The First Canadian Army (French: 1reArmée canadienne) was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 until May 1945. It was Canada's first and, so far, only field army.
The First Canadian Army's strength was 177,000 all ranks at the end of 1942. One year later it had grown to 242,000. On 31 May 1944, shortly before the Normandy landings, Canadian troops in Europe numbered 251,000 of which 75,000 had left First Canadian Army to serve on the Italian Front.[2][pageneeded]
During Operation Overlord, the First Canadian Army was under the control of the British 21st Army Group. The Army proper went into action in the Battle of Normandy and conducted operations aimed at Falaise. Totalize was the first major operation carried out by the army,[6] followed by Operation Tractable and the closing of the Falaise pocket. After reaching the Seine, the objective of the first phase of Operation Overlord, the field army moved along the coast towards Belgium, with the Canadian 2nd Division entering Dieppe at the beginning of September. The First Army, under acting command of Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds (from 28 September 1944 to 7 November 1944), fought the critical Battle of the Scheldt along with the supporting Operation Pheasant in October and early November, opening Antwerp for Allied shipping.
The First Canadian Army held a static line along the river Meuse (Maas) from December through February, then launched Operation Veritable in early February. By this point, the field army, besides the II Canadian Corps, contained nine British divisions. The Siegfried Line was broken and the field army reached the banks of the Rhine in early March.
In the final weeks of the war in Europe, the First Army cleared the Netherlands of German forces. By this time the First Division and Fifth (Armoured) Division as well as First Armoured Brigade and the 1st Cdn AGRA had returned to the field army during Operation Goldflake, and for the first time, both the I Canadian Corps and II Canadian Corps fought under the same army commander.
Makeup
The First Canadian Army was international in character. The size of Canada's military contribution on its own would likely not have justified the creation of a separate army-level command in North-West Europe, especially over the period when I Canadian Corps was away gaining valuable combat experience in Italy. However, both McNaughton and Crerar, backed up by the Canadian government, were successful in their lobbying for the British Army to create a Canadian-led army enlarged with contributions from other Allied countries. In addition to II Canadian Corps (which included the Canadian formations under command described above), other formations under command included the British I Corps, and the 1st Polish Armoured Division, as well as, at various times, the American 104th Infantry Division (Timberwolf), 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade, Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade and 1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade. The First Canadian Army in North-West Europe during the final phases of the war comprised the largest field army ever under the control of a Canadian general. Ration strength of the army ranged from approximately 105,000 to 175,000 Canadian soldiers to anywhere from 200,000 to over 450,000 when including the soldiers from other nations.
The 'Maple Leaf Route' was the designation of the army's main supply route. The route was usually divided into Maple Leaf Up and Maple Leaf Down, designating traffic to and away from the front, respectively.
↑Stacey, C.P (1948). "Chapter V The Raid on Dieppe, 19 August 1942". The Canadian Army 1939-1945. Official History of the Canadian Army In the Second World War. p.65. Retrieved 2012-12-24– via Hyperwar Foundation.
Angus Brown; Richard Howard Gimblett (May 2009). In the footsteps of the First Canadian Army: northwest Europe 1942–1945. Magic Light Pub. ISBN978-1-894673-33-4.
Nicholson, G W L (1956). Volume II The Canadians in Italy. Official history of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. Queen's Printer, Ottawa. Archived from the original on 2012-05-31.
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