Intel and blogs

Project ‘44 was founded to highlight the role of one such underappreciated country – Canada. Project ‘44 undertook an unprecedented project to map Canadian forces as they advanced across North-West Europe and Italy between 1944-45. This visual and data driven approach has provided incredible insights and opened new avenues of historical analysis. But this is just the first step, and its potential for expansion is huge.

Samuel Moses “Moe” Hurwitz was born on January 28, 1919, just two months after the end of the First World War. He was the eighth child of thirteen born to Bella and Chaim (Hyman) Hurwitz, of Montreal. Moe’s parents were Jewish immigrants who had arrived in Canada at the beginning of the 20th century.

Defining Moments Canada/Moments Déterminants Canada, a heritage education organization, announced today its partnership with the Juno Beach Centre Association and The Canadian Research and Mapping Association (Project44.ca) to lead the 2020 national commemorative project to share the stories of Canadians’ contributions to the Liberation of Holland and Victory in Europe (V-E Day).

“There is little to be thankful for in war[.] I was thankful for one thing, as a result of the battle for St. Lambert[.] I know that there is much to fear in war, but to me, the greatest fear was the possibility that I might not measure up to that which was asked of me. St. Lambert proved to me that I could measure up, and left me with the certain conviction that the war with Germany was in its final stages and that we would be equal to the task ahead of us – the final defeat of Germany.” - D.V Currie VC

The date was 11 August 1944. The Battle of Normandy was over two months old, and First Canadian Army had just concluded Operation Totalize, a massive armoured thrust across the Verrières Ridge and down the Caen-Falaise highway. Falaise, the next major communications centre south of Caen, remained in German hands.  

In Normandy during the early morning hours of 9 August 1944, a battlegroup under of the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Donald Worthington (British Columbia Regiment (BCRs) and the Algonquin Regiment) set out in the dark to capture Point 195 north of Falaise. When daylight broke, Worthington confidently reported to 4th Canadian Armoured Brigade headquarters that he was on the objective and requested immediate support to defeat the determined German attempts to dislodge him. Unbeknownst to him, his battlegroup had lost its way in the dark and ended up on a piece of high ground near Hill 140, some six and half kilometres east of its intended destination.

The flash and thunder of over 1000 artillery pieces lit up the darkness at 0330 hours on July, 25th 1944 to usher in Operation Spring – the largest Canadian set-piece operation up to that point in the Second World War.

A dark overcast sky looms overhead; the low rumble of engines and waves filling the air between the nervous-silence that envelop the crews. Miles behind them, the massive invasion force slowly steams towards France. Onboard their Bangor-class minesweeper vessels, the men of the Royal Canadian Navy know their objective is but one of many critical tasks necessary for the success of Operation NEPTUNE. It is perhaps the most critical task, yet it remains one of the unheralded acts of bravery and naval discipline in the Second World War.

During the Second World War 1939-1945, overseas surveying and mapping consisted of topographic survey, map reproduction and mensuration of aerial photography.   Unlike in the First World War were the British Royal Engineers provided much of the geographic support for the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), during the Second World War the Royal Canadian Engineers would provide geographic support for the Canadian Army.