Editor's Research: Three Months in the Mediterranean, 1943 (31)

Canadian War Correspondents Lead with News:

Canadian Site is Home to a Big Meeting

Canadians Earn Monty's High Praise: Canadian Ads For

Smokes Have the Best Artwork (says a Canadian)!!

"A Canadian patrol plane swoops over an Allied Convoy and 

Canadian escort vessel" Sketched at sea by "Topside" 1943

Introduction:

The Canadians in Combined Operations who were members of the 80th Flotilla of Landing Craft and who had served during Operation HUSKY (invasion of Sicily beginning July 10, 1943) were recuperating from illness, or relaxing with O'Henry chocolate bars while reading newspapers and mail from home, or busy repairing their landing crafts on the island of Malta in preparation for Operation Baytown, the invasion of Italy at the toe of the boot, to begin September 3. ("So hurry, hurry, hurry!")

LCMs (landing craft mechanised) 'under repair in... Malta 1943'. More 

arrived from Sicily in early August from 80th and 81st Flotilla of LCMs

Richard Bouchard, my dad's friend and workmate, relaxing in Malta, 

Aug. '43. Note the tea cup. Photo - Imperial War Museum 

Note the tea cup. Gord's favourite. A gift from

younger son Paul. Photo by GH

In a book re my father's Navy memoirs he recalls in a short story ("Food, Sustenance and Mail Were Found on Malta") being sent to Malta a few days ahead of his mates because of dysentery. The first two paragraphs follow:

At the end of the Sicilian campaign several Canadian sailors and officers became ill. Fatigue brought on by long hours of work and poor nourishment for over a month had now taken its toll and showed up in various ways. Salt water sores, rashes, sunburn, dysentery, things we hadn’t time to bother with before now began to manifest themselves.

Fear was now gone and the inaction caused many to have letdowns. Many had not relaxed for weeks and now that it was over they had difficulty handling it. Mail from home would have helped at a time like this; most of us hadn’t had mail since April and it was now the middle of August. I would have given my right arm for a cool drink of Norwich water and Sweet Caporal cigarettes from the Women’s War league. Parcels and letters were awaiting us in Malta and we were heading that way by landing craft and ship. "Dad, Well Done" page 111

Please click here to read the full story re his time in Malta.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch - while the sailors were relaxing, resting, recuperating, recovering, reading, and repairing LCMs in Malta for the Italian campaign the Montreal Gazette was informing readers about what was going on elsewhere... for only five cents on a weekday(!):

Canadian writer Ross Munro, with Canadian Press, sent many a fine article in a very timely fashion back to Canada via CP Cable:

Ross Munro, hard at work, smoking his pipe, in photo 22816 by Photogr.

Royal, dated August 7, 1943 in Album 62, CAFU (Canadian Army

Film Unit). It has been checked for approval by censors.

Ross Munro's article and the one that follows from Associated Press seem to follow the same theme, i.e, the once mighty German forces are in hasty retreat, i.e., they're getting pasted!

Do you want jam for the holidays? Not the kind involving trains? Then STAY HOME!!

"And you thought your holiday commute was bad!" 

Photo credit - www.smithsonianmag

"GERMANY HAS HAD HARD KNOCKS RECENTLY!!" (REALLY?)

"If the Canadian ground forces are resting, Canadian airmen are not." Read all about it!

A bombing raid on Messina, Sicily, seen from a ship moored in the harbour.

Spring/summer of 1943. Photo credit - Reddit.com/History

Private Harry McDowell, 48th Highlanders of Canada, at Caltagirone,

Italy, ca 2 - 3 August, 1943. Photo 22785, Album 62, CAFU

Mules are being used to transport food and equipment to troops fighting

in the mountains. Here is seen a mule pack convoy of the Royal 22e Regmt

going through Leonforte. Photo 22820, Album 62, CAFU, dated August 7, 

1943, Photo by Royal, with an 'approved for use' checkmark So I used it!

Sherman tank of the 12th Armoured Regiment (Three Rivers

Regiment) refueling with petrol before the battle for Etna. Photo

22791, Album 62, dated August 7, 1943, Photo by Royal.

News from another front, on the north coast, in Sicily:

Lionel B. Shapiro, getting his feet wet and typing up a report (perhaps 

the one featured below?) in Sicily. Photo 22817, Album 62, CAFU,

dated August 7, 1943. Photographer - Royal

More information about Canadian writers (including Lionel B. Shapiro ) can be found here: War Correspondents: Canadian Writers - Sicily 1943 (3c)

A clear example below... "crime does not pay."

Thanks in part to good advertising - and that they were sometimes free - there were more than a few smokers in the Canadian members of Combined Operations:

Canadians in Combined Ops ended up with a lot of free smokes

at times. My father (front row, right side) 'rolled his own' for many

years after the war as I recall, from tins of Players' loose tobacco.

Photo, property of Lloyd Evans, second from right, back row.

Something from under the heading of "waste not, want not":

Lionel B. Shapiro is keeping busy!

A related photo from another Canadian newspaper is shared below:

Photo from a Bowmanville paper (August 26, 1943) as found in
Canadians in the Italian Campaign in World War II  (a Facebook group)

And for those who love a dash of optimism with their daily news...

On another war front, a goodly distance from Europe:

A better quality photo re the above as found at Canadians in the Italian Campaign in World War II  (a FaceBook group:

Caption - From the War Diary of the 1st Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada

for 30 July 1943: "During the evening of the 30 Jul 43 the PIPE BAND played for

the first time in SICILY, at AGIRA. RETREAT was played and was attended by

BRIG. C. VOKES and the C.O. LT.COL. B.M. HOFFMEISTER. It was heard in

LONDON & broadcast over the B.B.C."

More details about the German Henschel 129 (mentioned below)

can be found here. And Photo Credit here. "Not great, but cheap!"

I did not know this until now, but my father (Doug Harrison, RCNVR/Combined Operations 1941 - 1945) had some thing in common with U.S. President Roosevelt! When they needed to relax or had a wee bit of time off they went fishing.

In Navy memoirs related to the invasion of Sicily my father writes:

July 10, 1943. We arrived off Sicily in the middle of the night and stopped about four miles out. Other ships and new LCIs (landing craft infan-try), fairly large barges, were landing troops. Soldiers went off each side of the foc’sle, down steps into the water and then ashore, during which time we saw much tracer fire. This was to be our worst invasion yet. Those left aboard had to wait until daylight so we went fishing for an hour or more, but there were no fish. "Dad, Well Done"  Page 30

President Roosevelt had better luck: "He caught five black bass on his first day out." Maybe not as noisy??

Three more quick news clips in closing...

And here we are ending on a high note:

“Mossie” was the nickname for one of the most remarkable combat aircraft of

the Second World War: the de Haviland Mosquito. The original all-wood design

was intended as a light bomber but quickly proved highly versatile with reconn-

aissance, fighter-bomber, night fighter, and intruder variants being developed.

Photo and caption and more details are found here

Another entry related to Canadians in Combined Operations and their role and service with the Canadian Navy in Sicily and Italy (from July 10 - about October 5, 1943) will soon follow.

Questions or comments can be addressed to Gord H. at gordh7700@gmail.com

Please click here to view Editor's Research: Three Months in the Mediterranean, 1943 (30)

Unattributed Photos GH