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Canada and the War

The pipers of the 48th Highlanders of Canada, an infantry unit from Toronto, Ont., entertain at a Canadian Army track and field meet during a rest period in the battle for Sicily, 23 August 1943. - Canadian Military Photograph, No 23196, CWM Reference Photo Collection
The pipers of the 48th Highlanders of Canada, an infantry unit from Toronto, Ont., entertain at a Canadian Army track and field meet during a rest period in the battle for Sicily, 23 August 1943.
Canadian Military Photograph

The Canadian Armed Forces: The Canadian Army

The pre-Second World War Canadian 'Militia,' was tiny and its resources few: it had, for example, only ten Bren light machine guns for the entire army. By 1945, there were 730,159 men and women in the army, an astounding number for a country of only 12 million people who were far away from the main action.

After the declaration of war, the government announced that it would raise two army divisions, one for service overseas and one for home defence. By 1943 the overseas force, based in Britain, had grown into the First Canadian Army, with three infantry and two armoured divisions, as well as two armoured brigades and support troops. The equivalent of three more divisions were serving on home defence duties in Canada.

The army began sustained combat when the 1st Canadian Infantry Division joined in the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 ( see the Sicilian and Italian campaigns ). From then on the army played a significant part in the defeat of the Italy and Germany, especially after D-Day, 6 June 1944, when the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division landed in Normandy, followed into action by the main body of the First Canadian Army ( see D-Day and the Normandy Campaign ). The whole of army fought continuously until the end in Northwest Europe. To this day, the people of Holland remember the Canadian Army's liberation of their country.

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