Canadian WW II vets to visit Italy to commemorate the Italian Campaign

When the shell landed, Edmond Arsenault was launched off his feet.

It was December 1943, and he'd just arrived in Italy one of 93,000 Canadians playing a role in the Italian Campaign, a 20-month Allied operationin the Second World War aimed at weakening German forces.

Arsenault, then 22, hadbeen walking in line with about ninemen when the shell landed just up ahead, killing several of his fellow soldiers and propelling him and others into a ditch.

When he got up, he thought he'd been hit.

"My nose was bleeding. It was just from the blast, I guess, the concussion. I was deaf for a few days," he said.

"It came back, but never the same. Just like I got a bunch of bees in my ears."

Now 97, Arsenault can still readily recall that day, along with countless otherclose calls, bombings and casualties over his 15-month stint on the front lines.

Next week, he and 14 otherswill fly to Italy aspart of an official Canadian delegation to participate in several ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the Italian Campaign.

It will be Arsenault'sfirst time back to that countrysince he left following the war.

"It's hard to believe. You think of it once in a while," he said.

"I'm just one of the lucky ones."

'Unbelievable'

Today Arsenault lives in an apartment in Etobicoke with his wife of 70 years.

The first thing you see when entering his apartment his war medals, almost a dozen of them, and a large crest for the West Nova Scotia Regiment, which he was a part of. Books recounting the Second World War, newspaper clippings and pictures of his family are scattered throughout.

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He sits in the main room as he detailshis journey leaving his home in P.E.I. to fight against the Nazis.

"There's a lot of times I never thought I would be coming back," he said.

The Italian Campaign began in July1943with theCanadians and their allies using Italy "as a platformto attack theenemy territory in Europe and help divert German resources from the Eastern Front," according to Veteran Affairs Canada's website.

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For almost two years, the alliesmoved from the south to the north of Italy, facing punishing terrain, terrible weather, andnumerous brutal battles against some of Germany's best-trained soldiers . The Canadians suffered26,000 casualties, 6,000 of them fatal.

"You had to keep your ears and eyes open at all times," Arsenault said.

"There was a good friend of mine. He was in the same regiment. He was from P.E.I as well. So we just happened to meet one morning, face-to-face and ... 10minutes after he was dead."

Arsenault will have a chance to honourhis fallen comrades in the next two weeks, as some of the Italian ceremonies will be held at cemeteries where hundreds of Canadian soldiers are buried.

"It'll be a lot of memories once you're in there," he said. "I won't find my footprints anymore."

On marking 75 years since years since his service ended, he hasone word: "Unbelievable."

Canadian ceremony

A ceremony will also take place in Ottawa to mark the anniversary at 1 p.m. on Nov. 26 at the Horticulture Building on Princess Patricia Way.

According to the government's website, the ceremonies are being held in November to mark the entire campaign, not the date of the campaign's start or a particular battle.

To read more on the Italian Campaign, or hear CBC radio reports from 75 years ago,visit the CBC's Digital Archives.