Military history of Canada during World War II the Allied invasions of Sicily and mainland Italy, then fought through the long Italian Campaign. During the course of the Allied campaign in Italy, over 25,000 Canadian soldiers became casualties of war. The 1st Canadian Division and the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily in Operation "Husky", 10 July 1943 and also Operation "Baytown", part of the Allied invasion of Italy on 3 September 1943. Canadian participation in the Sicily and Italy campaigns were made possible after the government decided to break up the First Canadian Army, sitting idle in Britain. Public pressure for
1st Airborne Task Force (Allied) 1st Airborne Task Force (Allied) The 1st Airborne Task Force was a short-lived Allied airborne unit that was active during World War II created for Operation "Dragoon"–the invasion of Southern France. Formed in July 1944, under the command of Major General Robert T. Frederick, it took part in the "Dragoon" landings on 15 August 1944, securing the area north-west of the landing beaches, before moving towards the French-Italian border as part of the United States Seventh Army. The unit was disbanded in November 1944. In the initial plans for the invasion of France it was proposed that two forces would