In the few weeks after Canada declares war on Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, more than 60,000 Canadians volunteer to fight for King and Country. In the Battle of Britain 100 Canadian fighter pilots - including Robert Barton - play a key role against swarms of German fighters and bombers. Seaman Peter Cock takes us through the fight to save "Slow Convoy" SC-42, attacked by a wolf pack of German U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Canada volunteers troops to reinforce the garrison in Britain's colony of Hong Kong. When the Japanese invade the colony, the Canadians and other troops fight desperately, but are finally forced to surrender on Christmas Day, 1941. Alfred Babin takes us to the site of one of the massacres of the battle, at St Stephen's hospital.

In July 1943 the men of the First Canadian Division land on the beaches of Sicily, as the Allies invade Fascist Italy. The Canadians quickly prove their mettle against crack German troops, becoming skilled, battle-hardened fighters. Stan Scislowski plunges us into the humorous and dangerous world of the foot soldier.

In May 1944 Canadians open the road to Rome. But the fighting in Italy is endless. There is always one more hill, one more valley, one more river or mountain to take. Stan Scislowski takes us there with panache and humour, as he and his buddies fight their way through the formidable Gothic Line in Northern Italy.

We step ashore on the beaches on D-Day with Lockie Fulton, as he leads his men through a hail of fire up the beaches and into the fields and villages of Nazi-occupied Normandy. The next day German Panzer divisions counterattack, bending, but not breaking, the Canadian and Allied line, and casualties are heavy. In mid-August Canadian and Allied forces finally surround and trap the German armies in France.

The Canadian army has the tough but vital job of liberating the Channel ports and the estuary of the Scheldt, as well as breaking the German line west of the Rhine river. With Japan still resisting, Alfred Babin recounts the last days of the POWs, as they anxiously wait for liberation - or death. Victory comes after six years of war - but at a cost.