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For
the first month following the D-Day landings,
a stalemate developed during which the
Allies built up their forces in a narrow
bridgehead. Additional Canadian formations
were committed to the struggle and organized
as II Corps, serving under First Canadian
Army.
In
July Canadian troops helped capture Caen.
They then participated in a series of
difficult offensives towards Falaise
aimed at joining an American advance
from the south and encircling the German
forces in Normandy. By August 21, the
Germans had either retreated or been
destroyed between the Canadian-British
and American pincers. The ten-week Normandy
Campaign cost the Canadians alone more
than 18,000 casualties, 5000 of them
fatal.
See also :
Canadian
Newspapers and the Second World War : D-Day and the Normandy Campaign
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