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 July 1943: Canadian, American, and British troops landed in Sicily  First Canadian Division took part in the invasion  The Allies left papers where they knew the Germans would find them – the papers said the Allies were planning to invade Greece  Sicily falls after 38 days of fighting

 Italians wanted to surrender, but Hitler sent German troops to keep fighting  Italians turn against Mussolini, and he is eventually executed

 10,000 German troops occupied the mainland of Italy  The mountainous terrain made an offensive nearly impossible – easier to defend a position (Germany) rather than attack (Allies)  Allies forces fought they way northward

 Ortona is an ancient city that consists of narrow streets and connected houses  December 1943: One of the fiercest battles of the campaign  The town fell two days after Christmas  First Canadian Division lost over 2000 soldiers, and another 16, 000 had to be evacuated

 Following the fall of Ortona the Allies ground to a halt due to blizzards and drifting snow at the end of December  The Allied focus then turned to the western front where it was considered to have the best chance of a breakthrough towards Rome.  It took four major offensives between January and May 1944 before the Allies including British, US, French, Polish, and Canadian Corps broke through  Rome was declared an open city by the German army and the Allies took possession on June 4 th.

 Having the Germans occupied in Italy allowed the allies to move forward with their plan to open up the long awaited western front in Europe  The fight to liberate Italy was long, hard, and costly – about 30,000 Canadians were killed or wounded