Ruined Rails | The Invasion of Sicily and the Italian Campaign | From Vimy to Juno: Canadians Through Two World Wars | From Vimy to Juno: Canadians Through Two World Wars

A Canadian sergeant examines a railway track in Carovilli, Italy on 23 November 1943. The last German train to pass through tore the ties in half, leaving the track completely unusable by Allied forces, pending repair. This would have been a defensive move by the Germans in retreat, hoping to slow the Allied advance.

Black and white photograph. A broken rail track runs past a large building and into the mountains. A Canadian kneels beside the rails examining the broken wooden ties, which the camera is focused on. All the ties have been cut in half. — (Lieut. F.G. Whitcombe, Canadian Dept. of National Defence, Library and Archives Canada, MIKAN No. 3587618.)

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