World War II

By ThomasLam

  • Candians Speak Out

    Many Canadians didn’t believe in the anti-Semitism views the government had. This would result in Cairene Wilson, Canada’s first female Senator and chair of the Canadian National committee on Refugees, vocalized about the problem of banning Jewish refugees from Canada. Mackenzie King was urged to offer Jewish refugee sanctuaries. By this time, there were more than 150,00 Jewish people in Canada.

  • The War Begins

    On this day, Germany invaded Poland. This resulted with Canada automatically becoming a part of the war as Britain and France declared war on Germany. Prime Minister Mackenzie King decided to have the decision of joining the war based on Parliament.

  • Battle of The Atlantic

    The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest war of World War 2. It lasted from 1939-1945. This war was fought for control of shipping lanes between North America and Britain. Many German U-boats were even active within Canadian waters.

  • The Phony War

    The world expected the Germans to attack Western Europe, but decided not to as there were poor weather conditions. Many allied troops and Canadian soldiers waited patiently for the attack that never happened.

  • Soviet Troops Invade Finland

    Also known as the Winter War, Soviet troops landed on Finland territory in an attempt to control more land. By doing so, this resulted with the League of Nations kicking them out on December 14, 1939. The Soviets had nearly 3 times the army of Finland.

  • Battle of Britain

    Hitler decided to Attack Britain with the use of air attacks. Although Hitler out numbed Britain 3:1, they were unsuccessful in the battle as Britain had a huge advantage by using radars. A German bomber got lost and “accidently “bombed civilians in London. To retaliate, Britain bombed Berlin.

  • Evacuation of Dunkirk

    As Belgium lost, Britain and France retreated to the French because of Dunkirk on the English channels which would result in them becoming trapped. Nearly 900 ships sailed from England to save approximately 340,000 soldiers from Dunkirk. This represented a moral victory for the allies because these brave men would live to fight another day.

  • Invasion of the Soviet Union

    Hitler was in desperate need of more living space and resources so he decided to attempt a takeover. The NAZIs wanted to conquer all “inferior” races, to do so they must fight the Soviet Union. In this invasion, Hitler tried to destroy his ideological arch rival, communism.

  • The Holocaust

    Hitler created the “Final Solution” which was a genocide. By 1945, the Germans have killed more than 6 million Jewish people and 5 million Roma, Slavs and other “undesirables”. The Allies knew about the genocide but were unaware of how severe it was.

  • Battle of Hong Kong

    Canadian soldiers first engaged in battle while defending the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong against a Japanese attack. The Canadian army had very limited training, although they faced overwhelming odds, they showed lots of courage. Canada refused to surrender, those who survived battle became prisoners of war.

  • Pearl Harbour

    The Japanese army decided to launch a surprised attack on the American naval base in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. The main purpose of this attack was for the Japanese Navy to control the Pacific in order to prepare for future attacks. As a result, Britain too, declared war on Japan.

  • Canada's War at Sea

    With Canada being a part of the war, the Woman’s Royal Canadian Naval Service was created. Many of the “WRENs” were limited to shore based jobs but still helped out a lot. With the waters being very important in World War 2, Canada started to manufacture small warships called corvettes.

  • The Battle of Midway

    This battle is known at the turning point in the Pacific theatre. Japan was in preparations to conquer the islands. This didn’t work out so well as the Americans intercepted the Japanese fleet which was an easy win for America.

  • Canadians at Dieppe

    Nearly 5,000 Canadians landed at Dieppe on the coast of France. Their goal was to take over the town of Dieppe from the Germans. However, this didn’t go so well as once the soldiers arrived, they were mowed down by German fire.

  • Landing on Sicily

    The goal of this Allied attack was to take pressure off of the Soviet Allies and to divert Germans from north-western Europe where the attack of Normandy was being planned. Sicily was captured within a month with the help of Canadian troops.

  • Bomber Command

    The RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) participated in one of the most controversial missions of the war, they bombed German buildings at night. Canada bombed cities such as Dresden and Cologne, for consecutive nights in a row. This resulted in 10,000 civilians being killed by the air raids.

  • Battle at Ortona

    The allies decided to follow the Germans as they retreated to Mainland Italy. The mission of Canadian soldiers was to capture Ortona, but to do so, they must capture smaller villages and fight many German-occupied territories. Nearly 6,000 Canadians were killed before they captured Ortona.

  • The Normandy Landing

    Also known as operation overlord, this was a great Allied invasion of Herm-held Europe. The invasion of Normandy was on the coast of France where close to 14,000 soldiers where involved. This was Canada’s largest military operation of World War 2. Within a week, there were over 1 million soldiers and 200,000 Allied vehicles on the shore. German lose was massive as both sides took nearly 200,000 causalities.

  • Canadian Factories

    With the policy of total war, there were many Canadian factories that were dedicated to producing supplies and materials for war. By this time, Canada produced 14,000 tanks and personal carriers, more than 4,000 air crafts, and 16,000 artillery pieces. Factories were usually run 24/7 with Canadian workers working extremely long hours.

  • War in the Philippines

    Also known as the Battle of Leyte Gulf, this battle resulted in Americans nearly taking the whole Japanese fleet. In this battle, Japan introduced the kamikaze suicide technique. The Japanese would deliberately fill their planes with explosives and then crash them into American ships.

  • Battle of Rhineland

    The Battle of the Rhineland include around 175,000 Canadian soldiers who attacked the Germans over the Rhineland River and out of the Netherlands. There were approximately 23,000 allied soldiers killed that included 5,300. The Germans who lost about 90,000, withdrew which allowed the Canadians to continue north to liberate Holland.

  • Hitler Commited Suicide

    The dictator of Germany, inside his bunker decides to consume a cyanide capsule, the shoot himself with a pistol. This is an important day as NAZI morale plummets massively.

  • Liberation of Holland

    Canadian troops forced the NAZIS to retreat from Holland and Surrender. This was a massive win to Canada as it meant they could push further towards German territory.

  • Victory in Europe Day

    On this day, there was an announcement that the last German troops have surrendered. This resulted in celebrations throughout the world. Many people were relieved that the war with Germany has been ended.

  • Little Boy

    An American military planner informed Truman that there would be a possibility of 1 million to 1.5 million American causalities if they used conventional warfare. This resulted in Truman deciding to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima,. There were over 130,00 casualties related to the bombing of Hiroshima.

  • Fat Man

    After the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan didn’t surrender immediately this resulted in the next atomic bomb being dropped on Nagasaki. The death toll was approximately 170,000 people at the end.