Canadian Alamo in Normandy.
#OTD in 1944 Worthington Force, a battlegroup of the British Columbia and Algonquin Regiments, was destroyed after a hard day's fighting.
This air photo, the most remarkable I've seen in my years of research, shows the fight in progress.
A short🧵1/11 This RAF photo was taken at the height of the battle on 9 Aug. It shows the desparate drama of the fighting that day. The final location of WF is visible as the rectangular field on the left side of the photo. This is near Point 140 east of Estrees-la-Campagne. 2/11

Lots of talk today about the Battle of Amiens and the start of Canada's 100 Days. It's rightly marked as the "black day of the German army," but it was also important as the greatest air battle of the First World War. #RAF #airpower #OTD
➡️🧵 The RAF employed all the tasks of modern air power: air superiority, reconnaisance, interdiction, and close support missions among others. It was the first thoroughly modern and comprehensive application of air power on the battlefield and set the standard for future air ops.

7 August 1944 was a BAD day for the German army in Normandy. Operation Totalize shattered their defensive line south of Caen and their biggest offensive in Normandy, Op Lüttich, was decisively defeated at Mortain.
A thread...
1/17 The German army made a brief stand south of Caen while a succession of Anglo-Canadian operations - Goodwood/Atlantic and Spring as well and British operations west of the Orne River severely attritted their combat strength.
2/17

#OTD in 1918, the famous "Two against Twenty" fight. In one of the most remarkable aerial mêlées of the Great War, two Bristol Fighters took on 20 German scouts and survived unscathed while bringing down eight enemy aircraft.
Here's the story:
1/22
[James Field painting] On the evening of 7 May 1918, two Brisfits from No 22 Squadron set out on an observation patrol north of Arras. One aircraft was flown by 2Lts Alfred Atkey (from Toronto) and observer Charles Gass. The other craft was crewed by 2Lts John Gurdon and John Thornton. 2/22
IWM photo

#OTD in 1917, the Canadian Corps advanced into battle together for the first time and captured #VimyRidge. This decisive victory changed the course of the war and transformed Canada from colony to nation.
WAIT. WHAT???!!!
A thread on the myths and reality of Vimy Ridge:
1/19 Days after the battle, the Toronto Daily Star proclaimed, “Canadians Score Again” [what’s a Canadian victory without a hockey analogy!] while a Paris newspaper called it "Canada's Easter Gift to France." With victories like this, the end of the war must be close, right?!
2/19

#OTD in 1918, Lieutenants Alan McLeod and Arthur Hammond, while flying over Albert, France, shot down a German Fokker Triplane before being bounced by eight more enemy aircraft. They shot down three more before crashing. A THREAD 1/10
#VictoriaCross McLeod and Hammond served in No. 2 Squadron, RAF flying the Armstrong Whitworth F.K 8, a two-seater. It was an effective and dependable aircraft that was used for reconnaissance, artillery spotting, ground attack, contact patrols, and bombing. 2/10

“Bloody April” and the RFC...A thread!
#OTD in 1917 the Battles of #Vimy and Arras began.
The Battle of Arras is considered the nadir of the Royal Flying Corps’ fortunes in the FWW. It was their worst month of the war – 275 aircraft lost & 421 casualties, half fatal. Major-General Hugh Trenchard, the RFC commander in France, stated on 10 Apr '17: “The utmost vigour must be shown by all pilots and observers.” This policy worked over the Somme in 1916 but changes in the balance of power in early 1917 eliminated many RFC advantages.

#OTD 75 years ago, Major Fred Tilston of the Essex Scottish Regiment was awarded the Victoria Cross for outstanding gallantry while leading his company in the Hochwald Forest. He was wounded 3 times and lost both his legs and an eye.
THREAD:
LAC MIKAN 3524165 & 4233491) His company's objective was the Schmachdarm on the west side of the Hochwald Forest. The approach was across open fields well sited by German anti-tank guns, mortars, and MGs.
The Schmachdarm is visible in the bottom left corner of this air photo, in the notch in the woods.