Canada in WWII

By eliu213

  • World War II Begins

    Adolf Hitler sent the German army into Poland, lead to the beginning of WWII

  • Canada declares war on Germany

    7 days after Britain and France declared war on Germany, Canada declared war as well. First Canadian troops left for England in December.
    Symbolic gesture of independence: when Canada was obligated to go to war at Britain's side, they were delayed by a week

  • First troops sail to Britain

    Were escorted through Halifax

  • Québec women earn the right to vote

    Quebec women were the last in Canada to gain the right to vote and run for office in provincial elections.

  • Communists were declared illegal

    Nazi, Fascist, and Communist groups were declared illegal in Canada and their leaders were sent to jail

  • National Resources Mobilization Act passed

    The National Resources Mobilization Act passed, providing for the enlistment for able-bodied men for home defence and wamended in 1942, giving the government power to enlist for overseas service.
    responded to the need for a more effective Canadian war effort that arose from the German victories in Belgium and France

  • Houde arrested

    Camillien House, mayor of Montréal, arrested by RCMP for sedition for advising Québec men to not take part in compulsory National Registration

  • Ogdensburg agreement

    PM Mackenzie King and President Roosevelt held conference redarding the defence of North America at Ogdensburg, New York. Ogdensburg Agreement was signed and Permanent Joint Board of Defence created on Aug 18

  • McNab meets the enemy

    Squadron leader E.A. McNab of the Canadain fighter squadrom first met the enemy during the Battle of Britain. By October, they had downed 30 enemy air crafts.

  • Vancouver shipyards prep for War

    Vancouver shipyards began to build corvettes and minesweepers in preparation for the Battle of the Atlantic

  • German prisoner escapes

    Oberleutant Franz Von Warrna escapes from a train near Smiths Falls, Ontario, and returned back to Europe. Was the only German prisoner to escape from Canada and successfully cross the Atlantic

  • Hyde Park Declaration

    Mackenzie King and Roosevelt signed Hyde Park Declaration to unite the economies of the two countries for war.

  • Women admitted to Quebec Bar

    Quebec law changed to admit women to the bar, became notaries in 1956

  • Canada population of 11,506,655

  • Women enlist in army

    Federal government passed legislation to allow women to enlist in the army

  • Vancouver Asahi played their last game

    Played their last baseball game as Japanese community banished to exile on farms and internment camps

  • Canada declares war on Romania, Hungary, Finland, and Japan

  • Canada declares war on Japan

    Canada joins Great Britain and US in declaring war on Japan after Japanese attacked the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour

  • United Nations

    Name "United Nations" coined by Roosevelt
    Representatives of 26 nations pledged to fight together against the Axis

  • Order-in-Council Authorizes Internment of Japanese Canadians

    Declared a zone of 100 miles inland from BC's Pacific coast as "protected area"
    Authorized removal of all male Japanese nationals between 18-45 years old to interior internment camps

  • Japanese Canadians interned

  • Japanese shell BC coast

    Japanese submarines fired a few shells on Vancouver Island

  • Veterans' Land Act

    Returning veterans can obtain loans to buy land

  • Dieppe Raid

    Canadian and British troops raided French port to test German defenses, lasted 9 hours but killed more than 900 Canadians and 1874 taken prisoner

  • Merritt awarded Victoria Cross

    Cecil Merritt was the first Canadian in WWII to win Victora Cross

  • Attack on Pearl Harbour

    After the attack, 38 Japanese-Canadians were arrested
    12 weeks after, government orders removal of all Japanese Canadians residing within 160 kilometers of Pacific Coast

  • RCAF Bomber group

  • HMCS Ville de Quebec sinks U-Boat

    in the western Mediterranean Sea

  • Quebec war conference

    Churchill and Roosevelt held 6th Anglo-American War Conference
    Hosted by Mackenzie King

  • Canada Medal approved by King George VI

  • Triquet awarded Victorian Cross

  • Battle of Ortona

  • Battle of Ortona

  • Crerar appointed commander

    Henry Ducan Graham Crerar appointed Commander-in-Chief of 1st Canadian Army

  • Liberation of Dieppe

  • 2nd Quebec War Conference

    Churchill and Roosevelt held at Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, hosted by Mackenzie King

  • Battle of Scheldt Estuary

  • Battle for Aachen

  • Troops Mutiny at Terrace, BC

    Officers regained control of troops at Terrace, BC
    The most serious breach of discipline in the Canadian military during WWII

  • Clayoquot torpedoed

    HMCS Clayoquot torpedoed by U-boat 806, sinks in Halifax approaches

  • CBC began international shortwave radio services

  • Cosens earns Victoria Cross

  • Tilston wins Victorian Cross

  • Topham wins Victoria Cross

  • Air training plan closes

    Closing of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan
    Trained 130,000 pilots

  • Push of Ljsselmeer

    1st Canadian Corps pushed north to the Ljsselmeer and isolated German forces in western Netherlands

  • Germans surrener

  • VE-Day Riots

    Victory in Europe Day riots broke out in Halifax
    10,000 servicemen looted and vandalized city's downtown

  • Canada joins UN

  • Bedford Magazine explosion

    ammunition barge blew up at Basin, Halifax harbour. Chain reaction fire, explosion, and concussion rocked Halifax for a day

  • Atomic bomb drop in Hiroshima and Nagasaki

  • Japanese surrender

  • One Nazi prisoner in Canada

    Canadian found Major-General Kurt Meyer, only Nazi prisoner imprisoned in Canada after war