Canadian Military Contributions were essential to win WWII. Ortona, D-Day-Juno Beach, and The Liberation of the Netherlands are three critical conflicts that Canadian Army and Navy conquered to deliver victory to the Allied effort. Through the hard work, courage, and great sacrifices of Canadian soldiers and the Allied forces, German forces surrendered on May 7th, 1945, and on May 8th, 1945 Victory in Europe (V-E) Day was declared. Canada proved a powerful force, an accomplished allied partner, and national pride and confidence soared.
The Battle of Ortona started on December 20th, 1943. Ortona, Italy was of high strategic importance; one of Italy's few usable deep water ports on the east coast was …show more content…
Juno Beach was one of five beaches of the Allied invasion of German occupied France in the Normandy landings. Canadian assault troops stormed the Juno Beach shoreline in the face of fierce opposition from German strongholds and mined beach obstacles. The soldiers raced across the wide-open beaches swept with machine gun fire, and stormed the gun positions. It was hoped that the preliminary naval and air bombardments would soften up the beach defenses and destroy coastal strong points. Close support on the beaches was to be provided by amphibious tanks of the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade. Once the landing zones were secured, the plan called for the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade to land reserve battalions and deploy inland, while the Royal Marine commandos established contact with the British 3rd Infantry Division on Sword Beach and the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade to link up with the British 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division on Gold Beach. The 3rd Canadian Division's D-Day objectives were to capture Carpiquet Airfield and reach the Caen–Bayeux railway line by nightfall. In fierce hand-to-hand fighting, they fought their way into the towns of Bernières, Courseulles and St. Aubin and then advanced inland, securing a critical bridgehead for the allied invasion. The victory was a turning point in World War II and led to the liberation of Europe and the defeat of Nazi Germany. 14,000 Canadians stormed the beach at a cost of 340 lives and another 574 wounded. The fighting they endured was fierce and frightening. John Keegan, eminent British historian who wrote Six Armies in Normandy, stated the following concerning the Canadian 3rd Division: “At the end of the day, its forward elements stood deeper into France than those of any other division. The opposition the