The division was remobilized, now designated as the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, before Canada's formal entrance into the Second World War, along with the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions. The division, under the command of Major General Andrew McNaughton, left Halifax from Pier 21 in two heavily escorted convoys, the first departing on December 10, three months after the declaration of war, and the second on December 22, 1939, with additional troops reaching England in February 1940.In 1941, the formation adopted the red rectangular battle patch insignia worn by the 1st Canadian Division in the Great War.
All elements of the division were far from completely equipped on mobilization: of the artillery and machine guns on hand, most were obsolete, and the troops lacked steel helmets. Only gradually did a full complement of more modern weapons, equipment, and transport begin reaching the division in 1940.
Nevertheless, in the wake of the disastrous Battle of France and the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the Dunkirk evacuation in May 1940, the 1st Canadian Division was ordered to France the following month. Among the infantry units that landed at Brest, France were The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR), The 48th Highlanders of Canada and The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, all part of the 3rd Infantry Brigade. Members of the RCR were present in France at least until 16 June, after Paris had fallen to German forces, and returned almost immediately after. The 48th's withdrawal was not without some excitement.
The division returned to England, where it became the only fully equipped and trained force for the defense of England in the case of a German invasion. Soon afterwards Major General McNaughton was promoted to command of the British VII Corps (later designated the Canadian Corps) and was succeeded by Major General George Pearkes.
The division stayed in England for almost three years, transferring to the Mediterranean theatre in April 1943 where the division, now under the command of Major General Guy Simonds after Major General Harry Salmon was killed in an air crash, took part in Operation Husky, codename for the Allied assault landing on Sicily on 10 July 1943, which ended after just 38 days. The division came under command of the British XIII Corps, serving alongside the veteran 51st (Highland) Division, part of the British Eighth Army, commanded by General Sir Bernard Montgomery. The campaign cost the division over 2,100 casualties.
Soon after the conquest of Sicily, the division, still under XIII Corps but now serving alongside the British 5th Infantry Division (which had also fought in Husky), then landed in Calabria as part of Operation Baytown on the Italian mainland and fought its way up the Italian peninsula, participating in the Moro River Campaign and the division, now under Major General Chris Vokes, supported by tanks of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade, took part in the Battle of Ortona, fighting against German Fallschirmjäger–crack air force paratroops of the 1st Parachute Division–over Christmas 1943. Both sides suffered heavy losses in the fight for the town which a reporter for The New York Times had begun calling a "miniature Stalingrad", based on the ferocity of the street fighting and the heavy losses on both sides, with the Canadians suffering 650 casualties, mainly in the 3rd Brigade. By December 27, what remained of Ortona, after days of shelling and aerial bombardment, was in Canadian hands.
After this the division was rested and many months of static warfare ensued, the division then went on to break out of the Eighth Army's bridgehead with the second wave in the spring offensive, Operation Diadem, the Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino. The 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards, the reconnaissance (or 'recce') regiment serving with the 1st Canadian Division, was the first of the Eighth Army's units to cross the Hitler Line in May 1944, below Pontecorvo in its armoured cars.
After heavy fighting in front of the Gothic Line throughout the summer, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division spent the next several months fighting, as it had the previous fall, for a succession of heavily-defended river crossings surrounded by high ground. By the time the division reached the Senio, as the icy rain began giving way to snow in the Canadian sector, a decision had been reached to transfer the entire 1st Canadian Corps, 1st Infantry Division included, to the Netherlands.[4] By the end of March 1945 all Canadian Army units serving with Allied Forces Mediterranean (formerly the Allied Armies in Italy) had been transferred to the Western Front and Operation Goldflake, the reunion of the 1st Infantry Division and 1st Armoured Brigade and First Canadian Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar, was accomplished. The division, now under Major General Harry Foster, went on to take part in the Western Allied invasion of Germany, and the liberation of Arnhem, and the war in Europe came to an end soon after, on 8 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day.
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