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Canada & WW2
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WORLD WAR II
Canadians on the Battlefield
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at the start of the war, Canada’s army was ill equipped to fight in a major war
army-4000 men navy-1800 airforce-4500
by the end of the war over 1 million saw military service; 21,624 women served
Blitzkrieg
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after Poland fell, this marked the beginning of a period known as the “phony war”
all winter, French troops fortified positions and expected an advance from Germany, but in
never came
April 9, 1940, the “phony war” ends; Hitler
seized Norway and Denmark
May 10, 1940, Winston Churchill
becomes Prime Minister of England
the same day Germany invaded Holland,
Belgium and France
400,000 allied troops were quickly
surrounded and trapped against the sea at
Dunkirk
between May 27 – June 4, almost 350,000
men were rescued from the beaches, this event was called the “miracle of Dunkirk”
boats of all sizes manned by English civilians crossed the English channel, this act saved the
British army, but now France lay defenseless
June 10, 1940, Italy declared war on France
June 22, 1940, France surrendered
The Battle of Britain
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Hitler unleashed the “Luftwaffe”, his air force against Britain
Germany outnumbered the British air force but with the help of Canadian pilots they held off
the attacks
the invention of “radar” helped win the battle by warning the British when and where the
Luftwaffe was coming and because German fighter pilots could provide only a few minutes
of air cover before having to disengage and return to Germany, leaving their bombers
defenseless
the Luftwaffe at first concentrated on British radar stations and air bases and by August they
were beginning to look like they might win; British forces were dwindling while the constant
pressure on their air bases was taking a toll
Hitler, however, ordered a change in tactics after the British bombed Berlin in a retaliatory
raid for the accidental bombing of London. Hitler ordered his bombers to concentrate on
British cities and their industrial centers
This gave the Royal Air Force a breather and time to regroup.
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The Luftwaffe had not designed its bomber force to bomb cities; their bombers were small or
mid sized bombers and were designed to attack ground army targets in support of the army so
they naturally failed to bomb England into submission
London, Coventry and Birmingham suffered great losses but so did the
German air force
by September 1940, the massive attacks came to an end and by October
the Battle of Britain was called off
the Luftwaffe would occasionally order some bombing raids but they had
little effect on Britain
Hitler’s scientists did invent the world’s first rockets and missiles called
the V1(Buzz Bombs) and V2 and those would be sent to bomb cities in
Britain near the end of the war.
The War Spreads
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the war against Germany and Italy spreads to North Africa
In 1941 the Italian army attack the British in Egypt but suffer instead a great defeat
Germany sends General Irwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps who quickly earn a fearsome
reputation and the respect of the British for winning many battles
October 28, 1940, Mussolini attacks Greece expecting easy victory; this does not happen
Hitler is forced to save Mussolini’s army be invading Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece; on
April 27, 1941, the German army occupies Athens but it has delayed Hitler 4 weeks from
invading the USSR (Russia) and this delay will cost the Werhmacht victory in Moscow
With Greece taken Hitler orders a total airborne assault on the British and Greek armies that
have fled to the Mediterranean island of Crete; this 1st in history succeeds against all odds
but Hitler loses so many paratroopers that he never again orders such an attack
now Hitler feels he has nothing more to fear from Britain and he turns east into the Soviet
Union with Operation Barbarosa
June 22, 1941, Hitler launched a massive attack on the Soviet Union expecting easy victory
this was Hitler’s greatest mistake because despite the Werhmacht’s amazing victories at the
beginning of the campaign, German troops became bogged down by an early Russian winter,
the Scorched Earth policy of Stalin and the heroic resistance
from the Russian people
Russia is just too big for Germany and the U.S.A. and Britain
send immense war materials to make sure the USSR can keep
fighting the Germans for the next couple of years
Hitler will dedicate about 80% of his entire air and ground
forces against Russia for the remainder of the war
at the same time, Germany’s ally, Japan, attacks the American
fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941
this attack angers many Americans which until now wanted to
stay out of the war
Hitler and Mussolini declare war on the United States who
would bring its giant industrial and military power against the
Axis and make the USA a super power by the end of WW2.
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Canadians in Action
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first action came December 1941 in the defence of Hong Kong against Japanese attacks
the battle was hopeless and Hong Kong fell; 500 Canadians lost their lives and another 1400
became prisoners of war
up to August of 1942, Canadian losses were light, but this soon changed
since the defeat of France in 1940, the German army heavily fortified the coastline of Europe
Britain’s ally, the Soviet Union, tried to pressure her at attack so it could create a new front in
the west to ensure a Soviet victory against the
attacking Germans
the “Dieppe raid” was mainly a gesture to the
Soviet Union
Dieppe fortifications were on a cliff over-looking a
narrow beach below; the cliff was fortified with
pillboxes, barbed wire and heavy guns
August 19, 1942, 6000 troops, mainly Canadians
attacked
attack was a massive failure; 900 troops died and
500 were wounded and another 2000 were captured;
it was the greatest Canadian disaster of the war
Canadians fought in the campaigns for Sicily and
Italy including Ortona and Monte Casino; More
than 92,000 Canadians served in Italy at a cost of
26,000 casualties, including more than 5300 dead.
Canadian Divisions were assigned the task of taking Juno Beach during the D-Day invasion
of June 6th of 1944; they were the only group to take all their objectives for the day
Of the nearly 150,000 Allied troops who landed or parachuted into the invasion area, 14,000
were Canadians. On D-Day, Canadians suffered 1074 casualties, including 359 killed.
In July Canadian troops helped capture Caen. They then participated in a series of difficult
offensives towards Falaise aimed at joining an American advance from the south and
encircling the German forces in Normandy. By August 21, the Germans had either retreated
or been destroyed between the Canadian-British and American pincers. The ten-week
Normandy Campaign cost the Canadians alone more than 18,000 casualties, 5000 of them
fatal.
In September 1944, First Canadian Army swept north along the coast of the English Channel
liberating the heavily-fortified ports of Boulogne and Calais. At the same time, the British
captured the Belgian port of Antwerp, desperately requiring its docking facilities to bring in
supplies. However, the Germans occupied both banks of the 70-kilometre long Scheldt River
estuary linking Antwerp to the sea. Most of this territory was in the Netherlands.
In a month-long campaign that became known as the Liberation of the Netherlands (Holland)
beginning 6 October, the Canadians fought in appalling conditions over open, flooded ground
to capture the approaches to Antwerp. They lost over 6300 killed or wounded in the process.
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The Dutch never forgot Canada’s great sacrifice and to this day continue to thank Canada
every year with Tulips.
Canada’s Air Force
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The B.C.A.T.P., created by an agreement in December 1939 between Canada, Britain,
Australia, and New Zealand, called for Canada to train these countries’ air crews. Ottawa
administered the Plan and paid most of the costs.
At its peak, the Plan maintained 231 training sites and required more than 10,000 aircraft and
100,000 military personnel to administer. It trained pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, radio
operators, air gunners, and flight engineers. More than half of its 131,553 graduates were
Canadian.
Between 1939 and 1945, the Royal Canadian Air
Force (RCAF) enlisted 232,000 men and 17,000
women and operated 86 squadrons, including 47
overseas. Canadians flew bomber, fighter,
reconnaissance, transport, and other missions around the
world.
Tens of thousands of Canadian air crew also served with
Britain’s Royal Air Force and Canadian fighter aircraft
participated in the epic Battle of Britain in 1940. For the
rest of the war, Canadian fighter-bombers attacked
coastal areas in German-occupied Europe while Canadian heavy bombers struck at targets
much further inland. In addition, Canadian maritime patrol bombers based in Canada,
Newfoundland, Iceland and Britain fought German submarines.
By 1945, the R.C.A.F. had grown to be the world’s fourth- largest air force. More than
17,000 Canadian airmen perished during the war.
CANADA’S WAR AT SEA
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Canada played a major role in protecting trans-Atlantic convoys.
The Royal Canadian Navy’s ‘small-ship’ fleet of destroyers, corvettes, frigates, and
minesweepers escorted Allied shipping across the Atlantic and along the northeastern
seaboard of North America.
Despite early growing pains, the R.C.N. grew into a formidable anti-submarine force. By
war’s end, the Royal Canadian Navy, the world’s third-largest fleet, had enlisted some
100,000 men and 6500 women and operated 471 warships and smaller fighting vessels, most
Canadian-built.
The R.C.N. sank 28 enemy submarines and numerous surface vessels but lost 24 of its own
warships. Approximately 2000 Canadian sailors were killed. Another 12,000 Canadians
served in the Merchant Navy, of whom more than 1600 died.
German submarines sank over 100 ships in Canadian and Newfoundland coastal
waters.
By May 1942, German U-boats operated in the approaches to Newfoundland and Nova
Scotia and sank over 20 ships just 300 kms from Québec City. In 1944 and 1945, German
submarines returned and sank Canadian warships just off Halifax harbour.
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The Home Front
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by 1940, the “War Measures Act” of 1914 was still in effect
the government had the power to censor news, imprison and deport people, control industry
as in WWI, Canadian industry supplied the allies with shells, rifles, tanks and airplanes
by 1945 agricultural production increased three times its pre-war level
war produced large debt; the government’s answer was to raise income and corporation taxes
high taxes were placed on luxury items
bonds also sold to raise money
Conscription Crisis
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in 1917, conscription bitterly divided Canadians- Eng.-for French- against
in the 1940 election, Mackenzie King promised not to introduce it
by 1942, the military advised the Prime Minster it might be necessary
he called a “plebiscite”- a national vote on an issue
across Canada- 64% in favour 36% against but in Quebec 28% in favour 72% against
to soothe French Canadians, King stated that conscripts would be used for home defence
only
1944 a second conscription crisis occurred because very few men were volunteering for
overseas service
King was forced to send 13,000 conscripts overseas
Quebec became angry
however, Louis St. Laurent, a respected French Canadian M.P. helped calm the situation and
violence was avoided
The Treatment of Japanese-Canadians
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December 7, 1941, Japan attacks American and British forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Canada immediately declares war on Japan
1942 Japanese forces land in Alaska and a Japanese submarine is spotted near Vancouver
Island
anti-Japanese hysteria swept British Columbia
about 24,000 Japanese immigrants settled in B.C. and now they were considered threats to
national security
they were removed from B.C. and placed in internment camps inland and others were sent
to other parts of Canada
their property was sold at bargain prices and they were forced to start a new life
in 1945 the Canadian Gov’t gave the Japanese Internees 2 harsh choices:
1) they could be repatriated (sent back to Japan) or
2) they could go live east of the Rocky Mountains
They were not allowed to return to B.C.
the law against the Japanese-Canadians was finally lifted in 1947 but by then over 4000
Japanese Canadians had been sent back to Japan.