By the end of March 1945, all Canadian Army units serving with Allied Forces Mediterranean (formerly the Allied Armies in Italy ) had been transferred to the Western Front and Operation Goldflake , the reunion of the 1st Infantry Division and 1st Armoured Brigade and First Canadian Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar , was accomplished. The division, now under Major General Harry Foster , went on to take part in
4828-543: The Panzer Division Hermann Göring and the 15th Panzergrenadier Division . The Panzer division had 99 tanks in two battalions but was short of infantry (with only three battalions), while the 15th Panzergrenadier Division had three grenadier regiments and a tank battalion with 60 tanks. About half of the Italian troops were formed into four front-line infantry divisions and headquarters troops;
4970-408: The Second World War . The division was part of the Allied campaign to invade Sicily, as well as their campaign on the Italian mainland, where they are associated with such notable battles as Ortona, the Liri Valley and the Gothic Line. The division reunited with the First Canadian Army in 1945 to participate in the liberation of the Western Netherlands before the end of the war in Europe. The division
5112-516: The South West Pacific . US sources refer to two theaters within the Pacific War: the Pacific theater and the China Burma India Theater (CBI). However, these were not operational commands. In the Pacific, the Allies divided operational control of their forces between two supreme commands, known as Pacific Ocean Areas and Southwest Pacific Area . The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) did not integrate its units into permanent theater commands. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), which had already created
5254-435: The Soviet Far East . They were defeated in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol by a mixed Soviet and Mongolian force led by Georgy Zhukov . This caused the Japanese to abandon attempts to expand to the north , while Soviet aid to China ceased as a result of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact. In September 1940, Japan decided to invade French Indochina , which was controlled at the time by Vichy France . On 27 September Japan signed
5396-603: The Thai government signed an armistice and entered an alliance with Japan. Although Japan declared war on the United States and the British Empire , the declaration was not delivered until after Japanese forces had already struck British and American targets. In the early hours of 7 December (Hawaiian time), carrier-based Japanese aircraft launched a surprise, large-scale air strike on the U.S. Pacific Fleet's anchorage at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, which knocked eight American battleships out of action, destroyed 188 American aircraft, and killed 2,403 Americans. The Japanese believed that
5538-417: The Western Allied invasion of Germany , the liberation of a majority of the Netherlands including the liberation of Arnhem , and the war in Europe came to an end soon after, on 8 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day . The headquarters of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division was officially disbanded on 15 September 1945. Three members of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division were awarded the Victoria Cross during
5680-458: The " Three Alls Policy " ("Kill all, Burn all, Loot all") in occupied areas, killing at least 2.7 million civilians. By 1941 the conflict had become a stalemate. Although Japan had occupied much of northern, central, and coastal China, the Nationalist Government had retreated to the interior and set up a provisional capital at Chongqing , while the Chinese communists remained in control of base areas in Shaanxi . Japanese offensive action against
5822-457: The "Niscemi" Armoured Combat Group and Livorno Division infantry nearly reached the Allied position at Gela, but gunfire from the destroyer USS Shubrick and the light cruiser USS Boise destroyed several tanks and dispersed the attacking infantry battalion. The 3rd Battalion, 34th Regiment, "Livorno" Infantry Division, composed mainly of conscripts, made a daylight attack on the Gela beachhead two days later, with infantry and armor of
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5964-411: The 429th Coastal Battalion (under Major Marco Rubellino), tasked with defending Gela and its beachhead, had lost 45 percent of its men, while the attacking U.S. Army Ranger Battalion lost several men to mines and machine-gun and cannon fire. Gruppo Tattico Carmito (under Lieutenant-Colonel Francesco Tropea), tasked with defending Malati Bridge, defeated a Royal Marines Commando Battalion on 13 July with
6106-468: The 505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team with the addition of the 3rd Battalion of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment , along with the 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion , Company 'B' of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion and other supporting units) of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, making their first combat drop. The British landings were preceded by pathfinders of the 21st Independent Parachute Company, who were to mark landing zones for
6248-406: The Allied Expeditionary Force, General Alexander as Deputy C-in-C with responsibility for detailed planning and execution of the operation, Admiral Cunningham as Naval Commander, and Air Chief Marshal Tedder as Air Commander. The outline plan given to Eisenhower by the Chiefs of Staff involved dispersed landings by brigade and division-sized formations in the south-east, south and north-west areas of
6390-422: The Allied embargo. This was known as the Southern Plan . It was decided—because of the close relationship between the U.K. and the U.S., and the belief that the U.S. would inevitably become involved in the ongoing war in Europe—that Japan would also seize the Philippines, Wake Island and Guam . Japan had initially planned for a limited war, where Japanese forces would seize key objectives and then establish
6532-414: The Allies staging areas from which to mount a counteroffensive. By November 1941 these plans were mostly complete, and were modified only slightly over the next month. Japanese military planners' expectation of success rested on the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union being unable to effectively respond to a Japanese attack because of the threat posed to each by Nazi Germany; in particular, the Soviet Union
6674-417: The Americans, faced with such a sudden and massive blow to their naval power in the Pacific, would agree to a negotiated settlement. However, American losses were less serious than initially thought: the three American aircraft carriers were at sea during the attack, and vital naval infrastructure, Honolulu's submarine base, and signals intelligence units were unscathed. The fact that the bombing happened while
6816-521: The Axis. High-level planning for the operation lacked direction because the three mainland commanders, Alexander, Montgomery, and Patton, were fully occupied in operations in Tunisia. Effort was wasted in presenting plans that Montgomery, in particular, disliked because of the dispersion of forces involved. He was finally able to articulate his objections and put forward alternative proposals on 24 April. Tedder and Cunningham opposed Montgomery's plan because it would leave 13 landing grounds in Axis hands, posing
6958-498: The British Royal Air Force (RAF) that provided the primary air support for the operation. Other groups from the 9th Air Force under Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton operating from Tunisia and Egypt, and Air H.Q. Malta under Air Vice-Marshal Sir Keith Park operating from the island of Malta, also provided important air support. The U.S. Army Air Force 9th Air Force's medium bombers and P-40 fighters that were detached to NAAF's Northwest African Tactical Air Force under
7100-524: The British 1st Airlanding Brigade, landed on target, captured Ponte Grande and repulsed counterattacks. Additional paratroops rallied to the sound of shooting and by 08:30 89 men were holding the bridge. By 11:30, a battalion of the Italian 75th Infantry Regiment (Colonel Francesco Ronco) from the 54th Infantry Division "Napoli" arrived with some artillery. The British force held out until about 15:30 hours, when, low on ammunition and by now reduced to 18 men, they were forced to surrender, 45 minutes before
7242-402: The British Army, were still considered too inexperienced. Alderson, meanwhile, had first seen action against the Boers in 1881, and thereafter fought in Egypt , the Sudan (he served with a Camel Corps in the Nile Expedition of 1884–1885) and Mashonaland . He also served throughout the South African War of 1899–1902, in which he had Canadian mounted troops under his command. Training in
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#17327873344637384-406: The British colonies of Malaya , Singapore , and Hong Kong , and invaded Thailand . The Pacific War saw the Allies pitted against Japan, the latter aided by Thailand and to a lesser extent by the Axis powers , Germany and Italy . The Japanese achieved great success in the initial phase of the campaign, but were gradually driven back using an island hopping strategy. The Allies adopted
7526-660: The British retreated to Imphal in Manipur, abandoning most of their transportation and equipment. They reached Imphal in May just as the monsoon descended, which halted the operations of both sides in the area. Within China, cooperation between the Chinese Nationalists and the Communists had waned from its zenith at the Battle of Wuhan, and the relationship between the two had soured as both attempted to expand their areas of operation and influence. The Japanese exploited this lack of unity to press their offensive operations in China. 1st Canadian Division World War II The 1st Canadian Division (French: 1 Division du Canada )
7668-449: The Chinese 38th Division, led by Sun Li-jen . Meanwhile, in the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road , the Japanese captured Toungoo after hard fighting and sent motorized units to capture Lashio . This cut the Burma Road , which was the western Allies' supply line to Chinese Nationalist troops. Many of Chinese troops were forced either to retreat to India, or withdraw in small parties to Yunnan . Accompanied by large numbers of civilian refugees,
7810-429: The Dutch East Indies were, due to their abundant oil reserves, crucially important for further expansion by the Japanese Empire. By 1940 the Japanese also included Indochina, Malaya, and the Philippines within their concept of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Japanese troop build-ups in Hainan, Taiwan, and Haiphong were noted in foreign media, Japanese military officers were increasingly and openly talking about
7952-428: The Dutch East Indies would be occupied. The Second Operational Phase called for further expansion into the South Pacific by seizing eastern New Guinea, New Britain, Fiji, Samoa, and strategic points in around Australia. In the Central Pacific, Midway Island was targeted, as were the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific. Japanese strategists believed that the seizure of these key areas would provide defensive depth and deny
8094-412: The Eighth Army's bridgehead with the second wave in the spring offensive, Operation Diadem , the Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino . The 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards , the reconnaissance (or 'recce') regiment serving with the 1st Canadian Division, was the first of the Eighth Army's units to cross the Hitler Line in May 1944, below Pontecorvo in its armoured cars. After heavy fighting in front of
8236-495: The German liaison officer attached to the 6th Army HQ, Generalleutnant Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin who was subordinate to Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring , the German C-in-C Army Command South ( OB Süd ). Von Senger had arrived in Sicily in late June as part of a German plan to gain greater operational control of its units. Guzzoni agreed from 16 July to delegate to Hube control of all sectors where there were German units involved, and from 2 August, he commanded
8378-437: The Great War to an end. 1st Canadian Brigade: 2nd Canadian Brigade: 3rd Canadian Brigade: 4th Canadian Brigade: Pioneers : Attached troops: 1916: 1917: 1918: After the cessation of hostilities on 11 November 1918, the 1st Division was selected to form part of the occupation forces on the right bank of the Rhine , and General MacDonnell took the salute on 13 December when his veterans crossed
8520-452: The Greek coast. They also moved three panzer divisions to Greece, one from France and two from the Eastern Front which reduced German combat strength in the Kursk salient . Two American and two British attacks by airborne troops were carried out just after midnight on the night of 9–10 July, as part of the invasion. The American paratroopers consisted largely of Colonel James M. Gavin 's 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (expanded into
8662-485: The Hermann Göring Panzer Division, but was repulsed. By the morning of 10 July, the Joint Task Force Operations Support System Force captured the port of Licata, at the cost of nearly 100 killed and wounded in the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, and the division beat back a counter-attack from the 538th Coastal Defence Battalion. By 11:30, Licata was firmly in American hands and the U.S. 3rd Division had lost fewer than one hundred men. Salvage parties had already partially cleared
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#17327873344638804-500: The IJN and IJA launched simultaneous surprise attacks on the United States and the British Empire on 7 December (8 December in Asia/West Pacific time zones). The locations of this first wave of Japanese attacks included the American territories of Hawaii, the Philippines , Guam , and Wake Island and the British territories of Malaya , Singapore , and Hong Kong . Concurrently, Japanese forces invaded southern and eastern Thailand and were resisted for several hours, before
8946-489: The Indian hospital ship Talamba with heavy loss of life, and in the following days Axis aircraft damaged or sank several more warships, transport vessels and landing craft starting with the Allied troopship USS Barnett hit and damaged by an Italian bomber formation on the morning of 11 July. Italian Stukas (named Picchiatello in Italian service) and Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 torpedo-bombers coordinated their attacks with German Stuka and Ju 88 bomber units. As part of
9088-459: The Japanese puppet states of Manchukuo (consisting of most of Manchuria ), and the collaborationist Wang Jingwei regime (which controlled the coastal regions of China), respectively. Japan conscripted many soldiers from its colonies of Korea and Taiwan . Collaborationist security units were also formed in Hong Kong , Singapore , the Philippines , the Dutch East Indies , British Malaya , British Borneo , former French Indochina (after
9230-563: The Japanese on 15 February 1942. About 130,000 Indian, British, Australian and Dutch personnel became Japanese prisoners of war. Bali and Timor fell in February. The rapid collapse of Allied resistance left the "ABDA area" split in two. Wavell resigned from ABDACOM on 25 February, handing control of the ABDA Area to local commanders and returning to the post of Commander-in-Chief, India . Meanwhile, Japanese aircraft had all but eliminated Allied air power in Southeast Asia and were carrying out air attacks on northern Australia , beginning with
9372-485: The Middle East) was increased. From 3 July, bombing concentrated on Sicilian airfields and Axis communications with Italy, although beach defences were left alone, to preserve surprise as to where the landings would occur. By 10 July, only two airfields in Sicily remained fully operational and over half the Axis aircraft had been forced to leave the island. Between mid-May and the invasion, Allied airmen flew 42,227 sorties and destroyed 323 German and 105 Italian aircraft, for
9514-417: The Sicilian front. At the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, with the end of the North African Campaign in sight, the political leaders and the military Chiefs of Staff of the United States and Britain met to discuss future strategy. The British Chiefs of Staff were in favour of an invasion of Sicily or Sardinia , arguing that it would force Germany to disperse its forces and might knock Italy out of
9656-422: The US was not officially at war caused a wave of outrage across the country. Japan's fallback strategy, relying on a war of attrition against the United States, was beyond the Imperial Japanese Navy's capabilities. Opposition to war in the United States vanished after the attack. On 8 December, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands declared war on Japan, followed by Australia
9798-465: The Western and Eastern Task Forces. To the east, the British 1st Airborne Division , commanded by Major-General George F. Hopkinson , was to seize vital bridges and high ground in support of the British Eighth Army. The initial plan dictated that the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division , commanded by Major General Matthew Ridgway , was to be held as a tactical reserve in Tunisia. Allied naval forces were also grouped into two task forces to transport and support
9940-503: The Western powers through armed forces of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere . Japanese officials integrated what they called the Japan–China Incident ( 日支事変 , Nisshi Jihen ) into the Greater East Asia War. During the Occupation of Japan (1945–52), these terms were prohibited in official documents (although their informal usage continued). The war became officially known as the Pacific War ( 太平洋戦争 , Taiheiyō Sensō ) . The Fifteen Years' War ( 十五年戦争 , Jūgonen Sensō )
10082-436: The advance headquarters of the invasion of Sicily. In July 1943, General Eisenhower, Admiral Cunningham, General Montgomery, and Air Marshal Tedder occupied the war rooms. Earlier, the war rooms had served as the British headquarters for the defence of Malta. To distract the Axis, and if possible divert some of their forces to other areas, the Allies engaged in several deception operations. The most famous and successful of these
10224-524: The aircraft carrier HMS Hermes was sunk, along with other Allied ships. The attack forced the Royal Navy to withdraw to the western part of the Indian Ocean, paving the way for a Japanese assault on Burma and India. In Burma, the Japanese captured Moulmein on 31 January 1942, and then drove outnumbered British and Indian troops towards the Sittang River . On 23 February, a bridge over
10366-452: The armies by landing supplies across the beaches proved easier than expected, partly because of the successful introduction of large numbers of the new amphibious DUKW vehicle. Alexander was later to write "It is not too much to say that the DUKW revolutionised the problem of beach maintenance." On 17 May, Alexander issued his Operation Instruction No. 1 setting out his broad plan and defining
10508-410: The basis that it was better to take an administrative risk (having to support troops by landing supplies across beaches) than an operational one (dispersion of effort). Not for the last time, Montgomery had argued a sound course of action, yet done so in a conceited manner, which suggested to others, particularly his American allies, that he was preoccupied with his own interests. In the event, maintaining
10650-469: The bridge at Cologne with fixed bayonets. During April 1919, the troops embarked and returned to Canada for demobilization. The total casualties of the infantry battalions were 52,559, of which 15,055 (nearly the original strength of the entire division) were fatal. Twenty-four soldiers of the division were awarded the Victoria Cross . The division was remobilized in September 1939, designated as
10792-611: The city, which fell to Japan after three months of fighting. The Japanese continued to push deeper into China, capturing the capital Nanjing in mid-December 1937 and committing atrocities in the Nanjing Massacre , including rape, murder and torture. In March 1938, Nationalist forces won their first victory at Taierzhuang , but the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Japan deployed about 350,000 troops to invade Wuhan and captured it in October after
10934-619: The command of Lieutenant-General Edwin Alderson , a British Army officer . Several units under command of the First Contingent were excluded from the divisional organization, including the 17th Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders), 18th Battalion, and several companies of Newfoundland soldiers (later formed into the Newfoundland Regiment and assigned to the 29th Division ). The division consisted originally of
11076-540: The command of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham moved to southern airfields on Sicily as soon they were secured. At the time, the 9th Air Force was a sub-command of RAF Middle East Command under Air Chief Marshal Sir Sholto Douglas . Middle East Command, like NAAF and Air H.Q. Malta were sub-commands of MAC under Tedder who reported to Eisenhower for NAAF operations and to the British Chiefs of Staff for Air H.Q. Malta and Middle East Command operations. The island
11218-599: The command of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Historically, the IJA consumed the majority of the state's military budget (with a 73% - 27% split in 1940), but from 1942 to 1945 the IJA would account for 60% of Japan's military spending, while the IJN would account for 40%. Japan's key initial objective was to seize economic resources in the Dutch East Indies and Malaya, in order to alleviate the effects of
11360-632: The conquest of Sicily, the division transferred to the British XIII Corps , but now serving alongside the British 5th Infantry Division (which had also fought in Husky), then landed in Calabria as part of Operation Baytown on the Italian mainland and fought its way up the Italian peninsula , advancing to the other side of the boot (the “heel”), before withdrawing from the front lines where it fought an occasional rearguard action. The division
11502-578: The division in 1940. Nevertheless, in the wake of the disastrous Battle of France and the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the Dunkirk evacuation in May 1940, the 1st Canadian Division was ordered to France the following month. Among the infantry units that landed at Brest were The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR), The 48th Highlanders of Canada and The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment , all part of
11644-527: The division was 17,873 all ranks, with 4,943 horses. During its service in the First World War, the division fought at Ypres , Festubert , the Somme, Vimy Ridge , Passchendaele and Amiens among other notable battles on the Western Front . Following the war, the division was stood down, only to be re-mobilized as a formation on 1 September 1939 as the 1st Canadian Infantry Division for service in
11786-429: The east to southern Europe, a proportion that would remain until near the end of the war. The plan for Operation Husky called for the amphibious assault of Sicily by two Allied armies , one landing on the south-eastern and one on the central southern coast. The amphibious assaults were to be supported by naval gunfire, as well as tactical bombing, interdiction and close air support by the combined air forces. As such,
11928-628: The form of the 201st Fighter Squadron and Free France sent naval support in the form of Le Triomphant and later the Richelieu . The Axis -aligned states which assisted Japan included the authoritarian government of Thailand . Also involved were members of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, which included the Manchukuo Imperial Army and Collaborationist Chinese Army of
12070-404: The formation adopted the red rectangular battle patch insignia worn by the 1st Canadian Division in the Great War . All elements of the division were far from completely equipped on mobilization: of the artillery and machine guns on hand, most were obsolete, and the troops lacked steel helmets. Only gradually did a full complement of more modern weapons, equipment, and transport begin reaching
12212-507: The harbor, and shortly after noon Truscott and his staff came ashore and set up headquarters at Palazzo La Lumia. About that time, the 538th Coastal Defense Battalion, which had been deployed as a tactical reserve, launched a counter-attack. By the evening of 10 July, the seven Allied assault divisions—three American, three British and one Canadian—were well established ashore, the port of Syracuse had been captured, and fears of an Axis air onslaught had proved unfounded. The preparatory bombing of
12354-628: The help of the local middle-age reservists. The Italian 4th Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion attacked the Commandos with the help of the 372nd Coastal Defence Battalion, 553rd (under Captain Giovanni Sartor) and 554th (under Captain Fausto Clementi) Motorcycle Companies, and three Panzer IV medium tanks. The 246th Coastal Battalion (under Major Rollo Franco) defeated British attempts to capture Augusta on
12496-627: The invading armies. The Eastern Naval Task Force was formed from the British Mediterranean Fleet and was commanded by Admiral Bertram Ramsay . The Western Naval Task Force was formed around the U.S. Eighth Fleet , commanded by Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt . The two naval task force commanders reported to Admiral Cunningham as overall Naval Forces Commander. Two sloops of the Royal Indian Navy – HMIS Sutlej and HMIS Jumna – also participated. At
12638-571: The island and from 6 June, Allied attacks increased. From 8 May to 11 June 5,285 bombing sorties were flown by fighter-bombers, medium and heavy bombers, dropping a total of 6,202 tons of bombs on the island. The Italian gun positions were reduced to 47% effectiveness by the intense ten-day air bombardment. Out of 112 guns bombed, 2 had suffered from direct hits, 17 were near misses and 34 were damaged by debris and splinters (10 beyond repair). All control communications were destroyed, along with many gun emplacements and ammunition stores. On 11 June, after
12780-567: The island in two and cut his enemy's east–west communications. The Seventh Army was assigned to land in the Gulf of Gela , in south-central Sicily, with the 3rd Infantry Division and 2nd Armored Division to the west at Licata Mollarella beach, 1st Division in the center at Gela, and 45th Division to the east at Scoglitti . The 82nd Airborne Division was assigned to drop behind the defences at Gela and Scoglitti. The Seventh Army's beach-front stretched over 50 kilometers (30 mi). The British Eighth Army
12922-424: The island. The logic behind the plan was that it would result in the rapid capture of key Axis airfields that posed a threat to the beachheads and the invasion fleet lying off them. It would also see the rapid capture of all the main ports on the island, except for Messina , including Catania , Palermo , Syracuse , Licata and Augusta . This would facilitate a rapid Allied build-up, as well as denying their use to
13064-448: The leading elements of the British 5th Division arrived from the south. Despite these mishaps, the widespread landing of airborne troops, both American and British, had a positive effect as small isolated units, acting on their initiative, attacked vital points and created confusion. The strong wind also made matters difficult for the amphibious landings but also ensured surprise as many of the defenders had assumed that no one would attempt
13206-565: The left flank of the First Army (General Sir Douglas Haig ). The division moved to the Ypres Salient in April, and faced its first real test during the defence of St. Julien beginning on 22 April. The Canadians withstood German attack — aided, for the first time on the Western Front , by the use of poison gas — and finally retired to secondary positions on 26 April, where they held on until 4 May. The Second Battle of Ypres , as
13348-403: The loss of 250 aircraft, mostly to anti-aircraft fire over Sicily. Operations began in May against the small island of Pantelleria , some 110 km (70 mi) southwest of Sicily and 240 km (150 mi) northwest of Malta, to prevent the airfield there being used in support of Axis troops attempting to withdraw from North Africa. On 13 and 31 May the cruiser HMS Orion bombarded
13490-499: The next day. Thailand, with its territory already serving as a springboard for Japan's Malayan Campaign , surrendered within hours of the Japanese invasion. The government of Thailand formally allied with Japan on 21 December. To the south, the IJA seized the British colony of Penang on 19 December, encountering little resistance. Hong Kong was attacked on 8 December and fell to Japanese forces on 25 December 1941. American bases on Guam and Wake Island were seized by Japan at around
13632-520: The night of 11–12 July. In Major General Terry Allen's U.S. 1st Infantry Division sector at Gela, there was an Italian division-sized counterattack where the dispersed 505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team was supposed to have been. Tiger tanks of the Hermann Göring Panzer Division, which had been due to advance with the 4th Infantry Division "Livorno" , were late. On highways 115 and 117 during 10 July, Italian tanks of
13774-626: The number of German troops to around 70,000. Until the arrival of the corps headquarters, the two German divisions were nominally under Italian tactical control. The panzer division, with a reinforced infantry regiment from the panzergrenadier division to compensate for its lack of infantry, was under Italian XVI Corps and the rest of the panzergrenadier division under the Italian XII Corps . The German commanders in Sicily were contemptuous of their allies and German units took their orders from
13916-462: The operation required a complex command structure, incorporating land, naval and air forces. The overall commander was American General Dwight D. Eisenhower , as Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of all the Allied forces in North Africa. British General Sir Harold Alexander acted as his second-in-command and as the 15th Army Group commander. The American Major General Walter Bedell Smith
14058-541: The overall action came to be known, cost the infantry brigades some 5,506 men. Two weeks later, the division was in action again at Festubert . Aiding in a diversionary offensive by the British armies, the Canadians suffered 2,204 casualties for gains of only 600 yards (550 m). Another futile attack was launched at Givenchy-en-Gohelle in June 1915, after which the division moved to Ploegsteert . The Canadians began
14200-678: The overthrow of the French regime in 1945 ), as well as Timorese militia . Germany and Italy both had limited involvement in the Pacific War. The German and the Italian navies operated submarines and raiding ships in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, notably the Monsun Gruppe . Between 1942 and 1945, there were four main areas of conflict in the Pacific War: China, the Central Pacific , South-East Asia and
14342-905: The possessor of the Dutch East Indies ) was also involved. All of these were members of the Pacific War Council . From 1944 the French commando group Corps Léger d'Intervention also took part in resistance operations in Indochina. Some active pro-allied guerrillas in Asia included the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army , the Korean Liberation Army , the Free Thai Movement , the Việt Minh ,
14484-428: The previous weeks had greatly weakened the Axis air capability and the heavy Allied presence of aircraft operating from Malta, Gozo, and Pantelleria kept most of the Axis attempts at air attack at bay. Some attacks on the first day of the invasion got through, and German aircraft sank the landing ship LST-313 and minesweeper USS Sentinel . Italian Stukas sank the destroyer USS Maddox and Re.2002s sunk
14626-507: The principal airfields of Sardinia, Sicily and southern Italy, industrial targets in southern Italy and the ports of Naples , Messina, Palermo and Cagliari (in Sardinia). The attacks were spread to maintain uncertainty as to the next Allied move, and to pin down Axis aircraft and keep them away from Sicily. Bombing of northern Italy (by aircraft based in the UK) and Greece (by aircraft based in
14768-653: The prospect of war, and Admiral Sankichi Takahashi was reported as stating that a showdown with the US was necessary. In an effort to discourage Japanese militarism, Western powers including Australia, the US, Britain, and the Dutch government in exile , which controlled the Dutch East Indies, stopped selling oil , iron ore, and steel to Japan. In Japan, the government and Japanese nationalists viewed these embargoes as acts of aggression; imported oil made up about 80% of domestic consumption, without which Japan's economy would grind to
14910-661: The remainder were support troops or inferior coastal divisions and coastal brigades. Guzzoni's defence plan was for the coastal formations to form a screen to receive the invasion and allow time for the field divisions further back to intervene. By late July, the German units had been reinforced, principally by elements of the 1st Parachute Division , 29th Panzergrenadier Division and the XIV Panzer Corps headquarters ( General der Panzertruppe Hans-Valentin Hube ), bringing
15052-668: The rest of Australia, remained under local commands. On 15 January, Wavell moved to Bandung in Java to assume control of ABDACOM. In January, Japan invaded British Burma, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, and captured Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Rabaul . After being driven out of Malaya, Allied forces in Singapore attempted to resist the Japanese during the Battle of Singapore, but were forced to surrender to
15194-470: The retreating and regrouping Chinese forces was largely stalled by the mountainous terrain in southwestern China, while the Communists organized widespread guerrilla and saboteur activities in northern and eastern China behind the Japanese front line. Japan sponsored several puppet governments , one of which was headed by Wang Jingwei . Conflicts between Chinese Communist and Nationalist forces vying for territorial control behind enemy lines culminated in
15336-442: The ridge. Other gains were made in the days following the successful assault on the ridge, and the division participated in the battle of Hill 70 in August 1917. The Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) followed in mid-October, and fighting continued into November. The division served under Major-General Archibald Cameron Macdonell beginning in May; his command persisted until Armistice Day . Massive German offensives came in
15478-646: The river was demolished prematurely, stranding most of an Indian division. On 8 March, the Japanese occupied Rangoon . The Allies attempted to defend Central Burma, with Indian and Burmese divisions holding the Irrawaddy River valley and the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma defending Toungoo . On 16 April, 7,000 British soldiers were encircled by the Japanese 33rd Division during the Battle of Yenangyaung , but subsequently rescued by
15620-515: The same time. British, Australian, and Dutch forces, already drained of personnel and matériel by two years of war with Germany, and heavily committed in the Middle East, North Africa, and elsewhere, were unable to provide more than token resistance. Two major British warships, the battlecruiser HMS Repulse and the battleship HMS Prince of Wales , were sunk by a Japanese air attack off Malaya on 10 December 1941. Following
15762-476: The sea, with over 200 men drowning. Among those who landed in the sea were Major General George F. Hopkinson, commander of the British 1st Airborne Division, who, after several hours spent clutching a piece of wreckage, was eventually rescued by the landing ship HMS Keren . The scattered airborne troops attacked patrols and created confusion wherever possible. A platoon of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment , under Lieutenant Louis Withers , part of
15904-676: The seaborne landings south at Agnone, some 400 men of Lieutenant Colonel John Durnford-Slater 's No. 3 Commando captured Malati Bridge on 13 July, only to lose possession of it when the 4th Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Francesco Tropea) and the Italian 553rd and 554th Motorcycle Companies counter-attacked. The Commandos lost 28 killed, 66 wounded and 59 captured or missing. Pacific War Allied occupation of Japan Second Sino-Japanese War Taishō period Shōwa period Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups The Pacific War , sometimes called
16046-578: The situation at Sanctuary Wood. The Battle of the Somme opened on 1 July 1916, the costliest day in the history of the British Army , with over 19,000 British soldiers killed and 38,000 wounded. The Canadian part in the battle, which was to last through to November, did not begin until September at Battle of Pozières and lasted through to October. It was on the Somme that the red patch was first worn as an identifying device—two inches by three inches and worn on both sleeves, this rectangle identified
16188-587: The spring of 1918, but the Canadian Corps —now considered crack assault troops—were held in reserve for the inevitable counter-offensives. " Canada's Hundred Days "—the last 100 days of the war—were marked by several Canadian successes, at Amiens , Arras (which included the Drocourt-Quéant Line ), Canal du Nord and the Pursuit to Mons . The Armistice of 11 November 1918 finally brought
16330-414: The tasks of the two armies. Broadly speaking, he intended to establish his armies along a line from Catania to Licata preparatory to a final operation to reduce the island. He later wrote that at that stage it was not practicable to plan further ahead but that his intentions were clear in his own mind what the next step would be: he would drive north ultimately to Santo Stefano on the northern coast to split
16472-727: The time of Operation Husky, the Allied air forces in North Africa and the Mediterranean were organized into the Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) under Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder . The major sub-command of MAC was the Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) under the command of Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz with headquarters in Tunisia. NAAF consisted primarily of groups from the United States 12th Air Force , 9th Air Force , and
16614-484: The town, which a reporter for The New York Times had begun calling a "miniature Stalingrad ", based on the ferocity of the street fighting and the heavy losses on both sides, with the Canadians suffering 650 casualties, mainly in the 3rd Brigade. By 27 December, what remained of Ortona, after days of shelling and aerial bombardment, was in Canadian hands. After this, the division was rested and many months of static warfare ensued. The division then went on to break out of
16756-456: The troop-carrying aircraft off course and the American force was scattered widely over south-east Sicily between Gela and Syracuse. By 14 July, about two-thirds of the 505th had managed to concentrate, and half the U.S. paratroopers failed to reach their rallying points. The British air-landing troops fared little better, with only 12 of the 147 gliders landing on target and 69 crashing into
16898-591: The troops who were intending to seize the Ponte Grande, the bridge over the River Anape just south of Syracuse, and hold it until the British 5th Infantry Division arrived from the beaches at Cassibile, some eleven kilometres (7 mi) to the south. Glider infantry from the British 1st Airborne Division's 1st Airlanding Brigade , commanded by Brigadier Philip Hicks , were to seize landing zones inland. Strong winds of up to 70 km/h (45 mph) blew
17040-470: The war and move Turkey to join the Allies. At first, the Americans opposed the plan as opportunistic and irrelevant, but were persuaded to agree to a Sicilian invasion on the grounds of the great savings to Allied shipping that would result from the opening of the Mediterranean by the removal of Axis air and naval forces from the island. The Combined Chiefs of Staff appointed General Eisenhower as C-in-C of
17182-411: The war, including the 1st Canadian Pioneer Battalion from March 1916 to February 1917, when they became the 9th Canadian Railway Battalion. The 107th Canadian Pioneer Battalion also came under command between March 1917 and May 1918, before being absorbed by the 1st Canadian Engineer Brigade. Lieutenant-General Alderson was selected and appointed in October 1914 to command the new Canadian Division, as it
17324-413: The wearer as belonging to the 1st Division. The insignia was also painted on steel trench helmets , and adorned with geometric shapes of different colours to further identify the soldier's specific battery, brigade, battalion or other subunit. The division began to prepare for the historic assault on Vimy Ridge , and took the time-honoured position of right of the line on 9 April 1917 when the corps took
17466-426: The west, and Cassibile in the east, with British and Canadian forces in the east and Americans toward the west. This constituted the largest amphibious operation of World War II in terms of size of the landing zone and the number of divisions put ashore on the first day. The Italian defensive plan did not contemplate a pitched battle on the beaches and so the landings themselves were somewhat anticlimactic. More trouble
17608-533: The winter of 1914 was rigorous, and conditions on Salisbury Plain were harsh due to cold and rain. Alderson rejected the "shoddy" kit that was supplied from Canada including the Ross Rifle which had been adopted due to the slow rate of supply of the Lee–Enfield and which was seen as an example of Canadian nationalism. A royal inspection of the division early in 1915 foretold a move to France. Early in 1915, it
17750-455: Was Operation Mincemeat , conceived by Naval intelligence officer Ewen Montagu and RAF Squadron Leader Charles Cholmondeley. The British allowed a corpse , disguised as a British Royal Marines officer, to drift ashore in Spain carrying a briefcase containing fake secret documents. The documents purported to reveal that the Allies were planning "Operation Brimstone" and that an "Operation Husky"
17892-518: Was Operation Mincemeat . Husky began on the night of 9–10 July 1943 and ended on 17 August. Strategically, Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners: the Allies drove Axis air, land and naval forces from the island, and the Mediterranean sea lanes were opened for Allied merchant ships for the first time since 1941. These events led to the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini , being toppled from power in Italy on 25 July, and to
18034-459: Was occupied by the Allies. Japan lost its former possessions in Asia and the Pacific and had its sovereignty limited to the four main home islands and other minor islands as determined by the Allies. In Allied countries during the war, the "Pacific War" was not usually distinguished from World War II , or was known simply as the War against Japan . In the United States, the term Pacific theater
18176-684: Was also reactivated twice during the Cold War : from 1953 to 1958, and again from 1988 to 1992. In 2010, the division was reactivated for a third time. While the four divisions (2nd to 5th) of the Canadian Army are responsible for command of units within their respective geographic regions , the 1st Canadian Division Headquarters was formed to serve as a task-tailored, deployable joint headquarters at high readiness to command and control joint, inter-agency, multinational forces to achieve national objectives at home and abroad. The First Contingent of
18318-614: Was an invasion of Greece. German intelligence accepted the authenticity of the documents and the Germans diverted much of their defensive effort from Sicily to Greece until the occupation of Pantelleria on 11 June, which concentrated German and Italian attention on the western Mediterranean. Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel was sent to Greece to assume command. The Germans transferred a group of " R boats " (German minesweepers and minelayers) from Sicily and laid three additional minefields off
18460-572: Was appointed as Eisenhower's Chief of Staff . The overall Naval Force Commander was the British Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham . The Allied land forces were from the American, British and Canadian armies, and were structured as two task forces. The Eastern Task Force (also known as Task Force 545) was led by General Sir Bernard Montgomery and consisted of the British Eighth Army (which included
18602-445: Was assigned to land in south-eastern Sicily. XXX Corps would land on either side of Cape Passero , while XIII Corps would land in the Gulf of Noto , around Avola , off to the north. The Eighth Army's beach front also stretched 40 kilometers (25 mi), and there was a gap of some 40 kilometers (25 mi) between the two armies. Once the Axis forces had been defeated in Tunisia, the Allied strategic bomber force commenced attacks on
18744-571: Was broken up in January 1915, with one battalion (the 10th) going to the 2nd Brigade, and the other three battalions being used to form the Canadian Training Depot, ultimately being re-designated as "Reserve" Battalions. The 10th Battalion replaced the 6th Battalion (Fort Garrys), which left the 2nd Brigade to become a cavalry unit, later serving in the Canadian Cavalry Brigade. Pioneer units were added later in
18886-455: Was defended by the two corps of the Italian 6th Army under General Alfredo Guzzoni , although specially designated Fortress Areas around the main ports ( Piazze Militari Marittime ), were commanded by admirals subordinate to Naval Headquarters and independent of the 6th Army. In early July, the total Axis force in Sicily was about 200,000 Italian troops, 32,000 German troops and 30,000 Luftwaffe ground staff. The main German formations were
19028-596: Was evident that the Canadians would soon be going to France. The division paraded in drill order for an inspection by His Majesty King George V ; thereafter, units boarded troop ships at Avonmouth and during mid-February, the entire division crossed the rough Channel to St. Nazaire . After a brief period in reserve near Hazebrouck , the Canadians relieved the 7th British Division in the Fleurbaix sector near Armentières on 1–3 March. General Alderson then became responsible for 6,400 yards (5,900 m) of front line on
19170-410: Was experienced from the difficult weather conditions (especially on the southern beaches) and unexpected hidden offshore sandbars than from the coastal divisions. Some troops landed in the wrong place, in the wrong order and as much as six hours behind schedule, but the weakness of the defensive response allowed the Allied force to make up lost time. Nevertheless, several Italian coastal units fought well;
19312-602: Was killed in an air crash, took part in Operation Husky , code name for the Allied assault landing on Sicily on 10 July 1943, which ended after just 28 days. The division came under command of the British XXX Corps , serving alongside the veteran 51st (Highland) Division , part of the British Eighth Army , commanded by General Sir Bernard Montgomery . The campaign cost the division over 2,100 casualties, with 562 Canadians killed in action. Soon after
19454-438: Was known at that time, making him the highest ranking divisional commander in the British Army. He was selected — to the relief of many — in lieu of Sir Sam Hughes , who was promoted at this time by the prime minister to the rank of Major-General. It had been Hughes's wish to command the Canadians in action. Alderson, who had commanded Canadian units before, won out over three prospective Canadian appointees, who, while serving with
19596-656: Was prepared to move deeper into China. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 7 July 1937 provoked full-scale war between China and Japan. The Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communists suspended their civil war in order to form a nominal alliance against Japan, and the Soviet Union quickly lent support by providing large amounts of materiel to Chinese troops. In August 1937, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed some of his best troops to defend Shanghai against some 300,000 Japanese troops attempting to seize
19738-512: Was promoted to command of the British VII Corps (later designated the Canadian Corps ) and was succeeded by Major General George Pearkes . In January 1943, the division was redesignated "1st Canadian Infantry Division." The division transferred to the Mediterranean theatre in June 1943 where the division, now under the command of Major General Guy Simonds after Major General Harry Salmon (who had taken command in September 1942)
19880-471: Was put back into the front lines to participate in the Moro River Campaign . The division, now under Major General Chris Vokes , supported by tanks of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade , took part in the Battle of Ortona , fighting against German Fallschirmjäger –crack air force paratroops of the 1st Parachute Division –over Christmas 1943. Both sides suffered heavy losses in the fight for
20022-481: Was seen as unlikely to commence hostilities. The Japanese leadership was aware that a total military victory in the traditional sense against the United States was impossible, and instead envisaged that rapid, aggressive and expansive conquest would force the U.S. to agree to a negotiated peace that would recognize Japanese hegemony in Asia. Following prolonged tensions between Japan and the Western powers , units of
20164-684: Was widely used. The US Armed Forces considered the China Burma India theater to be distinct from the Asiatic-Pacific theater during the conflict. Japan used the name Greater East Asia War ( 大東亜戦争 , Dai Tō-A Sensō ) , as chosen by a cabinet decision on 10 December 1941, to refer to both the war with the Western Allies and the ongoing war in China. This name was released to the public on 12 December, with an explanation that it involved Asian nations achieving their independence from
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