Historian, Norm Christie, examines the old battlefields,
visiting the cemeteries and memorials that hold the secrets
to the legacy and sacrifices of the Canadians in the Second
World War.
Episode 1: Passing the Torch, 1939-41
In this Episide Norm covers the Passing of the Torch from
Canada's First War generation to their sons, Canada's mobilization
and the first Canadians to fight in the Battle of Britain.
Veteran, RAF Ace (14 Kills in Britain and Malta), BC's Butcher
Barton tells his story of the Battle of Britain in 249 Squadron,
RAF. Part 2 deals with the Battle of the Atlantic, covering
the early convoys, the lifeline to Britain. Veteran Peter
Cock tells his story of the battle against a Wolfpack of
more that 20 U-Boats in the story of convoy SC-42.
Episode 2: Hour of Darkness, Hong Kong, 1941
Norm visits the remains of the old battlefield of Hong Kong,
where Canada's soldiers first went to war. In an impossible
situation, the 2000 Canadians simply vanished after the
fall of the British Colony at Christmas 1941. Many were
killed in battle but as many would die at the hands of the
brutal Japanese as POWs. Veteran Alf Babin of the Royal
Rifles revisits St Stephens where he witnessed the slaughter
of wounded, and tells his story. One in three Canadians
would never return home.
Episode 3 & 4: Italy, The Forgotten Army (2 hours),
1943-44
Two Episodes on the Canadians in Sicily and Italy. The show
starts in Sicily at Pachino where the Canadians first land
and covers the great assault on Assorro by the Hasty Peas,
and then moves to Ortona and the Moro River in Italy. The
second hour deals with the breaking of the Hitler Line in
the Liri Valley, and ends with a veteran of the Perths taking
us over the ground where they fought the seam in the Gothic
Line, and provided an opportunity for the tanks to exploit
this German weak point, a great Canadian victory.
Episode 5: Battlefields of Normandy, 1944
Episode 5 deals with D-Day, covering the Landings and early
exploitation into Normandy. Veteran Lockie Fulton of the
Winnipegs takes us over his battleground, from the beaches
to the Carpiquet airfield. The second part of the show covers
the breakout from Caen, Operation Totalize, and finally
the closing of the Falaise Gap. Normandy cost the Canadian
Army 5000 dead.
Episode 6: The Path to Victory, Northwest Europe, 1944-45;
The Pacific, 1945
After Normandy they all thought it was over, but 10,000
Canadians would die before the war in Europe would end 8
months later. The show starts with the capturing of the
Atlantic Wall (Todt Battery), then covers the Channel Ports;
the taking of the Breskens Pocket, to free the South Scheldt,
and Antwerpen; the brutal battle of the Rhineland, and finishes
in Europe with the liberation of Holland. The Episode then
jumps to Japan and the last Victoria Cross action of the
war. Hampton Gray, VC won his VC posthumously attacking
and sinking a Japanese destroyer in Onagowa Bay. He was
the last Canadian to die in action in the Second World War.
The show finishes in Yokahoma War Cemetery near Tokyo, and
honours the 125 graves of Canadian Hong Kong POWs that are
buried there.