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[Canadian Army Newsreel Musical intro.]
Narrator: At a London airport waited
Maj Gen Georges P. Vanier Canadian High Commissioner
to the Allied government Air Marshal Baldon,
Maj Gen the Honourable PJ Montague and Lt. SP Ralston.
They were waiting for the plane
bringing the Minister of National Defence,
Col the Honourable JL Ralston on another of his flying
visits to the Canadian Army in England.
He was greeted by the official party including
the Right Honourable Vincent Massey
and Lt Gen Kenneth Stuart AGS.
After which he inspected a Guard of Honour
drawn from an RAF Regiment.
Accompanied by Maj Gen CRF Sean,
the Minister inspected a Guard of Honour from the Lorne Scots
as he began his visit to Canada's armoured formations.
At the 11th Canadian Infantry Brigade he was greeted
by Brigadier H. Sharp and found
three units drawn out for his inspection.
They were the Price Regulars, the Cape Breton Highlanders and
the Irish Regiment of Canada.
To finish up, he had an informal chat with the whole brigade...
the days in headquarters he inspected a Guard of Honour
from 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment
and met officers of the Divisional Staff.
With Brig. RG Morton he saw a great concentration of artillery
including the 8th, the 17th Field Regiments,
the 4th Anti-tank Regiment
and the 5th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment,
Royal Canadian artillery.
The Minister went mobile and he visited the 5th Army Brigade
and saw some of the punch packed by a Cdn Armoured Div.
His inspection included the second, fifth,
and ninth Armoured Regiments
and the Westminster Motor Regiment.
Major General SS Worthington met the Minister when he visited
the 4th Armoured Division and saw the newly arrived
Algonquin Regiment at work and talks to anti aircraft crews at
Cleverlake Camouflage gunsight.
Gunners staged a demo shoot manhandling their guns
into position over difficult ground.
In getting down to fundamentals,
the Minister climbed into a tankman zootsuit for a
personal inspection and when he hurried back to join the
allied discussions at Quebec, he knew that the rest of
the Cdn. Army is just as ready for battle as was the 1st Div.
On the left flank the Americans had taken Marsala and
Carpani and were turning along the northern coastal road.
On the right the British were heading towards
Catania looking for a soft spot
in the powerful Axis defence line.
In the centre the Canadians took a deep breath after
capturing Assoro and prepared for their swing to the east
and Mount Etna.
But first there was Leonforte,
an important road junction in the centre of the island.
Canadian tanks were brought up in strength
and the infantry moved into position.
The town stands at the head of a rocky...
where the valley narrows.
And pretty soon the mortar fire was to bear on the approaches,
but Canadian guns and heavy mortar laid a
deadly barrage to clear the way for the tanks and infantry.
Under this heavy pounding the German defences crumbled
and Canadian troops swarmed into the town.
Before the town was taken, there was hand to hand
fighting in the streets.
Machine gun posts and snipers were cleared out at the...point.
The damage done by the bombardment was terrific.
After Leonforte there was work to be done.
Damage, guns and the vehicles and equipment
had to be put back into shape.
Agira was the next objective and preparations were made
for an artillery shoot in the grand traditional... and...
It started before daybreak
and the night was made bright by a hundred guns.
Daylight brought no relief.
With deadly accuracy the gunners hurled death and destruction
across the valley smashing the German positions.
A commanding hilltop made an excellent observation point
from which to direct the fire.
And enough for a Sergeant Cameraman Jimmy Campbell
to do a little shooting on his own.
The back of the enemy resistance was broken
by the merciless barrage.
Canadians moved into yet another town while
pulverized elements of the famous 15th
Panzer Division moved out.
Agira was one of the main keys to
the German's Etna defence line and the capture made possible
the final breakthrough later on.
The town had to be cleared street by street
and house by house.
German snipers were at a considerable disadvantage
because the Sicilians treated the whole thing as a game
and pointed out German positions to the Canadian patrols.
Engineers were soon at work cleaning up the town
so that military traffic could pass through to the front.
And after the pounding that Agira had taken from
from Canadian guns and RAF bombs cleaning up was a real job.
... soon moving forward again as the Canadians pressed
swiftly towards ... and ... the way was littered
with smashed German and Italian equipment.
While the inevitable herds of prisoners brought
to the rear.
As... Canadians reached the ends of the first chapter of
the liberation of Europe, the town folk of Agira
heard the pipes of the Seaforths of Canada.
For the first time in the present war, the traditional
ceremony of retreat was carried out by
Canadian troops in an occupied town and it won't
be long until the same mad music of the pipes is heard
in many other towns of a Europe freed of
the Nazi tyranny.