CanadiansAtArms.ca is an interactive website which will trace the Canadian military from 1812 to the present.

The project is multi-phased with the first phases concerning the conflict in Sicily and Italy during the period of 1943-45.

2018 is the 75th anniversary of Operation Husky; a bold, if somewhat controversial, plan to open a new front during WW2. The new front would: 1) ease the German pressure on the Russian front; 2) drive the Italians out of the Arms, and 3) draw German men and arms out of France prior to the Normandy invasion (Operation Overlord in 1944).

The path taken by Canadians through Sicily and Italy will be the backbone of stories of the major movements and battles and lives lost along the way.

There were almost 6,000 Canadians killed between June 1943 and February 1945 in Sicily and Italy. There are books which tell you about the battles fought and limited information about the lives lost during the campaigns; but there is nothing in print or online to bring this information together to make it easy to view, navigate and understand.

One feature of the information on Canadiansatarms.ca is that we will not attempt to “retell” the stories of Canadians operations but rather will aggregate the stories from existing sources. In all cases, we will acknowledge the original authors and/or sources of any material we use. However, it is difficult in many cases to determine a method of contacting the original author. If an author objects to our use of their material, please contact us. 

Further, there is no medium to allow interested Canadians, who have materials and artifacts which commemorate the souls of those who were there to share their treasures, except at museums. Unfortunately, museums have limited display areas and store many, if not most, of the treasures in closets and drawers; generally unseen by the public. It is our intent to develop this website to allow anyone to add information or images to complete the stories we will tell.