Eighty-two years ago today, July 10th 1943, Operation Husky began and that would see many Canadians lost, including five Bruce County young men.
Following is the introductory note from the book, Operation Husky, by Mark Zuelke, the famed Canadian Military Writer.
“On July 10th, 1943, 20,000 Canadian soldiers joined two great Allied armies (British and American) on the beaches of Sicily for Operation Husky, the first Allied thrust to win a toehold in Hitler’s Fortress Europe. Guarding the renowned Eighth British Army left flank, 1st Canadian Division and 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade struck out fro the sand into the island’s rugged interior. In searing heat, these untried troops clashed in ever-intensifying battle to wrest towering mountains and ancient hill towns away from the elite veterans of Germany’s Hermann Goring and the 1st Parachute Division.”
That day set the stage for the Battle of Sicily, which raged until August 17th, when the Allies freed Sicily from the rule of Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
The decision to invade Sicily followed the success in removing the Axis Powers from North Africa in May of 1943. Planning began in January that year to utilize the Navy and Airpower located in the Mediterranean, after North Africa was cleared. Fresh American and British land troops would lead the shore invasion. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King insisted that Canadian troops would participate. The total invasion force would be 160,000, with 20,000 Canadian troops included with the British.
The invasion was code-named ‘OPERATION HUSKY’.
Bombers located in North Africa and Malta would participate, along with Naval bombing and transporting. On July 9th, bombing began, and at 2:30 a.m. on the 10th, the 160,000 troops of the amphibious invasion force came ashore along the southern shore of Sicily. The Americans under General Patton, landed on the southwest shore, and the British under Field Marshall Montgomery landed on the southeast shore, with the 20,000 Canadians on their left flank next to the Americans. The invasion spread along 170 km of the Sicilian south shore. The Canadians consisted of two divisions: the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade.
On July 10th, the Italian defenders were quickly overwhelmed, and the Canadians advanced to the Pachino Airport, their first objective. On the 11th, thousands of Italian troops surrendered. This delayed progress as the Canadians moved up the Eastern coast of the island as they pursued the Germans, who established defensive lines as they retreated. When one line was breached, they retreated and established another. On July 15th, the Canadians encountered the Germans near Grammichele and suffered their first casualties, with 25 killed or wounded.
On the 18th, the Germans had been pushed to Valguarnera. The fighting was the most violent yet, and the Canadians suffered 145 casualties, with 40 killed. German Field Marshall Kesselring reported that his men were fighting highly trained “mountain troops”. He said “They are called Mountain Boys and probably belong to the 1st Canadian Division”. Respect for the Canadian soldiers was beginning. Sadly, that day, a Bruce County boy was seriously wounded and died two days later from those wounds.
Alvin Eldon Harron was a 23-year-old from Tara. He was born in Arran Township on June 23rd, 1920, to Stanley, and Hattie and was one of six with siblings, brothers Milton and Earl, and sisters Jessie, Myrtle, and Ida. He had been working at the Hepworth Furniture factory in Southampton when he enlisted on September 17, 1942. After training at Kitchener and Camp Ipperwash, it was off to England in March of 1943, where he was assigned as a reserve member of the Carleton and York Regiment, originally formed out of Saint John, New Brunswick. That July it was off to the Mediterranean and eight days after going into action, he was wounded and died. His Grave is number 74 in Row E of Plot A.
The next major battle for the Canadians with the Germans was at Leonforte on July 22nd and 23rd. The Germans had heavily fortified positions on a ridge overlooking the village and had blown up the bridge to the town. Under fire, the Canadians constructed a temporary bridge and, after two days of intense battling, they cleared the Germans from the ridge and freed the town. In this two-day battle there were 56 Canadians killed and 105 wounded.
The Canadian troops were immediately ordered to proceed to the town of Agira and seize high ground and attack along a six-kilometre route leading to Catania. There were a large number of German strong points, and it took the complete strength of the British and Canadian forces to fight with all their power for five days before driving the Germans farther north. On July 28th, this battle ended. It had been the costliest for the Canadians with 438 casualties. Two of those who died were from Bruce County.
John Albert Andrew Caskanette was born in Greenock Township on May 2, 1922. His parents, Joesph and Orillia had 11 children. Three sons, including John, enlisted and served in WWII. The family had lived in Kincardine before moving to Hanover, where they were when John enlisted. He worked at the Knechtel Kitchen Cabinet factory in May of 1941
when he went to London to join up. Training started at Petawawa, then on to Tracadie and Sussex in New Brunswick before returning to London, Listowel, and Windsor. At this time, he was attached to the Canadian Fusiliers. It was then off to British Columbia, to Vernon, and Otter Point before getting the call to proceed to England on September 25, 1942. He continued training in England until June 24, 1943, when he left for the Mediterranean as a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment. He had trained as a Gunner and was a crew member of a large wheeled truck-drawn gun. He was part of the invasion of Sicily on July 10th and was killed in action on July 25th on the north side of the road in a vineyard, approximately two miles west of Nissoria, only 10km from where he lies today in the Agira Canadian War Cemetery, in Plot A, Row H, Grave 121.
Stewart Douglas Robertson was born in Saugeen Township, R. R. 1 Southampton on August 29, 1917. He was the son of John and Lewella, who farmed near the B Line east of Southampton near the west end of Arran Lake. He was helping his brother Don, who had taken over the farm from their parents due to their father’s failing health. Stewart enlisted in London on October 28, 1941, and became a member of the Perth Regiment. His sister Helen enlisted in the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, also in London. His training as an artilleryman proceeded in Kitchener and Camp Borden before he embarked for Britain as a Perth Regiment Reserve Replacement on March 20, 1942. He continued his rifle and gun training in England until May of 1943, when he became a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment. In late June, they began preparations to leave for the Invasion of Sicily. Fourteen days after the invasion, on July 24th, he was seriously wounded during a mortar attack on the road between Leonforte, and Agira. The wounds were in his lower abdomen. He lay on the ground for 14 hours before walking a mile to a first aid station. The very serious wounds were throughout his lower abdomen and other organs. He was sedated and died at 22:00 on July 26th. He was initially buried near the Casualty station before being moved to the Agira Canadian Military Cemetery more than a year later.
The Canadians continued north of Agira and joined with the British near the mountain town of Centuripe. The town was on a high pinnacle and was the key defensive position for the Germans in Sicily. There was only one steep and rocky road that became the key battle site. By August 4th the British and Canadians had taken control of the town. Losing this key town made the Germans contemplate abandoning Sicily. On August 6th, the Germans were being pushed even farther north.
It was here that Victor Lemont of Paisley lost his life. He was born in Paisley on January 3, 1914, to parents David and Florence. He had two brothers, Walter and Irwin and they all lived at home on the family farm on R. R. 2 Paisley. On September 18th, 1939, only 10 days after Canada declared war on Germany, Victor bravely went to Walkerton and
enlisted to serve in the Canadian Army. In January of 1940, he arrived in Listowel for training. He and Mabel married in Listowel on April 26th, 1940. His training as a Gunner continued at different sites in Ontario, and New Brunswick before his departure to England in November of 1941. Further training continued and he was assigned to the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment (Canada). Following seven days’ leave in June 1943, it was time to leave England for the invasion of Sicily. Victor survived the first 27 days of the invasion but on August 6th, two miles north of Centuripe, high in the hills, he was killed in action and died instantly while playing a role in pushing the Germans off that large island in the Mediterranean. He was buried close to where he died and was moved to Agira a year later.
While Victor was fighting near Centuripe, just 60 kms away in the village of Scordia, William Norman Steeds from Chesley was stationed with the #1 Field Army Workshop. He had enlisted in London on June 5, 1940, and trained as a Driver/Mechanic. He had been working in Durham as a truck driver, prior to enlisting. William was born in Chesley on December 18, 1915, and was a second son for William and Margaret. He arrived in England in December of 1940, and while on his landing leave in January of 1941, he met Miss Lillian Dobbyn. Seventeen months later, they married on May 29, 1942, in Sutton, County Surrey, England. Just days later, he was on his way to the Mediterranean and the invasion of Sicily on July 10th. By early August, he and the Transport group, that he was a part of had arrived in Scordia, close to the east coast of the island. On August 5th, he was cleaning out the fuse box of his truck with a can of petrol when it caught fire. He reached for it to remove it from the cab, but it burned his hand and he dropped it and the fire spread over him and in the cabin. His screams for help were answered quickly, but he was badly burned and died two days later.
A Military Hearing was held, and the following statement was given by the Commanding Officer:
“L/Cpl. Steeds, W. N. was burned when he dropped a tin of burning petrol, which he was attempting to remove from the cab of his vehicle. The petrol was being used to clean electrical wiring in the cab of the vehicle. L/Cpl. Steeds was performing a duty which he had been instructed to do. The court is of the opinion that L/Cpl. Steeds was not guilty of any misconduct within the meaning of Canadian Army Regulations & Orders- 2022.”
He was buried in a local cemetery and, in 1944, was moved to the Agira Canadian War Cemetery.
In the days that followed the Allied troops pushed the Axis forces to the northeast corner of the island toward the city of Messina. The British and Canadian soldiers cleared the slopes of Mt. Etna. The Americans cleared the north shore of the island. The German and Italian forces boarded ships and ferries in Messina and escaped to the Italian mainland.
On August 17th, the allied forces of Britain, the US, and Canada arrived in the city of Messina on the northeast tip of Sicily. The war continued up through Italy for the remainder of 1943 and into early 1944 before Italy was finally free of German influence.
Today, in Eastern Sicily, the Agira Canadian Military Cemetery is situated on the side of a high hill, overlooking a small lake and the rugged mountains beyond. Two thousand, three hundred Canadians died, were wounded, or went missing after the battle, a battle that lasted 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day.
There are 492 Canadians buried in the Agira Canadian War Cemetery, including the five young men from Bruce County who were killed during the action.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
