However, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division took part in theItalian Campaign, participating in theMoro River Campaign and theBattle of Ortona in December 1943 as part ofBritish V Corps and it was not until thefourth Battle of Monte Cassino (Operation Diadem) in May 1944 that I Canadian Corps fought its first battle as a corps. The Eighth Army held the corps in reserve until after theGustav defences in the Liri valley had been broken and then brought it forward to assault successfully the next defensive line, theHitler Line, shortly before the Allied capture ofRome in early June. Having taken part in theAllies' northward advance to Florence, the corps then took part inOperation Olive, the assault on theGothic Line, in September 1944 before being transported during January–February 1945 inOperation Goldflake to rejoin the rest of the First Canadian Army inBelgium and theNetherlands. There the corps participated in the campaign to complete the liberation of the Netherlands. On May 6, 1945, atWageningen, Lieutenant-General Foulkes received the finalsurrender byColonel GeneralJohannes Blaskowitz of all remaining German forces still active in the Netherlands. The corps was deactivated on July 17, 1945, as part of general demobilization.
Although nominally a Canadian formation, I Canadian Corps contained significant elements at different times from other Allied countries. For example, in Italy, during the assault on the Gothic Line in the fall of 1944, the corps included theBritish 4th Infantry Division, the2nd New Zealand Division and the3rd Greek Mountain Brigade. During the final campaign to liberate the Netherlands, the corps included for a time theBritish 49th Infantry Division.
I Canadian Corps forces advancing from theGustav Line to theHitler Line during the Liri Valley Offensive, May 24, 1944.Dutch civilians celebrating the arrival of I Canadian Corps troops inUtrecht after the German surrender, May 7, 1945.
^Col. C. P. Stacey,Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War: The Canadian Army 1939-1945: An Official Historical Summary, Department of National Defence, Ottawa, Canada, 1948.
