In the early hours of July 10, 1943, along the beaches of Costa Dell Ambra, about 25,000 1st Canadian Infantry Division troops joined nearly 450,000 other British and American soldiers in Operation Husky. It was D-Day in Italy and, up to that time, the largest amphibious military landing ever attempted. It would be the beginning of the end of fascist occupation of Europe.

On that Sicilian landing site, almost 70 years later, is where the Canadian Liberation of Italy tour with Ted Barris begins this May, 2013. You can join Ted Barris and his wife Jayne MacAulay as they lead about 50 travellers retracing the steps of Canadian troops who fought through Italy in WWII.

Highlights of the tour include the landing beaches at Pachino, Sicily, and historic Monte Cassino battlefield (including the abbey).

You’ll explore the Canadian liberation route to the Adriatic coast including Ortona (Christmas battle site) and Rimini. You’ll also take in Taormina’s 3^rd century BC amphitheatre, and War Graves Commission cemeteries in Agira, Cassino, Moro River, among others. You’ll end your tour in Rome with a guided tour of the ancient city. This will be the 10^th sold out tour that Ted & Jayne have hosted for Merit guests.

More information – itinerary, booking details, etc. – at the Merit Travel Group website:

http://meritvacations.com/index/vacations/canadians-in-wartime-italy.aspx

It was at Vimy Ridge, on Easter Monday, April 9, 1917, that 49 battalions – nearly 100,000 Canadian troops – rose from the trenches in front of No Man’s Land and accomplished the impossible. Where, for two years, neither the British nor French Armies had succeeded in overcoming the German Army occupation of the ridge, the Canadians – in a matter of hours – managed to seize and hold the most strategic heights on the Western Front. Some say the even signified the birth of Canada as a nation.

On April 9, 2012, (the 95th anniversary of the battle) thousands will gather to pay tribute to members of the Canadian Corps who achieved this significant victory and proved to the world that citizens of a young nation could serve King and Empire and the spirit of Canada. For those who join Merit Travel Group’s Ted Barris “Return to Vimy – April 2012” tour, we shall attend that special ceremony.

In addition to attending these historic anniversary events, those joining this 10-day tour (April 5-15, 2012), will make other First World War stops at Ypres and Passchendaele (in Belgium) and the Somme and Beaumont Hamel (in France). Then, to the French coast for stops at Dieppe and the D-Day beaches of Gold, Sword and Juno, where 15,000 Canadians spearheaded the Allied invasion to liberate northwestern Europe.

More information – itinerary, booking details, etc. – at the Merit Travel Group website:

http://www.meritvacations.com/index/vacations/Merit-Hosted-Tours/Normandy-and-Vimy.aspx

Eastern Europe remains one of the least explored regions of the continent. Principally because of the Cold War (from 1945-1989), when nations such as East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland remained dominated by the Soviet Union, many of the Second World War stories and locations have not experienced the same exposure to battlefield tourism that France, Belgium, Holland and Italy have.

In response to many Merit Travel travellers’ requests, Ted Barris has drawn from his historical research and numerous contacts to organize a brand new wartime tour of Poland, Czech Republic and northern Germany. Our “Beyond the Wall” Tour will run from June 12 to 25, 2011, accommodating a limited number of seats…

For more information about this limited-seating tour, visit the Merit Group Travel site.