Bloody Battle For Normandy

 Two extraordinary paintings hang together here in the Normandy section of the World War Two gallery at the War Museum. Invasion Pattern Normandy is by Eric Aldwinkle, depicting the air perspective of the D-Day landings. D-Day: The Assault is from the point of view of those on the beach itself fighting their way from the water. Orville Fisher was a commissioned Canadian war artist who had the peculiar distinction of being the only war artist who landed on the beaches of Normandy that day. While everyone else was fighting around him, he took out his pencil and waterproof sketchpad, and started to sketch what was happening. 

The quotes here speak volumes of that day. By the end of the day, Canadian soldiers had pushed further inland than their British and American counterparts.

A door leads out onto a balcony. The visitor gets a look at the Lebreton Gallery below, where tanks and other military equipment from a variety of countries and eras is to be found. A guide was speaking with visitors.

The Normandy campaign became a vicious one for the Allies. 

A Critical Moment Of The War

 This is a German self-propelled assault gun, commonly called a Stug III, used during the Italian campaign against Canadian forces.

Alongside Allied forces, Canadian soldiers kept driving up the Italian peninsula, beating the Germans back. By early 1945, the Canadians were moved to join with their countrymen now in France, to drive into Germany.

One of the legacies of the Italian campaign was the storied First Special Service Force, which history remembers as The Devil's Brigade. It consisted of a joint force of American and Canadian soldiers, the forerunners of special operations units in both countries. They were formed in 1942, served with distinction and developed a fierce reputation in Italy, and continued their service in France before being disbanded due to heavy losses at the end of 1944. 

This was their uniform, as well as some of the weapons they used. The sort of soldiers you did not want coming after you.

D-Day was months in the planning, from reconnaissance on shore and working with Resistance groups in occupied Europe, to Allied air forces crippling the Luftwaffe. Those same air units would provide aerial support on June 6th, 1944, when five beaches in Normandy became the place where Allied soldiers stormed ashore and began the liberation of France.

Canadian spies had been among the intelligence officers already working inside occupied Europe well before D-Day to gather information. This display case features artifacts from that side of things.

The Allies sent naval assets to support the landings in Normandy. These are models of Canadian naval ships that took part.

The entrance features a quote from the supreme commander himself. Eisenhower's post orders to the men about to begin the biggest amphibious landing in history referred to what they were doing as the Great Crusade. A fitting term.

A video of a landing craft on D-Day introduces us to the story of the battle.

That first day changed the world. While Americans stormed the beaches at Omaha and Utah, and the British took Sword and Gold beaches, the Canadians landed at Juno Beach. The tide of the war in the west had turned.

Fighting Up The Italian Peninsula

 Canadians at home turned out Spitfires, Hurricanes, and other planes as part of the war effort. And Canadian pilots flew them in the skies of Europe.

This display case features models of an ME-109 German fighter, and a Mosquito bomber.

Here we have a striking portrait. Sergeant M.E. Boreham, The British Empire Medal is a portrait by Robert Hyndman, depicting Myrtle Boreham, who joined the RCAF and served at their London base of operations.

Canadians took part in the invasion of Sicily and Italy, alongside other Allied forces. 

Entry Into Assoro, Sicily is a painting by William Ogilvie.

The Allies had a tough fight ahead of them.

After the Italian surrender, Germany pressed on in the Italian mainland. The Allies pushed their way forward, and Canadians fought a particularly vicious battle for the town of Ortona, literally house to house and room to room.

One walks through a corridor, with a Canadian soldier on one side.

And a German on the other.

The CBC had correspondents embedded with the troops, sending reports back on what was happening.

Charles Comfort was also embedded with the troops as a commissioned war artist. This is his work, Canadian Armour Passing Through Ortona.

Canadians would keep pushing forward in Italy, breaching the Hitler Line and the Gothic Line.

Ernest "Smokey" Smith won the Victoria Cross for his extraordinary courage during the Italian campaign.

I Have Slipped The Surly Bonds Of Earth

 This large utility vehicle is on display here.

Children were affected by the war, and these games and other items were geared towards them.

As mentioned yesterday, women stepped up in society during the Second World War, filling positions in armaments industries and other essential work, and joining the military.

It was a time where buying war bonds was patriotic.

So was rationing.

Veterans of the First World War were called upon to train new recruits, or guard prisoners of war brought across the ocean.

Canadian soldiers waiting in Britain spent their time in garrison duty, or endless training. Their commanders sought to give them more.

That something more ended in disaster. Canadians stormed ashore at a place called Dieppe in the summer of 1942, but the German defenses were ready for them. Many were killed, sustained wounds, or taken prisoner before the attack was withdrawn back across the English Channel.

And yet there were examples of heroism and courage under fire. And the hard lessons learned at Dieppe would be critical two years later during D-Day.

Another dramatic painting. Air Raid On San Giusto, Pisa was painted by Paul Goranson

Here we see the typical uniform of bomber flight crew members.

John Gillespie Magee was an American who went out ahead of his country and joined the war, flying for the RCAF. He was killed in the line of duty, mere days after America actually entered the war. He was also known as a poet, writing High Flight, a poem that speaks volumes of the life of a wartime pilot.

I leave off today with a view of an overhead Spitfire, one of the planes that won the war in the air.