WWII: WAR BREAKS OUT

WAR BREAKS OUT

• IN RESPONSE TO GERMANY INVADING POLAND, FRANCE AND

GREAT BRITAIN DECLARED WAR ON SEPTEMBER 3RD 1939

• CANADA HAD A CHOICE TO MAKE

• IN WWI, CANADA AUTOMATICALLY WENT TO WAR WHEN BRITAIN

DECLARED WAR

• CANADA WAS NOW AN AUTONOMOUS NATION AND HAD NO SUCH

OBLIGATION

WAR BREAKS OUT

• MACKENZIE KING KNEW THAT CANADA WOULD SUPPORT

GREAT BRITAIN IN A MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT, BUT THE

DECISION TO GO TO WAR MUST BE A CANADIAN ONE

• KING CALLED A SPECIAL SESSION OF PARLIAMENT TO DECIDE

WHETHER OR NOT THAT CANADA WOULD JOIN THE WAR

• OVERALL, THERE WAS A LOT OF SUPPORT FOR A CANADIAN

WAR EFFORT HOWEVER, MOST SPOKE OF THE DANGERS OF

ANOTHER CONSCRIPTION CRISIS

WAR BREAKS OUT

• CANADA DECLARED WAR ON GERMANY SEPTEMBER 10

1939

• ALTHOUGH THEY HAD ONLY WAITED SEVEN DAYS AFTER THE

INITIAL DECLARATION OF WAR, THIS WAS AN IMPORTANT

DEMONSTRATION OF CANADIAN AUTONOMY

WAR BREAKS OUT

• ALTHOUGH CANADA WAS WILLING TO GO TO WAR, THEY WERE NOT PREPARED

• CANADA’S ARMY WAS SMALL AND UNFIT FOR COMBAT

• THEY ONLY HAD 4300 TROOPS, A FEW LIGHT TANKS AND

NO MODERN ARTILLERY

• THE NAVY AND AIR FORCE WERE ALSO SMALL AND

OUTDATED

WAR BREAKS OUT

• AS CANADA PREPARED TO JOIN ANOTHER CONFLICT, THERE WAS A

DIFFERENT ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE WAR

• MOST CANADIANS STILL VIVIDLY REMEMBERED THE HORRORS OF THE

FIRST WORLD WAR

• THIS DID NOT IMPACT THE WILLINGNESS OF CANADIANS TO JOIN THE

WAR EFFORT

• MORE THAN 58,000 PEOPLE VOLUNTEERED FOR SERVICE IN SEPTEMBER

OF 1939

WAR BREAKS OUT

• AT FIRST, AFRICAN CANADIANS WERE TURNED AWAY DUE TO RACIST

ATTITUDES, BUT WERE ACCEPTED ONCE THE WAR CONTINUED ON

• LIKE THE FIRST WORLD WAR, ABORIGINAL PEOPLE VOLUNTEERED AT A

HIGHER PERCENTAGE THAN THE GENERAL POPULATION

• MOST PEOPLE VOLUNTEERED OUT OF A SENSE OF DUTY TO GREAT

BRITAIN

• SOME VOLUNTEERED FOR THE STEADY INCOME

• THE FIRST TROOPS LEFT HALIFAX ON DECEMBER 10TH, 1939

WAR BREAKS OUT

• KING HOPED THAT CANADA’S CONTRIBUTION WOULD

BE PRIMARILY SUPPLIES AND TRAINING INSTEAD OF MAN

POWER

• HE WAS DESPERATE TO AVOID ANOTHER CONSCRIPTION

CRISIS

• IN DECEMBER OF 1939, CANADA AGREED TO HOST

AND RUN THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH AIR TRAINING

PLAN (BCATP)

BCATP

• AIRFIELDS WERE BUILT ON THE PRAIRIES AS THE OPEN FLAT LANDS

WERE IDEAL FOR PILOT TRAINING

• PILOTS AND OTHER FLIGHT PERSONNEL FROM ALL OVER THE

BRITISH COMMONWEALTH WOULD COME TO TRAIN IN CANADA

• OLD AIRCRAFT WERE RETROFITTED FOR TRAINING PURPOSES

• THE BCATP WAS A KEY PIECE OF CANADA’S CONTRIBUTION TO

THE WAR EFFORT

BCATP

• MORE THAN 130,000 PILOTS, NAVIGATORS, FLIGHT

ENGINEERS AND GROUND CREW TRAINED THROUGH THE

BCATP

• THE TOTAL COST OF THE PROGRAM WAS MORE THAN

$2.2 BILLION

• CANADA PAID ROUGHLY 70% OF THE TOTAL COST

WAR BREAKS OUT

• WITH THE DECLARATION OF WAR IN SEPT 1939, TWO CLEAR

SIDES BEGAN TO FORM

• THE ALLIES MADE UP ONE SIDE

• BRITAIN, FRANCE AND THE COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES

• THE AXIS MADE UP THE OTHER SIDE

• GERMANY, ITALY AND JAPAN

WAR BREAKS OUT

• ALLIED TROOPS QUICKLY MOVED INTO POSITION ALONG THE

BORDER BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY

• NOTHING HAPPENED FOR SEVEN MONTHS

• OCT 1939 TO APRIL 1940 WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS THE

PHONY WAR

• MANY PEOPLE BEGAN TO BELIEVE THAT THE FIGHTING WOULD

NEVER ACTUALLY START

WAR BREAKS OUT

• IN APRIL OF 1940, GERMANY ATTACKED NORWAY AND

DENMARK

• THEY USED THE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE BLITZKRIEG TACTIC

• BLITZKRIEG TRANSLATES TO LIGHTENING WAR

• THIS IS EFFECTIVE BECAUSE IT USES SPEED, SURPRISE AND MASSIVE

POWER TO QUICKLY DEFEAT THE ENEMY

WAR BREAKS OUT

• WAR PLANES WOULD LEAD THE ATTACK AND BOMB KEY

ENEMY POSITIONS AND SUPPLY LINES

• THE TANKS WOULD THEN QUICKLY DRIVE THROUGH ENEMY

LINES, GETTING AS FAR FORWARD AS POSSIBLE

• SOLDIERS WOULD THEN PARACHUTE IN AND ATTACK

COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPORTATION LINKS

WAR BREAKS OUT

• GERMANY QUICKLY GAINED TERRITORY USING THE BLITZKRIEG TACTIC

• IT WOULD OFTEN LEAVE THEIR ENEMIES CONFUSED AND UNABLE TO

REACT QUICKLY ENOUGH TO DEFEND THEMSELVES

• WITHIN WEEKS, THE NAZIS HAD OCCUPIED DENMARK, NORWAY,

HOLLAND, LUXEMBOURG AND BELGIUM

• HITLER THEN BEGAN LOOKING TOWARDS FRANCE