WORLD WAR II

Italian Campaign

ITALIAN CAMPAIGN

Allies (France, Britain & commonwealth colonies) lost

Dieppe battle and wanted more European land

Because Allies had won North African campaign, they were

able to attack Through their gained land, from the South

They planned to attack what they thought were the

weakest spots of Europe: Italy and Sicily

Fight lasted 2 years

Thousands of casualties for Allies

ITALY

SICILY

BATTLE OF SICILYAllies charged into Sicily 1943, July 10

Canadians fought autonomously with Allies

Allies (France, Britain, Canada and other commonwealth colonies ) were fighting

against Germany and Italy

The fight between Canadians and German + Italian soldiers went on for 240km of

land

Island of Sicily was captured after 38 days of battle

Because of capture, Italian leader Mussolini was overthrown

New Italian Govt. surrendered to Allies

Germans (having gained some Italian land for themselves) didn’t step away from

their captured Italian territory

BATTLE OF ORTONA

Germans moved back into Italy, followed by Britain, France and

Commonwealth colonies

Canada was ordered to overtake Ortona (medieval Italian town)

Before Ortona was attainable Canadian soldiers had to :

-Cross River Moro -cross German territory -capture villages along the way

Once there, Canadians slowly captured the town

Ortona was officially conquered Dec 28, 1943 by Allies

After such, Canadians were sent to the campaign in France

In Italy a rough total of about 6000 Canadian soldiers were killed

OVERALL RESULTS

Canadians proved themselves as helpful allies

Italy & Germany fought together

Island of Sicily was captured by Allies

Mussolini’s downfall

New Italian govt. surrendered to Allies

Canada overtook Ortona

Germans defended their Italian territory

Remaining Canadians were send to France to fight along with Allies

6000 Canadians were killed in Italy

KEY TERMS

Italian Campaign: Allies battles in Europe against

Germany and Italy, 1943

Battle of Sicily: Allies invade Island of Sicily and

are victorious

Battle of Ortona: Canada’s battle in ancient town,

Ortona, against Italians and Germans, ending in

victory for Allies

Mussolini: Italian leader, overthrown after Sicily

was taken over

Mussolini

Hitler

WORK CITED

Cranny, Michael, and Gravin Moles,

Counterpoints. Toronto, Ontario: Susan

Cox, 2010. Print.

Textbook: only source