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The Italian or Mediterranean campaign began with the Allied invasion of Sicily began 10 July 1943 at the Gulf of Gela. Both amphibious and airborne forces were involved. The US contributed the 7th Army (Lt-Gen Patton) and the British contributed the 8th Army (Gen Montgomery). The 8th Army included the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Tank Brigade. On 17 August 1943, the Germans were able to evacuate most of their forces to mainland Italy.
On 3 September 1943 (Operation Baytown), the 8th Army landed in Italy. On the same day, the Italian government agreed to an armistice with the Allies. Five days later, the armistice was announced to the Italian public by radio. The German forces would continue to defend Italy on their own.
Two more amphibious landings took place on 9 September 1943: Operation Avalanche (US 5th Army, Salerno) and Operation Slapstick (British 1st Airborne Division, Taranto). As the allied forces moved north, they encountered the Apennine Mountains. These mountains cover half the width of Italy around Abruzzo. Some of the peaks reach almost 1000 m and the rough terrain and the flood prone rivers make it easy to defend.
In early October 1943, Army Group Commander in Southern Italy, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring ordered the preparation of a series of defensive lines south of Rome. Two of these lines (Volturno, Barbara) were used for delay actions while the Winter line (Gustav, Bernhardt, Hitler/Senger) was finished. The Winter line practically halted the 5th Army advance along the west coast by the end of 1943. The harsh winter conditions stalled the 8th Army in the east near Ortona.
It took four major offensives between January and May 1944 before the line was eventually broken by a combined assault of the Fifth and Eighth Armies (including British, American, French, Polish, and Canadian corps). The American forces took possession of Rome on 4 June 1944
After the Allied invasion of Normandy, the U.S. VI Corps and the French Expeditionary Corps (CEF) were moved to the European theatre for the invasion of Southern France. They were replaced by the Brazilian 1st Infantry Division, the U.S. 92nd Infantry Division ( both in the second half of 1944), and the U.S. 10th Mountain Division (January 1945).
In summer 1944, the Allies advanced beyond Rome, taking Florence and closing up on the Gothic Line. The Gothic Line was attacked and penetrated during Operation Olive (25 August 1944) without a decisive victory. In early 1945, the British 5th Infantry Division and I Canadian Corps moved to northwestern Europe.
By March 1945, U.S. IV Corps (1st Brazilian Division and the newly arrived U.S. 10th Mountain Division) were able to finally push the German defenders from the commanding high point of Monte Castello and the adjacent Monte Belvedere and Castelnuovo, depriving them of artillery positions that had been commanding the approaches to Bologna. The Allies’ final offensive commenced with massive aerial and artillery bombardments on 9 April 1945.
By 25 April 1945, the rapid advance towards Turin by the Brazilian division took the German–Italian Army of Liguria by surprise, causing its collapse.
General Heinrich von Vietinghoff officially surrendered on 29 April 1945.
Authors note: Although the official nomenclature for the period is the 11th Army Tank Regiment (The Ontario Regiment (Tank)), 12th Army Tank Regiment (Three Rivers Regiment (Tank)), and 14th Army Tank Regiment (The Calgary Regiment (Tank)) – this page will refer to the units as current Ontario Regiment (OntR), Three Rivers Regiment (TRR), and the Calgary Regiment (CalR)
There was general consensus amongst the Allies commanders that the invasion into France would not be possible until at least 1944. There was considerable debate as to what was the best possible course of action to weaken the German hold on Europe.
The Casablanca Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943. It planned the Allied strategy for the next phase of World War II. Although President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill attended, Joseph Stalin did not. The key points committed to were "Unconditional Surrender" of the Axis powers and attacking Sicily/Italy before invading Europe.
The British Government (under pressure from the Canadian Government ) requests from the Canadian General McNaughton -, a Canadian contingent for Mediterranean operations. It is approved within 48 hrs. 1 Canadian Infantry Division and 1st Canadian Tank Brigade are tasked to Operation Husky. This decision was not well received by Gen McNaughton and was one of the reasons he retired seven months later.
Within days of the request, 1CTB had moved from Sussex to Scotland for training. Upon arrival, they were issued with M4A4 Shermans - the first Shermans issued to Canadian Tankers.
To support Operation Husky, 26,000 soldiers with all of there supplies and vehicles had to be transported to Sicily from the UK. This was done with two convoys: a "fast" convoy of troop ships and a "slow" convoy of supply ships. These initial convoys were followed up with two more supply convoys. The two assault convoys met off of the coast of Algiers on 5 May 1943 and proceeded to Sicily together.
The "Fast" assault convoy was never attacked but the slow convoy was attacked by submarines and had three ships sunk with a loss of over 500 vehicles and artillery pieces - worse was the loss of life - 55 Canadians lost their lives.
On 9 July 1943, both various assault convoys rendezvoused southwest of Malta; and proceeded to Sicily.
The enemy seemed to be unaware.
(image - HMS Hilary HQ ship of the attack) During the day, the weather was hot and cloudless. But later in the day, a gale appeared. This gale led the naval adviser of the Italian Costal Defence to assure his chief that landings were impossible that night.
That evening, the wind fell and it appeared that landing would be practicable.
The German operations log showed that indicates that at 4:30 p.m. on 9 July German reconnaissance aircraft spotted convoys steering towards Sicily. By 6:40 p.m. “all troops in Sicily had been alerted”
The assault began with an airborne assault at midnight 10 July 1943. Two bridges were attacked by a mix of British Glider and Parachute troops and the American Paratroopers dropped to secure the area behind the American beachhead.
Beach landings were made on 26 main beaches spread along 105 miles (169 km) of the southern and eastern coasts of Sicily.
The Americans (3rd Infantry Division) landed on the Southern Coast and the combined British and Canadian units landed on the east coast.
The Italian defense was practically non-existent and there was no serious opposition so the Allied forces quickly moved inland.
At 0900, the 12th Army Tank Regiment (Three Rivers Regiment) landed as part of the Divisional Reserve. By 1030, the first Squadron was operational and by 1530, the entire regiment was in good order.
The other two regiments of the 1CATB were still aboard their transport ships as part of the slow assault convoy.
The OntR and CalR were expected to land in Syracuse on 11 July 1943 but did not land until 13 July 1943.
After three days of advance, the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment (HastyP's) and A Squadron TRR, advanced on the town of Grammichele. Grammichele sits on a ridge more than 100m above the countryside.
The TRR reconnaissance section, accompanied by a platoon of Hasty P's B Company mounted on tanks, precedes the main party when the lead tank was hit by a German 88. Cpl Ernie Madden in his Universal Carrier was 50 m away from the tank and charged the 88 while it was reloading, killing its crew.
The town was held by elements of two battalions of the Hermann Göring Panzer Division including artillery and tanks. Three companies of the Hasty P's stormed the town supported by A Squadron and the Germans withdrew before noon with the TRR and the 48th Highlanders in pursuit.
The hasty attack captured seven artillery pieces, six trucks, and four Panzer Mark IVs. Canadian causalities were on the order of one killed and eight wounded.
At noon on the 16th, C Squadron of the TRR was leading 2nd Brigade towards Piazza Armenia. About 5km south of the town, the road bent sharply and entered a gully. When the lead tank entered, it was ambushed and destroyed.
The Loyal Edmonton Regiment deployed company sized attacks and gained the high ground but the Germans still occupied the town. The town was captured the next day as the Germans had retreated.
That afternoon, B Squadron TRR lead the advance for six km until a blown bridge brought the advance to a halt. After the engineers repaired the bridge, it was determined that the Germans were in strength in the area of the Grottacalda Pass and that a two-brigade deliberate attack would be required to clear the way to the towns of Enna and Valguarera.
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Mounted on a Universal Carrier about four kilometers inland, they came across an Italian force of approximately 1000 men and 50 FIAT Ansaldo tanks (see image). 
The DUKW was built around the GMC CCKW six-wheel-drive military truck by building a boat around the chassis. 
The 8.8 cm Flak is a German 88 mm anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun, developed in the 1930s. Flak is a contraction of German 
The Panzerkampfwagen IV or the Panzer IV, was a German medium tank built from 1936-45 with a total of over 8,500 built. Its base weight was 22 tonnes and the first six variants used a short barreled 75mm gun and the last for variants used a long barreled 75mm gun.