Operation Husky: The Canadian Invasion of Sicily, July 10 August 7, 1943

Canadian Battle #7

by Mark Zuehlke

July 10, 1943: Aboard over two thousand ships—the largest armada in history—two great Allied Armies readied to invade Sicily. This was Operation Husky, the first step towards winning a toehold in fascist occupied Europe. Among the invaders were 20,000 troops serving in the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and 1st Canadian Tank Brigade—in their first combat experience. Over the next twenty-eight days, the Allied troops carved a path through rugged land despite fierce German opposition.

Operation Husky is story of the young men who battled here, told as only Mark Zuehlke can tell it. Of his other acclaimed books, Quill and Quire declared: “With his signature style of record, Zuehlke’s skill in writing battle narrative remains unsurpassed.” He brings to Operation Husky the same vividly written accounts that put the reader into the heart of Canada’s first divisional-scale campaign of World War II.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Military Fiction, Canada, Audiobook, War

518 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2008

About the author

On January 1, 1981, Mark Zuehlke walked away from a journalism career to pursue magazine and book writing fulltime. He has never looked back. In 1992, Mark published his first book—Magazine Writing From the Boonies (co-authored with Louise Donnelly)—and now concentrates almost exclusively on writing of books.

Fascinated by Canada’s military heritage, Mark first set to writing about the role Canadians played in World War II after discussing the Battle of Ortona with several veterans in a Royal Canadian Legion following a Remembrance Day Ceremony in Kelowna, B.C. Discovering no book had been written on this pivotal battle, Mark decided to fill that gap. Ortona: Canada’s Epic World War II Battle was the result. The book’s success encouraged him to develop The Canadian Battle Series, which documents the Canadian World War II experience and has resulted in his being declared by Jack Granatstein as the nation’s leading popular military historian.

Mark is also an award winning mystery writer, whose popular Elias McCann series has garnered much critical praise. Set in storm-swept west coast Vancouver Island village of Tofino, the series follows the investigations of reluctant community coroner Elias McCann. Hands Like Clouds, the debut title in this series, won the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for the 2000 Best First Novel and the third instalment, Sweep Lotus, was nominated for the 2004 Arthur Ellis Best Novel.

When not writing, this Victoria, British Columbia resident can often be found tinkering around the Fernwood heritage house he shares with partner and fellow writer Frances Backhouse. He enjoys hiking, backpacking, cycling, kayaking, travelling, and cooking.

Reviews

[Robert French · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Operation Husky primarily because I very recently read Farley Mowat’s memoir And No Birds Sang describing his experiences during the Canadian Sicilian battle. This book is the seventh book of Mark Zuehlke’s Canadian Battle Series. It is also the first book in a number of years that I have read that provides a very detailed description of specific campaign, i.e., the invasion of Sicily. At times I found the writing slow and plodding, although I really wanted to become more engaged. Other reviewers have noted that is not the best of Mark Zuehlke’s battlefield books. Additionally, as noted by other reviewers, it would have helped to have a lot more detailed maps. But I did finish the book and plan to read more of this series. While I had an uncle that served with the American Army in North Africa and Italy (with a very brief stop in Sicily), my father-in-law served as a medic in the Canadian Army in the European theatre. As so often happens, neither my uncle nor my wife’s father told our generation very much about their experiences in WWII.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid Zuehlke, that is factual from the frontline soldier point of view with the ability to rise to the tactical/operational level when required

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly personal and detailed account of the Canadian division's actions during the invasion of Sicily, an often underappreciated force within an equally underappreciated campaign. Due to the narrow scope of the book, I would not recommend to anyone new to WW2 or even to the Italian Campaign. However, the extensive use of personal accounts from both officers and the ranks, combined with this narrow scope, produces a strong sense of having accompanied the soldiers every step of the way.

[Terry Hinkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book from Mark. Well researched with descriptive and in depth accounts of operations and events. A must read for all Canadians interested in our Veterans contributions to WW2.

[SillyFish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was curious about Operation Husky and this was the book I chose to begin my reading. Really glad I did; it’s a great mix accounts from different vantages.

[Andrew Herbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be a very slow start. I've read two of the other books in Zuehlke's coverage of the Canadian ground forces in WW2 (Ortona & Liri Valley), and found them more engaging. All the talk of planning at first was dry as the Sicilian dust! Once the campaign starts things are better. The odd thing is that chronologically the books are published in reverse, so many of the officers' names are familiar from 'Ortona' and so on. This book seems less personal than the others, thus the lower rating. Other readers comment on this lack of personal engagement, and I hadn't noticed it until this book.

The maps are rather cursory and small. It's clear from the Epilogue that the author has trudged the trails and hills, so better maps would help. The level of detail in the narrative requires maps of a larger scale and size, so that the paths of the smaller units are clear. Many locations mentioned aren't on the maps, and have to be sussed out based on other landmarks that are given.

I'm glad I picked the book up again, but given this is the ONLY book on the Canadian campaign in Sicily, I'd hoped for more (especially given his other books). It's probably got an extra star from me because of Canadian bias! ;-) We'll see what happens when I tackle the next one on my shelf.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent telling of the regiments of the 1st Canadian Division's battles through Sicily during Operation Husky in mid-1943. It is, apparently, the first history of our Army's important role in this Allied operation. Zuehlke has done a masterful job of research and exposition. I am looking forward to reading his other books on Canada's battles in Italy: the Liri Valley, Ortona and the Gothic Line. I would give it 5 stars, but that the maps are crowded at the beginning of the book, rather than at the start of each relevant chapter. That makes it a bit difficult to follow.
We must be proud of these soldiers, who battled so tenaciously that Germans who had fought in Poland, France, Russia and North Africa dubbed them the "red patch devils" (for their divisional shoulder patches). They were, for the most part, infantry, and because much of their transport had been sunk enroute, and because of the fierce mountainous terrain, had to cover miles in 100+ degree heat and thick dust on foot, using commandeered donkeys and mules for heavy transport. Many assaults were up vertical mountainsides.
There is one Monty Pythonesque quote by an officer: "My batman apologized to me for being stupid enough to get his arm practically shot off, which touched me very much indeed.".

[Davina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've become a fan of the author's work. You may see him as the Canadian Stephen Ambrose, where is trying to tell the larger story of these campaigns, as much through the eyes of the men who fought, as he is able. I think he did a fine job. As with any work of this sort, I did notice some small details which he got wrong. They were quite trivial, and I don't even recall the detail, but something about kit or equipment that wasn't right. I must say, I'm more interesting in seeing a similar German version some day. It would be interesting to be able to compare the experience, or even of the Italians. This adds another piece to the large drama of the War in the Mediterranean, and is interesting for that alone. This is the first significant blooding of Canadian Troops. I exclude Dieppe, as that was a raid, and not sustained combat. It's interesting to see the view of Gen Guy Simonds, and his over reliance of big artillery shoots. Well worth your time.