Canada and WW2

What do we know already?

Totalitarianism Rise of Hitler and Mussolini Failures of League of Nations Appeasement Anti-Semitism/PM King/SS St. Louis/’None

is too Many’ Only about 5000 Jewish Refugees admitted

btw. 1933 and 1945.

Totalitarianism (New info.)

Stalin/USSR Collectivized agriculture thus no private land Industrial projects Focussed on building industry Control over all media Great Purge-eliminated all that opposed him Gulags

Japan/Emperor Hirohito and Hideki Tojo Secret police: Kempeitai

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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) Opposition from J.S. Woodsworth leader of the Co-Operative Commonwelth Federtion (CCF)

Quebecers were against the war if it meant conscription.

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.










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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.

June 4, 1940










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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.

Mobilization of Canada’s Resources

Ill-equipped: 4300 troops, few light tanks, no modern artillery, small air force and navy with outdated equipment.

No crowds of cheering people. Sept, 1939 more than 58,000 people

volunteered.










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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 Br 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)










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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.)










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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.










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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.") civilian targeting










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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.










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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.










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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”










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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.










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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.










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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.










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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










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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.










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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










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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.










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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")...










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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...










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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)










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The Atomic Bomb and Victory in the Pacific

kamikaze Manhattan Project August 6,1945 Enola Gay "Little Boy” VJ Day










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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"










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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.

Bomber Command: 7/10 casualty rate










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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










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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)










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WD: Women’s Division of the RCAF










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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.

Canadian Merchant Marines

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.










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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.










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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)










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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.

The Conscription Crisis

Although King promised no conscription at the start of the war he brought in the NATIONAL RESOURCES MOBILIZATION ACT (NRMA). Special Emergency Powers including conscription for home defence.

“Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary”

April 27th, ‘42 plebiscite. All provinces but Quebec voted yes.

Zombies

In 1944, as a result of heavy losses King conscripted 15,000 men for active service overseas. Only 2,463 reached the front.

Japanese Internment Camps

With Japan becoming increasingly aggressive in the Pacific such as occupying Indonesia, parts of China, the Philippines, Malaya, Burma, and Singapore, anti- Japanese sentiments are increasing around the world

Canadian Sentiment…

At the outbreak of the World War II in 1939, the population of British Columbia included around 21,000 Canadians of Japanese origin, 75% of whom had residence rights.

Common belief held was that the Japanese are unable to assimilate into Canadian society as easily as those of European heritage.

Prime Minister Mackenzie King himself expressed a belief in “the extreme difficulty of assimilating Japanese persons in Canada”

Japanese submarines are known to have been operating off the coast of British Columbia

Although RCMP and Canadian military evaluations suggested no imminent threat by Japanese Canadians, this assessment is not universally accepted, as there exists no guarantee of the loyalty, or passivity of Japanese-Canadians.










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What should be done?

Resentment against Japanese Canadians exploded into panic and anger in British Columbia.

1,200 fishing boats were seized by the Canadian navy in fear of spying

The war offered a convenient excuse for Canadians to address the Japanese Canadian question.










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The Canadian War Measures Act

1914 – “gave the government sweeping powers to ensure the security, defence, peace, order, and welfare of Canada.”

Used to imprison CANADIANS of German, Ukrainian, and Slavic descent in WWI.

1939- War Measures Act invoked- this allowed for the internment of enemy aliens










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Take a stand…. what is more important:

National Security Individual Rights

…keeping in mind that people make decisions based on what they know at the time!

Japanese Internment in Canada■ The movement of 23,000 Japanese Canadians during the war was the largest mass exodus in Canadian history.

Internment Timeline

1941 (December 8): 1,200 Japanese Canadian fishing boats are impounded. Japanese language newspapers and schools close.

1942 (January 16): Removal begins of Japanese immigrant males from coastal areas.

1942 (February 24): All male Japanese Canadian citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 ordered to be removed from 100-mile-wide zone along the coast of British Columbia.

1942 (February 26): Mass evacuation of Japanese Canadians begins. Some given only 24 hours notice. Cars, cameras and radios confiscated for “protective measures”. Curfew imposed.

1942 (March 4): Japanese Canadians ordered to turn over property and belongings to Custodian of Enemy Alien Property as a “protective measure only”.

1942 (March 25): British Columbia Security Commission initiates scheme of forcing men to road camps and women and children to “ghost town” detention camps.










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Justified?YES Prime Minister Mackenzie King took

necessary precautions to ensure national security of Canada and North America, as the US had also interned Japanese-Americans

Despite no evidence of threat, there was no guarantee of loyalty or passivity of the Japanese Canadians to homeland Japan

Canadians felt that Japanese-born Canadians showed too much sympathy for Japan and that there was a chance that some of them might form a fifth column (espionage).

“Japan was aggressively expanding in the Pacific (islands of Attu and Kiska). Moreover, American and Canadian governments were more alarmed as a Japanese submarine had fired on telegraph station and lighthouse in British Columbia”.

The interment, deportation and relocation of the Japanese Canadians was for their own safety and was legal through War Measure Act

NO Japanese Canadians were judged solely

on the basis of their racial ancestry, and not their citizenship.

Internment based on racist and xenophobic public sentiment

RCMP and Canadian military evaluations suggest no imminent threat to national security and the J-C are law abiding citizens

The Japanese Canadians were harshly mistreated, property was seized and sold and used to pay for camps

Camps had terrible conditions Food packages were sent from Japan

through the Canadian Red Cross to those suffering in the camps

Canadian government spend 1/3 the per capita amount expended by the US on Japanese American internees










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Outcomes of Internment

After the war, the federal government decided to remove all Japanese Canadians from British Colombia.

The Japanese were forced to choose between deportation to war ravaged Japan or dispersal East of the Rocky mountains.

Public protest would eventually stop the deportations, but not before 4000 Japanese left the country.

Acknowledging Wartime Wrongs

Forty-three years after the end of the war, Prime minister Brian Mulroney acknowledged the wrong doings of the Canadian government and announced the awarding of $21,000 for each individual directly wronged.

Is this an acceptable redress to the issue?

TECHNOLOGY

Radar Sonar Convoys Corvettes Wolfpaks Uranium—Eldorado Aircraft Carrier

J.L. Ralston/King controversy

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