In the spring of 1943, US, British, Australian, and Canadian forces landed in Sicily after the Germans had been driven out of Africa. This began a long, hard campaign up the Italian 'boot' for every nation involved.
98,000 Canadians took part in the Italian campaign, which was never won but ended with the ceasefire in 1945. Of these, over 100,000 lost their lives fighting in the rugged mountains and hills of Italy.
Facing the allies were some of Germany's best panzer and airborne divisions, and after nearly 6 months of fighting, only half of the peninsula had been taken.
The Canadian army was given the objective in 1944 of seizing a key city called Ortona. After heavy pounding by air and artillery, the Canadian tank and infantry units moved in. Nearly 100,000 Germans defended the town, and the 3 month Battle of Ortona was called "Little Stalingrad" by an American Time-Life reporter covering the war. In that one battle alone, over 20,000 Canadians were killed, but eventually the city was seized and the allies were able to advance a bit further up the peninsula.
By 1944 the allies were ready to attack Europe, and on June 6, 1944, the largest invasion fleet in history landed on the beaches of Normandy.
Two American armies, two British armies, and one Canadian army stormed 5 different beaches. Both British beaches were taken with minimal casualties, as was one of the American beaches. But the second American beach, Omaha Beach, and the Canadian beach, Juno Beach, were heavily defended by top-notch German troops, and the battles for these beaches were bloody. 10,000 allied soldiers lost their lives on D-Day, 2,700 of them Canadian.
The D-Day landings were a success, taking the Germans by surprise. This surprise didn't last long, however, and the Germans were able to regroup and counter-attack. As US forces fought their way south-west, the Canadian army was intercepted by 20 German panzer divisions, and became embroiled in a bitter battle near the ancient city of Caean with the German SS Hitler Youth Division, which would become the Canadian army's nemesis.
The summer of 1944 was hot and the battles were fierce, with superior German Tiger Tanks easily killing the allies Sherman Tank. A battle near Verielle Ridge saw Montreal's elite Black Watch Regiment completely destroyed, with no survivors.
Eventually, however, American and British power prevailed, and the Germans were forced to retreat out of France. The allies quickly pushed into Belgium, and after fierce fighting, American and British units rushed into Germany itself. The Canadians pushed into the Netherlands.
Canadian and German units fought long and hard for control of Holland, with pitched battles around Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, and the Schuelt Estuary. All these places were taken with heavy casualties, and the fighting in Holland continued up to the very last day of the war. In all, nearly 300,000 Canadians were killed in the battles for control of Europe.
