Steel and Sunshine: The Ontario Regiment’s Italian Interlude



Steel and Sunshine: The Ontario Regiment’s Italian Interlude  


On June 26, 1944, Number One Troop of the Ontario Regiment paused on the outskirts of Pucciarelli, Italy, for a rare moment of rest. Gathered around a makeshift outdoor table, shirtless and sun-drenched, the soldiers shared a meal in the shadow of their Sherman tank—T-147513—commanded by Battle Captain Lieutenant M.A. Maidlow. The scene, framed by a war-torn building and scattered supplies strewn about, most definitely captures the dreadful essence of war: camaraderie, exhaustion, and fleeting normalcy amid chaos¹.

This moment unfolded during the Italian Campaign, a gruelling Allied effort to push German forces north through mountainous terrain and fortified towns. The Ontario Regiment, part of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade, had been in the middle of the heavy fighting since the struggle in Sicily². By mid-1944, these men were battle-hardened veterans, their Shermans serving as both the spearhead and the shield in a number of tough battles which demanded coordination between infantry and armour. Pucciarelli, a small village in Tuscany, was one of many strategic waypoints in the slow, bloody march toward Rome and beyond³.

The Sherman tank in the photo—ubiquitous but far from invincible—was the backbone of Allied armoured forces. Its reliability and ease of production made it indispensable, though crews often had to compensate for its relatively thin armour and underpowered gun⁴. In Italy’s narrow roads and hilly terrain, Shermans were used creatively: for direct fire support, mobile cover, and even bulldozing through rubble. Lieutenant Maidlow’s tank, parked casually yet ready for action, symbolizes the duality of war—leisure and lethality side by side⁵.

What makes this image especially poignant is its intimacy. These men are neither in formation nor under fire; they are celebrating and eating, and talking, with the requisite amount of joking among the tired and stressed warriors. The war is still all around them—visible in the ruins, the gear, the tank—but for a moment, a brief moment, they are together. We are reminded by this scene that with every strategic advance and battlefield engagement, there are individuals living through history, one meal, one mile, one mission at a time⁶.

Today, this photograph stands as a testament to the resilience and humanity of Canadian troops in Italy. We are compelled to look beyond the machinery and the medals, to the strain on the faces of the men who fought for their country, and for their lives, and the lives of their buddies. It was these friendships among fighting men that allowed the war to continue. Pucciarelli may be a footnote in military history, but for these men, it was a chapter written in sweat, steel, and sunshine⁷.

#CanadainItaly1944

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Article Footnotes

1. Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit, “Number One Troop, Ontario Regiment, Pucciarelli, Italy,” June 26, 1944.

2 Granatstein, J.L., Canada’s Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace, University of Toronto Press, 2002.

3 Stacey, C.P., Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War: Volume II – The Canadians in Italy, Queen’s Printer, 1956.

4 Zaloga, Steven J., Sherman Medium Tank 1942–45, Osprey Publishing, 1993.

5 Copp, Terry, Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy, University of Toronto Press, 2003.

6 Cook, Tim, The Fight for History: 75 Years of Forgetting, Remembering, and Remaking Canada’s Second World War, Penguin Canada, 2020.

7 Dancocks, Daniel G., The D-Day Dodgers: The Canadians in Italy 1943–1945, McClelland & Stewart, 1991.

Article Bibliography

Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit. “Number One Troop, Ontario Regiment, Pucciarelli, Italy.” Photograph, June 26, 1944.

Copp, Terry. Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003.

Cook, Tim. The Fight for History: 75 Years of Forgetting, Remembering, and Remaking Canada’s Second World War. Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2020.

Dancocks, Daniel G. The D‑Day Dodgers: The Canadians in Italy 1943–1945. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1991.

Granatstein, J.L. Canada’s Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002.

Stacey, C.P. Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, Volume II: The Canadians in Italy, 1943–1945. Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1956.

Zaloga, Steven J. Sherman Medium Tank 1942–45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1993.


Tags: Ontario Regiment, 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade, Lieutenant M.A. Maidlow, Sherman Tank, M4 Sherman, Canadian Armoured Corps, Canadian Army WWII, Tank Crews, Armoured Warfare, Pucciarelli Italy, Italian Campaign, Italy 1944, Tuscany WWII, Liri Valley, Gothic Line, Canadian Forces in Italy, WWII Italy, World War II History, Canadian Military History, Allied Operations, Battlefield Conditions, Soldiers at Rest, Wartime Daily Life, Combat Logistics, Armoured Operations, Military Photography, Historical Photograph, WWII Photo, Canadian War Archives, Sherman Tank Photo, Military History Visuals, Archival Imagery, War Documentation, Canada in WWII, Canadian Veterans, Canadian War Stories, Canadian Heritage, Canadian Regiments, Canadian Military Legacy, War and Memory, Military History Writing, Historical Interpretation, Human Side of War, Soldier Experience, War Narratives, Canada's Military History 2.0


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