In planning for the convoys, each morning, the Commander of 1 Canadian Corp, Major-General George Kitching, and Lt-General Guy Simonds, in command of 2 Canadian Corp, would assemble with their staff to draw names of vessels which were sailing in the Fast and Slow convoys.
There was a second pair of “follow-up” convoys which were dedicated to bringing reinforcements and replacement gear was scheduled to arrive three days after the initial landing. The first Fast and Slow convoys were delivering troops to the initial landing on July 10. Most accounts of the convoys which ferried troops and equipment to the Mediterranean during Operation Husky will tell you that there were two convoys: the Fast and the Slow. Operation Husky was on its way.īut, not everything went as planned for the convoy. The 1st Canadians Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade set sail as part of a 2,000 ship convoy from the UK to the Mediterranean, with their ultimate destination being the southeastern tip of Sicily. The pressure from the Canadian public and from the Generals in the field, influenced Canada’s PM Mackenzie King to insist that the Canadians be involved. However, neither the British nor the American planned to utilize the Canadians. This, in turn, weakened the Axis on the two crucial fronts. In the final analysis, the gamble was correct as the German Army drew from both fronts to reinforce Italy. Those troops would have to be brought from either the Russian front and or from France. The logic was: if Italy could be pushed out of the war, then Germany would have to send men and material to counter any invasion by the allies. Montgomery and Patton study a map of Sicily
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