Canada’s Challenges During World War II

Training an army, navy air Force

• Like in WW I, Canada had no large army• Even Britain and France had reduced their

armed forces between the wars• Everyone was more worried about the Great

Depression than defence• Canada did not feel threatened

This became a crisis when Germany invaded Poland

Canada declared war after Britain and France, on September 10, 1939...

...now, Canada had to go to war.

Because Germany succeeded so quickly, Canada did not send troops to Europe.

However, very soon, Canada sent troops to Britain

How did Canada help once war broke out?

Most importantly, Canada supplied Britain via the sea with:

•FOOD

•FUEL

•WEAPONRY

Convoy leaving Halifax

Canadian Corvette---convoy naval escort

The Battle of the Atlantic lasted for most of WW II......and the Germans almost won it

The largest training area for Allied airmen was Canada

The BCATP (British Commonwealth Air Training Program)

The first fighting that Canadian forces engaged in was the Battle of Britain

Canadian Soldiers first fought in Hong Kong

It was hopeless cause, but Britain and Canada decidedthat to give up without a fight would damage morale.

British and Canadian soldiers paid the price

Canadian survivors of Japanese POW camp

Canadian soldiers landed on D-Day...

...liberated the Netherlands

... And fought into Germany

Canada had its problems:

There was another debate about conscription, just like WW I

This time, most Quebeckers thought WLM King had waited as long as possible before enacting the draft and protests were not prolonged

“Conscription if necessary...

...but not necessarily conscription.”

There were always pressures on the Canadian from allies government to do more

By the end of the war, Canada had been an important contributor to allied victory, but that came with a cost...