Canada and WWII

The Canadian Parliament declared war on Sept. 10, 1939, and by the end of the first month 70 000 Cdns. had signed up. (One million would serve by the end of the war)

in 1940 the Blitzkrieg struck Denmark and Norway and by May both had fallen to the Nazis. The Germans then conquered the Netherlands and Belgium and pushed into France.

Retreating British soldiers were trapped in the French coastal town of Dunkirk.

Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe (German air force) to bomb the Br. forces, while ordering the Wermacht (Ger. army) to pull back; this would prove to be one of Hitler's costly errors.

Miracle of Dunkirk Fortunately a dense fog

pinned the Luftwaffe to the ground giving the British troops a chance to escape Dunkirk.

A call went out to all British vessels to cross the English Channel and rescue the men. 900 boats - ferries, fishing boats, pleasure boats- joined the British destroyers.

It was believed that only 10 000 men could be

rescued, but by the end 340 000 soldiers were rescued from certain destruction.

Many historians believe that "the Miracle of Dunkirk" prevented Hitler from winning in 1940.

Meanwhile, the French army had fallen. On June 14, 1940 the Nazis marched into an undefended Paris and 3 days later France surrendered.

Hitler had conquered most of w. Europe. Only the Soviet Union remained to the East and the British Isles to the West.

The German plan to invade Britain was code named Operation Sea Lion

they were going to land 25 divisions along the south coast of England and make a quick thrust forward to take London.

tank divisions and infantry troops could only reach GB by ship

Germany would have to control the ocean; they could do that only by controlling the air. (Br. defences were limited, apart from the Royal Navy)

The Battle of Britain July 1940: Hitler

unleashed a savage air attack on British ships in the English Channel. By mid Aug., 2000 German aircraft were in the skies over Britain.

The British RAF was small in comparison to the German Luftwaffe (LW). At first the LW was very successful, knocking out air fields and supply factories.

Then the LW tried to break the will of Britain by targeting cities/civilians (“Blitz”)

(The Germans feared that winter might delay the planned invasion.)

In response, PM Churchill ordered bombing raids on Berlin. Hitler was outraged with what he called "terror bombings”

German air attacks peaked on Sept 15, 1940 when 1000 LW bombers and 700 fighters flew over London in a daylight raid.

RAF Spitfires and Hurricanes climbed high to meet them, and spectacular air battles took place.

The LW losses were great and Germany realized that their tactics were not working. Operation Sea Lion was abandoned (another of Hitler's errors). By 1941, Hitler had redeployed the LW to the Balkans and later the Russian front. For Br. the worst was over.

The Reasons for the Br. victory: radar insular geography ability to hold out RAF ("Never have so

many owed so much to so few.")

Germany's Invasion of the Soviet Union On June 22,1941

Hitler attacked the Soviet Union. This was Operation Barbarossa. The Soviet Union found itself in the allied camp.

What would have motivated Hitler/Ger. to attack the USSR?

At first, the Soviets were unable to stop the German blitzkrieg and suffered over 1 million casualties.

But the Soviet army just kept retreating into the massive land area

By late fall, the Ger. soldiers were headed for Moscow. They did not get there before winter, and suffered great hardships – temps. as low as -50 c, no warm clothing, no anti-freeze, no oils suitable for winter operation of their tanks....

Siberian troops were brought in to defend Moscow. Hitler's gamble failed and a quick, decisive victory did not occur. It would be a long, hard fought war.

The War in the Pacific Relations b/n Japan

and Western nations had reached a breaking point.

Japan was hard hit by US tariffs and had begun to build its empire in the Pacific (the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere), having invaded Korea and China

The U.S. had stationed a naval fleet in Hawaii in case of war in the Pacific

Britain wanted to help. but could not spare the troops. Canada helped by sending soldiers to Hong Kong.

The Attack on Pearl Harbor U.S. and Japan were

trying to sign a peace treaty. Secretly, Japan was planning an attack because they wanted the West's colonies

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto planned a surprise attack using fighter planes launched from Japanese aircraft carriers.

Dec. 7, 1941 – the attack began… Japan had not declared war (it was late) and the U.S. was caught off guard.

After 2 hrs. the U.S. fleet was destroyed and 1000s were killed…

The U.S. immediately declared war. (Dec. 8, 1941- "A day that will live in infamy")

The US was the richest nation in the world and could invest enormous amounts of $ and pop. to the war effort. (The US became the "Arsenal of Democracy") – Japan had awoken the “sleeping giant”

The Canadians at Hong Kong A few hrs. after Pearl

Harbor, Japan invaded Hong Kong

Every Canadian soldier there was killed or taken prisoner. The battle was considered a "death trap”:

1. More than 50 000 Japanese soldiers were stationed 50 km from Hong Kong

2. The Japanese were well-equipped and experienced

3. Plans for the Japanese attack had been drafted 1 yr. earlier-code name was Hana-Saku —"flowers in bloom”

4. Canadian troops were insufficiently trained - 30% of them had not even fired a gun

5. Can & Br. troops did not total more than 14 000, including nurses and civilian volunteers.

On Dec. 8, 1941, Japan launched its attack on Hong Kong. Their air force destroyed docks, military barracks, airplanes etc.

Dec. 19, 1941- Japanese soldiers attacked. Canadians were outnumbered 10 to 1.

By Christmas 1941, Hong Kong surrendered after only 17 days. 286 Canadians died and another 266 would die in Prisoner of War (P.O.W.) camps.

Prisoners in Japan Canadian prisoners were

brutalized and starved. They stayed in crowded barracks and were used as slave labour, building landing strips and shipyards, etc.

Served a single serving of plain rice 3 times a day. Many fell ill from exhaustion, malnutrition, pneumonia, or cholera.

Red Cross medicine was sent to the camps but was stolen and sold on the black market.

Death rates in Japanese P.O.W. camps were 6 times higher than in German camps.

The Battle of Dieppe Aug. 1942, 5000

Canadian soldiers were picked up from England for a raid on the French port of Dieppe. They had trained for 3 years.

The Canadians, with 1000 Br. and some Americans, were to attack Dieppe.

The raid was intended to pull German forces away from the Russian front and to test Ger. defences.

German forces were planted on the cliffs above the Dieppe beaches; they started shooting as the Canadians charged down the landing ramps.

The few who made it to the beach were killed there; only a few made it to the town.

Out of 5000, almost 1000 died, more than 500 were wounded, 2000 were captured and became POWs

Allied Successes and the Shifting Tides of War

American armies were successful against the Axis powers in North Africa, where Italy and Germany had invaded Egypt.

The Soviets were holding off the Germans - after 6 months at Stalingrad, the Soviets were able to encircle German forces and cut off their supply lines, reducing them to starvation.

In North Africa the British were winning battles. The Allies landed in Algeria and Morocco and began moving east across North Africa.

The Canadians in Sicily and Italy In the summer of 1943, after

3 yrs. of training, Canadians were sent to Sicily

They were to join Br. troops under General Montgomery. The plan was to trap the Italian and Ger. soldiers before they could escape to the mainland. The next step would be to attack Italy, the weakest of the Axis powers.

The Canadians (along with Br. and U.S. forces) landed on the Italian mainland in late 1943.

Italy surrendered by the end of Sept. (Mussolini was deposed), but the Germans had taken over the country.

The Allies moved towards Rome, but it would be a difficult campaign

The Canadians at Ortona The route to Rome was

blocked by the Germans at Ortona and Cdn forces were ordered to capture the town.

The Germans had blown up all the bridges in the area and the steep countryside gave them an advantage.

On Dec. 27th the Canadians captured Ortona

Can. casualties were high – many had to be evacuated because of sickness and battle fatigue.

By June 1944. the Allies captured Rome.

Canadians continued fighting until 1945 in Italy, and then were re-united in northwestern Europe as the 1st Canadian army.

D-Day/The Normandy Invasion The “lessons of Dieppe”

(?) were taken into account in 1944 - better planning & communications and a unified command were in place

Supreme Allied Commander =

The invasion was preceded by: effective training – attention to detail

- Meteorology/Geology – Espionage/Disinformation

(La Resistance) – Massive naval/aerial prelim.

bombardment – Tech. improvements

("Funnies")...

all were taken into acc't in this ambitious plan that sought to open a 2nd front against Ger. in W. Europe and therefore bring WW II to an end.

The plan was to invade Normandy w/ an invasion force of 150 000 men, inc. 30 000 Cdns.

The Americans attacked on the w. (Utah and Omaha beaches), w/ the Br. and Cdns. taking the e. (Gold, Sword, and Juno beaches.

7000 ships played a role here too, and all the allied air forces participated in this largest invasion in world history.

After all the planning, the invasion (Op. Overlord) - surprise intact - took place on June 6, 1944.

There were still sig. probs. - American forces at Omaha beach were hard hit, and Cdn. forces were delayed b/c of high seas and reefs.

But beach heads were established that first week

by August, Paris would be liberated.

Ger. was on the run on 3 fronts now - in France, Italy, and E. Europe...

At this point, the Allies began to plan for the end of the war, scheduling the Yalta Conference for Feb. 1945

FDR, Churchill, and Stalin planned for postwar Europe, deciding that Ger. would be demilitarized and de-nazified,as well as dividedinto 4 occupation

zones. The groundwork

for the United Nations was also set out here.

The final events of the war: Winter 1944-1945 - The Battle

of the Bulge – it was Hitler's last counteroffensive, intended to stop the W. Allies from crossing the Rhine River into Ger.

it delayed them until March, but the result was inevitable by this time...

Soviet forces were in Berlin by April, and on April 30, Hitler committed suicide in his bunker.

Command of the 3rd Reich passed to Adm. Doenitz, who surrendered on May 8,1945 (V-E Day)

Cdn. troops during this period were charged w/ the job of liberating the Netherlands, under the command of Gen. Harry Crerar. (Battle of the Scheldt, Antwerp)

The Atomic Bomb and Victory in the Pacifickamikaze Manhattan Project August 6,1945Enola Gay "Little Boy”VJ Day

War on the Home Front in May 1939 King

George and Queen Elizabeth landed at Quebec for a tour of Canada and to gain support for the war effort.

about 1/2 of Cdns. were of Br. ancestry, so support for the war was nearly unanimous

but opposition did exist: Quebec, pacifists/conscientious objectors (Mennonites, Hutterites, Doukhobors), while many other Cdns. wanted "friendly neutrality"

The BCATP and the East Coast King hoped that Canada's

major contribution to the war would be the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP)

Air crews were brought over to Canada from all over the Commonwealth for training as pilots, navigators, air gunners, bombardiers, wireless operators.

Canada provided air fields, air craft, basic services and Britain provided the instructors. 130 000 graduates: 50 000 were pilots, & 73 000 grads were Canadian.

Halifax Became the center

became a port for ships escaping war from Europe-refugees, evacuated British children.

for Canadian naval operations. Convoys of ships formed in Halifax harbour loaded with troops, guns, tanks, shells, foodstuffs and headed across the Atlantic.

Convoys: Groups of merchant ships that are protected from enemy attack by naval escort ships or air force planes.

Germans did everything to stop supply lines. Convoy ships were mined or torpedoed within hearing distance of Halifax

Battle of the Atlantic Submarine teams of

U-boats called "wolf packs" attacked merchant ships broke through convoys and attacked merchant ships.

By the end of the war- 175 allied ships, 500 merchant ships, and

50 000 men had gone to the bottom of the Atlantic.

new tech. was developed: corvettes, depth charges, sonar

In Halifax, "Plotters" tracked ship movements and U-boats. Many of them were the women

of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS)

The Battle of the St. Lawrence U-boats began

attacking ships in the St. Lawrence river. On Aug. 27, 1942 the American ship Chatham was sunk

Oct. 13,1942 the passenger ferry, the SS Caribou going from Nfld. to Nova Scotia was sunk by a single torpedo =173 dead civilians

From the summer to the fall of 1942, German U-boats sank 21 ships in the St. Lawrence.

Newfoundland's Role in the War Was still independent in 1939

Cooperation was needed between Nfld and Canada

Did not have the $ or the people to keep the Germans out

Canadian troops were stationed there and the RCAF flew out of Gander and Labrador

Nfld troops joined Canadian forces People here began to believe that

joining Canada would be good-they were bankrupt and needed financial aid.

Canada's Wartime Economy Total War: a war fought w/ no limits put

on the resources used to achieve victory With the attacks on the East Coast, and

once Germany had occupied most of Europe and the Japanese were taking over the Far East; "total war" was decided upon in Canada.

By 1941 industries were working overtime to produce war materials; unemployment vanished.

The Government created the National Selective Service (NSS) to place workers in industries where they were needed. If workers took jobs without NSS approval they could be fined $ 500 and jailed for a year.

Bumper crops were experienced in the Prairies. Britain needed food desperately, so Canada started to produce new products - pork, beef, dairy products, oil seeds, lumber from B.C., mineral ores from mines in the Canadian Shield, fish from the Maritimes…all shipped overseas

Manufacturing changed as well - Toronto had munitions plants and ship building; Montreal had aircraft factories.

Canadians started to produce diesel engines, synthetic rubber, roller bearings, electronic equipment, high octane gasoline.

By the end of the war, Canada had given Britain $ 3.5 billion in aid.

Managing the Wartime Economy: The Problem of Inflation

Canada's gov't adopted a more active role in the economy and day-to-day functioning of society. The changes in the role of gov't became a permanent feature of post-war society.

A real worry with all the prosperity was rising inflation, similar to that during WWI

Consumer goods were scarce (due to rationing) and prices would go up.

King wanted to avoid this. He placed James llsley in charge of Canada's financial affairs.

James llsley used 3 methods to keep prices down: 1. tax increases-people had less $ to spend 2. sale of Victory Bonds—took money out of the

economy 3. forced savings-increased savings interest rates to

lure people to save rather than spend.

Canada in 1938 collected $42 million in taxes, by 1945 they took in

$ 815 million Propaganda was

intensified. Posters were

made up with celebrities (like the Dionne Quintuplets)

Wage and Price Controls and Rationing

Despite llsley's programs, prices continued to rise

Nov. 1941: the Wartime Prices and Trade Board (WPTB) froze all prices and wages to prevent inflation. People had to get permission from the WPTB to buy electric stoves, typewriters, or rubber tires

food rationing was introduced in 1942

Government Controls on the Economy

Mackenzie King put together a group of cabinet ministers in charge of the wartime economy.

C.D. Howe (minister of munitions and supplies) was in charge of the war production effort.

He turned to business people to help him and asked them to take a "holiday" from work to become civil servants. They became known as "dollar-a-year men" for their token salary.

C.D. Howe and the Department of Munitions and Supplies had been given powers over private enterprise. They could tell companies what to produce, where to sell products, and when to deliver them.

If companies did not agree, the dept. could take over the plant.

New crown corporations were created by Howe when existing companies could not supply a particular demand.

These measures limited the scandal and profiteering experienced during WW1

Canada had to earn American dollars in order to keep helping Britain in the war effort.

The U.S. agreed to purchase Canadian goods under the Hyde-Park Declaration-$ 1billion worth was sold to the U.S.