Canada's Fight in Italy, September 23, 1944

Lieutenant-General E.L.M. Burns, General Officer Commanding 1st Canadian Corps, consults his map en route to Rimini, Italy, 23 September 1944.

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Battle of Ortona

Stretcher bearers evacuating casualties from “A” Company Headquarters, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (P.P.C.L.I.) north of Ortona, Italy, 20 January 1944.

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Operation Husky, July 19, 1943.

This image shows soldiers of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) moving along a dusty road in Sicily on July 19, 1943. This photograph is the prototypical depiction of the gruelling conditions faced by Allied forces during Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. As the soldiers moved toward their objective, they were accompanied by a Sherman tank, highlighting the essential close-quarters cooperation between infantry and armoured support that defined tactical operations in the rugged, unforgiving Sicilian terrain. The terrain itself—hilly, dry, and exposed—emphasizes the immense physical challenge the Canadian troops undertook as they pushed northward against entrenched Axis defensive positions.

In this photograph, we are offered a glimpse of the tremendously difficult experiences which Canadian soldiers endured during the Sicily campaign in 1943. Their weariness, combined with the presence of heavy artillery and the Sherman tank, evoked the tension of an ongoing campaign. For the men of the PPCLI, this campaign marked the rapid transition from the beach landings to the bitter fighting as they moved through Sicily and eventually into Italy. This moment serves as a poignant reminder of the important role the Canadian army played during the early days of the Italian Campaign, when they were tasked with spearheading the drive across one of the war’s most difficult landscapes.

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A Rare Act of Humanity During the Battle of Caen

Image: A Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps orderly tends to the burned leg of a young French boy while his brother looks on, near the village of Villons‑les‑Buissons in the Canadian sector of Normandy. Taken on June 19, 1944, the scene captures a moment of compassion amid the chaos and brutality of the Battle for Caen.

This image offers a rare moment of quiet reflection amidst the chaos of the Battle of Normandy in June 1944. A Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps orderly kneels in the dirt in order to bandage a young French boy’s burnt leg with the utmost care. The child, while still trusting, is slightly tense, in a scene played out many times during World War II. It highlights both the pain and the bewilderment that war often inflicted on the citizens caught in such a maelstrom. We can see his brother watching intently with both worry and curiosity. Against the backdrop of the recent local battle, the boys can be seen amid the rubble and chaos of war. The medic’s soothing manner becomes the emotional anchor of the image, a reminder that compassion still existed amid such massive destruction.

The village of Villons‑les‑Buissons frames this photograph in the aftermath of the Canadian push towards Caen, following the successful D-DAY landings on June 6, 1944. Here, as the fighting progressed, civilians often found themselves caught in the crossfire between the bitter fighting of the retreating German forces and the incoming Allied advance. Burn injuries like what this boy experienced were exceedingly common—often caused by burning homes, exploding munitions, or the chaos of bombardment. The medic’s actions underscored the Canadian Army’s role in providing emergency aid to local populations in the villages it had liberated. While the war raged mere kilometres away, this small act of care revealed the small moments of humanity that persisted, even in wartime. 

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Cooking in the Trenches

Canadian soldiers gather around an improvised stove. The interwoven branches in the bottom left corner could have been used to hold up trench walls or laid on the ground to offer better footing in the mud. This undated image may have been taken before the first gas attack in April 1915, as none of the soldiers are wearing respirators.

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Medal Ceremony, 1916

This image captures the moment when L/Cpl. William Alexander McLean (426144) of the 10th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, moved forward and received the Distinguished Conduct Medal from Lieutenant‑General Sir Edwin Alderson in early August 1916. The two men face one another in an open field near Locre, the soldier rigid with discipline, Alderson leaning in slightly as he fastens the ribbon to the soldier’s tunic. Both can be seen wearing the heavy, practical uniforms of 1916 — puttees wrapped tightly around their legs, tunics squared, steel helmets put aside for the ceremony — while the soldier’s expression, though somewhat obscured, did manage to exude a mixture of pride, exhaustion, and solemnity typical of those brave men decorated in wartime. Behind them, soldiers stand at attention, their formation creating a quiet frame of witness to the moment.

The site chosen for the ceremony added depth to this momentous scene. Locre (Loker), a small Flemish village west of Kemmel Hill, served as a rear-area rest zone for Canadian units rotating out of the Ypres Salient. The open ground, the clear daylight, and the relaxed spacing of the assembled troops all signal that this is a temporary reprieve from the front rather than a battlefield presentation. Yet the men’s bearing — straight-backed, boots planted in the churned earth — reminds the viewer that they have come directly from the violence of Mount Sorrel / Sanctuary Wood (June 1916) only weeks earlier. The ceremony is both a pause and a continuation of the war: a moment carved out of chaos to acknowledge courage under fire.

The official citation, published in the July 27, 1916, issue of the London Gazette, told us that McLean had shown a high level of conspicuous gallantry during the vicious fighting at Mount Sorrel in early June 1916. He continued to carry messages under blistering shell and rifle fire, which maintained critical communication between forward and supporting positions when lines had been cut, and he also continued his duties despite being partially buried by shell explosions. His actions enabled orders to reach isolated forward elements during the German assault and Canadian counterattack. His conduct was singled out as exceptionally brave and steady under fire.

What the image does not show us but is present in its atmosphere is the transitional nature of Alderson’s role in the Canadian Army. He had been removed from command of the Canadian Corps earlier in 1916 after a dispute that started with Sam Hughes, and he remained in France for several months performing inspections and award presentations. His presence in this photograph, decorating a junior NCO of the 10th Battalion, exemplifies both the continuing respect many front-line units held for him and his role in helping ensure the army’s need to maintain continuity and morale during a period of heavy casualties and reorganization. The image, therefore, is much more than a simple medal ceremony — it captures the Canadian Corps in mid‑transformation, honouring bravery while quietly absorbing the cost of the year’s fighting.

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Canadian Snipers Training in 1916.

Sniping instruction. June, 1916.

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