El Alemein

[Tony Smith]

As a Canadian,I never realized how much your people were responsible for the final victory.

The Aussie Divisions that fought in North Africa fought well and were highly respected as a foe by Rommel, as were the New Zealanders, too. With the threat from the Japanese in the Pacific, Australians spent the latter half of the war in the east. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any actions where Australians and Canadians fought side by side (excepting Air Force and Naval
servicemen). Naturally, we were all in it together for the right reason, fighting for the King!
The New Zealanders, however, probably have a lot more in common with the Canadians as they remained with the 8th Army and went on to fight in Italy and saw action in places such as Cassino, Liri Valley, Sangro River, etc. They even were issued with late war "European" equipment that the Aussies never saw, such as Sherman Fireflies and No4 Longbranch rifles. The Aussies kept on plugging away at the Japs with Matildas, M3 Stuarts and No1 SMLE's.