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Declaration of War
The Allies and Commonwealth coutries, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland by Germany, since Britain had earlier made a treaty with Poland to back them up if their independence was ever threatened forcefully. -
(Canada declares war)
Since Canada was now an autonomous counrty we didn't have to automatically go to war just because Britain was, but the canadian parliament decided to anyway. -
Phony War
From Oct 1939 to April 1940(7 months,) due to the lack of Allied preparations, the Allies were inactive against the Axis. It was called as the "Phony War" because no Allied actions were made and people thought the real War would never start, until April 1940.. -
Blitzkrieg
The German style "lightning war" was an extremely successful war tactic. It used surprise, speed, and massive power to quickly overwhelm the enemy. War planes lead the attack knocking out the key positions and supply lines, then paratroops and air forces secured key areas and allowed troops to advance quickly Using these tactics got Germany to quickly conquer Denmark and Norway. They then overran the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium. -
Dunkirk Evacuation
During thr attacks on eastern France, the French and English could eventually not hold it for much longer, so withdrew to Dunkirk. The British navy gathered every boat capable of navigating the channel and the evacuation began. Hundreds of thousands of Allied soldier's lives were saved from Dunkirk when the Luftwaffe bombed the port 2 days later. -
Battle of Britain
Germans targeted major British harbours, shipping facilities, airfields, and aircraft factories. The Luftwaffe also bombed British cities, so the British bombed Berlin back. Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to continue bombing British cities, destroying buildings and killing many civilians. Eventually the RAF won the battle because they had an advantage in terms of technology and supplies. -
Operation Barbarossa
Germany launched an attack against the Soviet Union, which broke the non-aggressive pact that Hitler had made with Stalin in 1939. Hitler wanted the raw materials, agricultural land and labour for the German army,and conquering the Soviet Union was part of Hitler's long term plan for the new German Empire.The Soviets weren't ready for the attack and allowed Germans to reach their territory, where they surrendered due to Russian winter, tried again,surrendered1943 bcos winter, Soviets join Allies -
Dieppe Raid
It was an attack on the German-occupied port, and the plan was to launch four early attacks on the coast, mainly on Dieppe. however,a ship carrying Canadian soldiers ran into German convoy alerting the Germans on the coast. Allied soldiers were easily gunned downed on shore, had ineffective tanks and bad communication. Thousands of soldiers died,resulted in tragedy. -
Battle of Sicily
Allies took Sicily from the Axis powers. It was mainly an air and water battle followed by six weeks of land combat. Canadians fought Italian and German soldiers through 240 kilometers of mountainous terrain and lost 562 soldiers. After 38 days, Siciliy was captured and this victory led to Mussolini's downfall. -
Battle of Ortona
After the victory in Sicily, the Germans retreated back to mainland Italy, and the Allies followed. Canadians were given orders to capture the town of Ortona. along the way the troops had to capture smaller villages and cross the river Moro. Canadians captured the town on Dec. 28 1943, the advances were slow and we lost 1372 soldiers by the time German troops withdrew. The Canadians continued through Italy until ordered to join campaign in France. About 6000 Canadians were killed in Italy. -
D-Day
Allies armies, including Canada, invade France. biggest Allied invasion of the WW2. The invasions were successful because the Allies had managed to keep the details of the attack a secret from the Germans,they had massive air & naval support, and had the advantage of disrupting Germans' transportation & communication. The weather also helped the Allies since the Germans thoughthat the Allies wouldnt attempt to land in bad weather, and the German defence was poorly coordinated. -
Juno beach
On D-Day, Canada was given their own beach to fight,a significant moment for Canada's history, defining the independence they had gained and the recognition they recieved from other nations. In the attack, the Canadian solders had to make their way past German defences and take the beach.By the end of the day, Canadians had taken 9 kilometers of land. However, there were many casualties; 359 soldiers died, and 715 wounded. -
Battle of the Scheldt
Took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands. Canadian troops were given the task of clearing enemy troops from the Scheldt River. The river was important because it connected Antwerp to the North Sea. Germans controlled the river and the access to the sea, so the Allies had to defeat the Germans. The Canadians succeeded after a month of fighting and the Allies were able to bring their supplies for the final advance against Germany. -
Battle of the Rhineland
The Battle of the Rhineland began when the Allies lead an attack to drive Germans to the Rhine River and out of the Netherlands.Fighting was slow because of the mud and floods, and bout 23 000 Allied soldiers died, including over 5300 Canadians. Germany lost about 90 000 men.On March 10th, the German army pulled out to east of Rhine River and allowed the Canadians to liberate Holland. -
Liberation of Netherlands
After the Allies reached Germany and the Rhine River, the Canadians were given the job to liberate the Netherlands. Until then, food, fuel and supplies were cut off and the Dutch were left to starve. After a month of fighting the Germans out of Netherlands, the Allies negotiated a truce which let them bring much needed supplies to the people. -
Victory in Europe!
Germany eventually surrendered to the Allies on the 7th of May, 1945. However, before he was captured, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in Berlin on April 30, 1945.
