Second World War Education Guide

The Winnipeg Tribune

THE Globe and Mail

18 AUGUST 1945

19 AUGUST 1982

August 19 is the third anniversary of the

It was 40 years ago this week that troops from the Second Canadian Division hit the beaches of Dieppe in the first attempt by Allied forces to penetrate the Nazi coastal defences of Occupied Europe. The ill-fated raid, for all its heroism, is a testament to the bad planning, bad execution and bad luck that can doom a military operation.... [N]o amount of wartime propaganda and press censorship could disguise the fiasco. The survivors of Dieppe knew — and shared — the truth even if their leaders considered the public’s morale too fragile to withstand candor. And if the co-opted, censored press was not about to tell Canadians their boys had been used as cannon fodder, it was left to [a German newspaper] to provide the most honest assessment at the time: “As executed, the venture mocked all rules of military strategy and logic.”

Dieppe raid.... [T]he heavy sacrifices made on that misty August morning were not made in vain. Dieppe was a stepping stone to victory in that it gained knowledge and information immensely valuable to the success of the amphibious operations in the assault on Europe. As General Crerar said on the eve of D-Day: “The plans, the preparations, the methods and the technique which will be employed are based on the knowledge and experience bought and paid for by the 2nd Canadian Division at Dieppe. The contribution of that hazardous operation cannot be overestimated. It will prove to have been the prelude to our forthcoming and final success.” In these days of final victory our thoughts are with the gallant men who fell at Dieppe and their comrades who laid down their lives in battle before and since that freedom might endure.

Discussion Questions

1. Which editorial has a more positive tone? 2. How are the positions taken on Dieppe different in each editorial? 3. How do you explain the

differences in the editorials when they are written about the same event?

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN

In July 1943, Canada entered into its first sustained land campaign of the war, nearly four years after it had begun, when its forces participated in the invasion of the Italian island of Sicily. In September 1943, the Canadians also formed part of the force invading mainland Italy. This “Italian Campaign” lasted to 1945, with Canada suffering approximately 26,000 dead, wounded and captured.

ORTONA From 20–27 December 1943, Canadian soldiers fought against Axis forces throughout the town of Ortona, on Italy’s Adriatic coast. The battle was one of the fiercest of the Italian Campaign and featured desperate house-to-house, room-to-room and hand-to-hand combat. Canadian soldiers used a technique called “mouse-holing.” This involved blasting holes through walls of houses so soldiers could move from house to house without going out into the street where they could be shot by snipers.

“ [O]ne felt a choking claustrophobia in the place. Everywhere was misery, death and destruction. I could not possibly paint, or even sketch, on that first dreadful visit.” — C anadian war artist C harles C omfort

Infantry of the Edmonton Regiment supported by Sherman tanks of the Three Rivers Regiment, Ortona, Italy, 23 December 1943 (courtesy T. F. Rowe/Department of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-114030).

THINK. PAIR. SHARE. Without knowing much about the details of the battle, what would you infer from the archival photo ( left ) and the painting by Canadian war artist Charles Comfort ( right )? What do they tell us about the Battle of Ortona? Discuss briefly with a partner.

an educated guess based on a limited amount of information. INFERENCE:

Find out more about the Battle of Ortona by reading The Canadian Encyclopedia ’s article on the subject. As you read through the article, use the “5Ws Reading Chart for Secondary Sources” located on the Learning Tools section of the Canada at War website to record key details about the battle and decide why it may be considered “historically significant.”

Refer to the Historical Thinking Project to learn more about the concept of historical significance.

Painting: Via Dolorosa, Ortona by Charles Comfort (courtesy Canadian War Museum/CWM # 19710261-2308).

86