Canadian Battles

Juno Beach: Background and Juno Beach: Background and SignificanceSignificance

On D-Day Canadians On D-Day Canadians landed on Juno Beach landed on Juno Beach

They met severe German They met severe German oppositionopposition

After capturing many After capturing many towns they advanced towns they advanced inland which secured a inland which secured a stronghold for the allied stronghold for the allied invasioninvasion

14000 attacked and 340 14000 attacked and 340 died and 574 woundeddied and 574 wounded

Led to liberation of Europe Led to liberation of Europe and the defeat of Nazi and the defeat of Nazi GermanyGermany

www.6juin1944.com

Battle of Normandy: DescriptionBattle of Normandy: Description Canadian Navy provided 109 Canadian Navy provided 109

vessels, 10,000 sailors as vessels, 10,000 sailors as help to the 7,000 Allied help to the 7,000 Allied vesselsvessels

Canadian minesweepers Canadian minesweepers helped clearing the English helped clearing the English Channel for the invasionChannel for the invasion

Allied paratroopers, Allied paratroopers, including 450 Canadians, including 450 Canadians, landed behind the German landed behind the German coastal defences.Separated coastal defences.Separated they captured a German they captured a German headquarters, destroyed a headquarters, destroyed a key bridge, and seized a key bridge, and seized a crossroads. crossroads.

www.maxpower.ca

Battle of Normandy: SignificanceBattle of Normandy: Significance

Canadian troops had Canadian troops had progressed further progressed further inland than any of inland than any of their Alliestheir Allies

340 Canadians were 340 Canadians were killed, another 574 killed, another 574 wounded and 47 wounded and 47 prisonersprisoners

The Atlantic Wall had The Atlantic Wall had been broken allowing been broken allowing easy advancementseasy advancements

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/7721/b1p17ruk0.jpg

Liberation of Netherlands - IntroLiberation of Netherlands - Intro

1939-19451939-1945 Previous assault across Previous assault across

the Rhine a success the Rhine a success Many troopsMany troops Made way to GermanyMade way to Germany Russians approaching Russians approaching

ViennaVienna

http://www.gazellebookservices.co.uk/Military/WW2/images/Canada%20and%20Liberation%20of%20the%20Netherlands.jpg

Liberation of Netherlands - BattleLiberation of Netherlands - Battle

TASK: Canadian army was TASK: Canadian army was to open supply route to open supply route through Arnhem & clear through Arnhem & clear northeastern Netherlands northeastern Netherlands

Two Canadian Army corps Two Canadian Army corps would fight together for the would fight together for the first time in historyfirst time in history

#1: #1: Deal with German’s in Deal with German’s in

Western Netherlands: Western Netherlands: √√ #2: clear the northeastern #2: clear the northeastern

Netherlands: Netherlands: √√

http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/a/a134390-v6.jpg

Liberation of Netherlands - Liberation of Netherlands - SignificanceSignificance

Canadians big part of liberationCanadians big part of liberation Allies pushing back Axis PowersAllies pushing back Axis Powers Liberation occurred at a vital moment (people were starving Liberation occurred at a vital moment (people were starving

Hunger Winter) Hunger Winter) Contributed to end of war (Hitler’s suicide) Contributed to end of war (Hitler’s suicide)

http://wwii.ca/photos/belgium_map.jpg

The Battle of St. Lawrence - Background

• This battle took place throughout the lower St. Lawrence River and the entire Gulf of St. Lawrence, Strait of Belle Isle and Cabot Strait

• Occurred from May to Oct. 1942, Sept. 1943 and again in Oct. and Nov. 1944

• It involved many merchant marine ships and 3 Canadian warships during this time

http://www.qc.ec.gc.ca/CSL/INF/images/inf016_001_e.jpg

Battle of the St. Lawrence- Summary

• In 1939 Montreal exported more tons of shipping than all other Canadian east coast ports combined

• Therefore an attack on the Gulf was a serious threat because of the great amount of shipping that passed through there and it’s excellent access to Canada’s industrial heartland

• People in 1940 anticipated an attack and wanted to establish a Naval base at Gaspé, Quebec

• On May , 1942 the base opened and one week later the first German U-boat attack occurred

• Each tried to outsmart other, fought over period of 2 yrs.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/photos/graphics/ww_uboat_camou_01.jpg

Battle of St. Lawrence- Significance

• This was only battle fought on Canadian waters since war of 1812

• Death and shipping tolls rising so government decided to close the St. Lawrence to all trans-Atlantic shipping on Sept. 9, 1942. (this eventually forced Germans to move on somewhere else)

• This battle part of larger conflict called the battle of the Atlantic, between 1939-1945

http://jove.prohosting.com/~sinking/wwii/u-118.jpg

Defense of Hong Kong: Description

• Morning of Dec. 8th 1941 8 hours after Pearl Harbor

• Japan attacked Hong Kong• After 3 days of combat, defenders were pushed

away from the mainland into Hong Kong• On the 13th and 17th Japan told the defenders to

surrender but Hong Kong didn’t

Image Showing Japanese lines of Attack

Defense of Hong Kong: Description Con’t

• The allies surrendered on Christmas Day• It was an 18 day battle• The allies were outnumbered 3-1

Dongjiang Guerillas fighting in trenches.

Defense of Hong Kong: Outcome

• Hong Kong lost• 2000 of 14 000 defenders were killed (over 550

Canadians)• the rest suffered in Japanese POW camps for the rest of

the war• Those who survived came home with bad health and

shortened lives

Prisoners of War

The Italian Campaign: Background

Axis Losses

47,873 KIA

97,145 MIA and POW’s

163,600 WIA

Allied Losses

59,151 KIA

30,849 MIA

220,000 WIA

Fought from July 10, 1943 until May 8, 1945

It was fought through out Italy, starting in Sicily and ending well into Northern Italy.

What Happened

• Began with amphibious/airborne invasion of Sicily on July 10, 1943

• Later they slowly Invaded main land Italy, breaking through heavy opposition.

• They took towns and cities along the way, at a very high price.

• Germany surrendered on May 2, 1945 after losing almost all their fighting force.

Significance

This battle was fought before the battle of Normandy quite intentionally so as to draw German troop away from the French beaches. It also allowed the allies to capture Rome and gave the Italians a chance to separate from Germany

The Raid on Dieppe: Significance:

• A huge failure• More Canadians died

in one hour in Dieppe then in any other day of the war

• Canadian troops become more experienced for the D-Day invasion two years later

• Also concentrated German’s attention more to the Eastern Front

The Raid on Dieppe :Summary

• The object was to attack and destroy targets on the port of Dieppe, France, to make the English channel defense stronger at the expense of other armed areas

• The element of surprise was gone by morning light

• The main attack on Dieppe beach was swept with machine guns making a successful raid impossible

• The raid was conquered by Germany soldiers by the afternoon

The Raid on Dieppe : Background Information

• On August 19th, 1942

• The Dieppe Raid is also known as The Operation Jubilee

• 4,963 Canadians, 907 died including 56 officers and 1,946 were captured

• the Royal Regiment of Canada were on the beaches of Puys, Dieppe and Pourville

Home Front

• Kids at home had to take the place of their parents who went to war and some worked on farms

• Teens from 17 to 18 would go to war

• Sometimes teens would lie about their age so there were some soldiers who were only 13 years old

• Youth were constantly being encouraged to go fight

• Age for getting a drivers license went down to 14 years of age

Canadian Production of War Materials

• The Second World War was highly mechanized.

• The industry in Canada produced 800,000 military transport vehicles, 50,000 tanks, 40,000 field, naval, and anti-aircraft guns, and 1,700,000 small arms.

• With this massive production there was a ratio of one vehicle for every three soldiers.

http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar/fact_sheets/material

Canadian Production of War Materials: Significance

• The sacrifices made by Canadians during the Second World War were numerous and spanned a broad range of efforts. • The contributions of the home front industry helped produce essential material in the war.

Propaganda• There was a lot of propaganda used during the second world war.• Lord Kitchener struck his famous pose of pointing at the viewer and

saying “BRITONS want YOU to join the army” which worked so well that the U.S. copied him using Uncle Sam.

• Many different styles of posters were also used to sell war bonds, which gave extra money to the war effort, and paid you more then you spent when the war ended.

• War stamps were sold to children, for less cost, as well as less return• Uncle Sam originated in the 1800’s and came into play during wars by

copying Lord Kitchener

• Sources: http://www.wardsbookofdays.com/index_files/Kitchener2.JPG• http://www.sonofthesouth.net/uncle-sam/• http://italy.indymedia.org/uploads/2005/03/buy_war_bonds_01.jpg• http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/women_chron/images/warbond.jpg

Propaganda examples

Science and Technology: WWII There were many

technological innovations in the WWII era. Some include: Anti-fog windshield fluid Synthetic rubber Use of nylon for parachutes Study of magnetism to

protect the hulls of ships from mines

Canadian Anti-Acoustic Torpedo (CAT) gear developed for the protection from torpedoes.

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WTUS_Torpedo_pic.jpg

http://www.100.nist.gov/rubber.jpg

http://www-ics.u-strasbg.fr/~etsp/lecture/mchem_poly/f/parachute.jpg

Science and Tech con’t…

One of the bigger innovations was the atomic bomb (fission bomb).

This was done by splitting the nucleus of an atom into two smaller nuclei.

This atomic bomb was used in the last battle of WWII, Hiroshima-Nagasaki.

http://blog.dreamhost.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/atomic-bomb.jpg

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International Battles

Battle for Berlin

• One of the final battles of WW2• One of the “bloodiest battles in the world”• Start late April 1945 until early May • Russia out numbered Germany 5:1 in soldiers • Hitler committed suicide before the end of the battle• Germany surrender• Nearly a quarter of a million people died during the last

three weeks of World War Two • 70,000 Russian soldiers lost their life

D – Day - EventsD – Day - Events

June 6June 6thth 1944 1944 Royal Canadian Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force

pre bombed key pointspre bombed key points Royal Canadian Navy Royal Canadian Navy

contributed 10 000 sailors contributed 10 000 sailors Stormy weather (English Stormy weather (English

channel: rough)channel: rough) Only one Canadian unit Only one Canadian unit

reached its D-Day objectivereached its D-Day objective Element of surpriseElement of surprise

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/d-day.jpg

D – Day – In relation to WWII D – Day – In relation to WWII

60th Anniversary of D-Day,60th Anniversary of D-Day,

Omaha Beach, Normandy, France June 6, 2004Omaha Beach, Normandy, France June 6, 2004

Huge successHuge success Allies had landed as many as 155,000 troops in Allies had landed as many as 155,000 troops in

France, 6,000 vehicles, 600 guns and about 4,000 France, 6,000 vehicles, 600 guns and about 4,000 tons of suppliestons of supplies

Sealed the Deal ( 1944: Nearing end of war)Sealed the Deal ( 1944: Nearing end of war)

http://dallaspolicechoir.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/P1030506.33570747_std.JPG

Dunkirk, the definition

• While fighting, many Allied troop divisions were trapped in the coastal port of Dunkirk.

• Of the 400 000 troops that were caught in Dunkirk, around 60 000 of them were killed or wounded while fighting the 800 000 Germans, who only lost 10 000 troops

• 338 000 Allied troops were evacuated over an 8 day period.

• Due to the nature of the allied evacuation, the Allie’s had to leave behind many machine guns and vehicles.

• The Allies lost almost double troops and planes as the German army.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunkirk

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWdunkirk.htm

Dunkirk, The significancesLarge number of Allied soldiers lost in comparison to

Germans

Allies would have been at great disadvantage if soldiers had not escaped

German army was strengthened by Allies loss of machine guns, vehicles and other machinery that the

Allies left.

Hitler thought something was wrong, because it was so easy.

El Alamein Summery

• fought in deserts of North Africa• seen as one of the main victories of World

War Two• mainly between two of the outstanding

commanders who were Montgomery and Rommel

• allied victory lead to the Afrika Korpa retreating and the Germans surrendering on May 1943

Fall of France

Germany invaded France The battle consisted of two main operations,

Case Yellow and Case Red

-German armored units cut off and surrounded the Allies that had advanced into Belgium-German forces attacked a larger territory of France using blitzkrieg

Fall of France con’t…

June 13th Paris was invaded by German forces

-they were expecting an invasion from the east

June 23rd France surrendered, which meant: Disarmament of the

French troops Occupation of two-thirds

of France by Germany France was occupied by

Germany until the Allied landing in1944

http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/szyk/wartime/media/80491z.jpg

Hiroshima – What Happened

• August 6, 1945, 8:15am the US dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan

• Happened under command of US President Truman

• A 9 700 lb uranium bomb

• Nicknamed “Little Boy”

• Instantly killed 70 000

http://students.umf.maine.edu/~donoghtp/Hiroshima_aftermath.jpg

Hiroshima – What Happened

• The bodies of those close to detonation were turned to char

• Described as a blinding light combined with an overwhelming wave of heat

• The detonation of fires created a fire storm

• About 5 days later radiation sickness appeared

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/usaweb/Images/manhattanproject_w_bomb.jpg

Hiroshima – Related to the War

• Why the bomb was dropped:

An attempt to end the war Hiroshima was an

important military centre Japan ignored the

ultimatum to surrender or suffer the consequences

• This bomb along with a second bomb in Nagasaki, Japan, 3 days later were the only two Nuclear bombs dropped in history of war

Little Boy

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/little-boy-model.jpg

Big Boy

http://www.ufo-blog.com/images/hiroshima_and_nagasaki_bombs.jpg

Hiroshima – Related to the War

• Dropped by B-29 Super fortress - Enola Gay

• August 15 1945 Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Powers

• Even though the bombs killed many innocent civilians, it is said to have saved the lives of millions of Japanese and American troops because of the Japanese surrender

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/images/1110-02.jpg

Invasion Of Sicily: Invasion Of Sicily: BackgroundBackground

•The plan was to land the two The plan was to land the two armies side by side in southern armies side by side in southern Sicily, and advance directly across Sicily, and advance directly across the island. the island.

•A corpse disguised as a British A corpse disguised as a British officer was sent to drift ashore in officer was sent to drift ashore in Spain, carrying a briefcase Spain, carrying a briefcase containing fake allied documents. containing fake allied documents. These documents revealed that the These documents revealed that the Allies were planning to invade Allies were planning to invade Greece and not Sicily.Greece and not Sicily.

Invasion Of Sicily: Battle Invasion Of Sicily: Battle And OutcomeAnd Outcome

• The Allies landed in strong winds The Allies landed in strong winds which ensured the element of which ensured the element of surprisesurprise

• The Allies only met minor oppositionThe Allies only met minor opposition• After a week of fighting the Allies After a week of fighting the Allies

took over the capitol of Sicily took over the capitol of Sicily (Palermo) which signaled the loss of (Palermo) which signaled the loss of Sicily to the Germans and ItaliansSicily to the Germans and Italians

Iwo Jima

• Date: Feb16 – March 26, 1945• Location: Iwo Jima• Description: capture would make emergency landing

strip for damaged B-29s during the bombing runs. • Iwo Jima had 3 airfields which made it ideal for

fighting. • Tokyo thought if there were enough American

casualties, Washington wouldn’t dare launch an attack.

• Japanese strategy: no Japanese survivors (heroic in their eyes).

Significance of Iwo Jima

• Important air base for fighter escorts supporting long-range bombing missions against mainland Japan.

• seizing Iwo Jima would let sea/air blockades, power to conduct intense air bombardment and destroy the enemy’s air and navel capabilities.

• Capturing Iwo Jima meant the battle for Okinawa, and the invasion of Japan was on its way to becoming reality.

Normandy Description

• The battle of Normandy lasted 3 months

• After the Allies took the beach they needed to expand quickly to give them more of a foothold

• It took the allies 10 days to make a significant foothold in France

Normandy What Happened

• Canadians, British and Americans attacked the coast of Normandy

• 1074 casualties 359 deaths• July 8 1944 Canadians captured

Buron and Authie • July 10 1944 Canadians captured

Caen

Normandy Significance

• It gave the allies a foot hold in Europe to ultimately push the Germans back into Germany

Operation Barbarossa:Description Germany invaded Soviet Union,

June 22, 1941 117 German divisions, 132

Russian Armies: North(von Leeb), Centre

(von Bock) and South(von Rundstedt)

Objectives: Moscow, Leningrad 300,000 Russian infantry, 2,500

tanks, 1,400 artillery, 250 aircraft captured

Hitler delayed army’s advance moving troops

Winter weakened Germans and Russia defeated them

Operation Barbarossa:Significance Germany invaded Russia after

saying they wouldn’t Largest military attack in WW2 Opened up Eastern Front Battles: Moscow, Smolensk,

Brody, Bialystok-Minsk, Raseiniai One of most lethal attacks in

WW2 Germans lost because of

overdeployment and underestimation of the Soviets

Siege of Leningrad Some say “ General Winter”

helped Soviets

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Resulted in the United States becoming involved in World War two.

Modernized the US navy in less than two hours

Stalingrad: Description

• Germany used the Blitzkrieg technique against the USSR

• Between July 17 1942 and February 2 1943• Casualties estimated to be above 1.5 million• Soviet victory

The city of Salingrad being bombed.

Stalingrad: Importance

• Important to Hitler for two reasons• First: it was a vital transport route between the

Caspian Sea and Northern Russia• Second: it would secure the left flank of the

Germans• A goal of cutting off the fuel to Stalin’s war

machines

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