Posts Tagged ‘Canada and Italy’

This is the last of a series of articles on Canada’s role in the Second World War Italian Campaign. The series began in the September/October 2005 issue of Legion Magazine, and all of the articles, with photos and sketch maps are available on this website. After five years of reading, archival research and three trips to study the ground over which the battles were fought, I continue to marvel at what our soldiers accomplished.

The battle for Italy’s Savio River, Oct. 20-23, 1944, marked the turning point in the difficult relationship between Lieutenant-General E.L.M. Burns and his senior officers. Despite the success the Canadian Corps enjoyed under Burns’ leadership, his two divisional commanders had begun to echo British complaints about his style of command. Burns, who was ironically nicknamed Smiley, lacked the kind of easy-going leadership skills that were so highly valued in the 8th Army. His relations with the brash, profane divisional commander Chris Vokes had always been difficult, but in the misery of the October battles another divisional commander, Bert Hoffmeister, “lost all [...]