Transcript Canada and World War II

Canada and World
War II
• September 28-29, 1928: Munich
Conference
• March 1939: Hitler took over
Czechoslovakia
• August 23, 1939: Nazi-Soviet NonAggression Pact Signed
• September 1, 1939: Germany invades
Poland
– Britain and France deliver an ultimatum
• September 3, 1939: Great Britain and
France declare war on Germany
• September 10, 1939: Canada joins the war
1939
Germany invades Poland
• German tanks rolled across the Polish border
early on September 1, 1939.
• At 9:00 am on September 3rd, Britain's
ambassador to Germany delivered an
ultimatum stating that if hostilities did not stop
by 11 am, a state of war would exist between
Great Britain and Germany.
• Germany did not respond and at 11:15 on the
morning of September 3, 1939 Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain went on the radio to
announce to the British people that they were
at war with Germany.
Canada Enters the War in Germany
• For the first time Canada had the ability to
decide for themselves whether they would
enter the war or not.
• King called a special session of parliament to
“decide” Canada’s position in response to
Britain’s declaration of war. Canada Declares War
• King’s proclamation was easily passed
through the House of Commons. George VI
signed it on September 10, 1939 … Canada
was officially at war with Germany one week
after Britain.
• King promised a war of “limited liability”,
which meant that Canada would be economic
and productive rather than military.
– “Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if
necessary. ”
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-73-1276-7239/politics_economy/mackenzie_king/
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan
• The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan
was set up by the British Air Ministry, following
an agreement signed by participating countries
in December 1939.
• It provided 50,000 trained aircrew a year, for as
long as it was necessary.
• The United Kingdom was not an ideal location
for air training, due to the closeness of the front,
so it was decided that Canada would be the
primary location. This decision centered
around the ample supplies of fuel, wide open
spaces suitable for navigation, industrial
facilities for the production of trainer aircraft,
parts and supplies, the lack of any real threat
from German of Japanese fighter planes.
• Over 167,000 students, including 50,000 pilots,
trained in Canada under the program from May
1940 to March 1945.
– 131,553 of the graduates were Canadians.
• At the peak of the plan’s operation, 94 schools
were operating in 231 sites across Canada.
• Prime Minister King supported this plan as a
way of keeping large numbers of Canadians at
home and avoiding the need to raise large
numbers of forces, which would have lead to
conscription.
• Britain agreed to accept the cost of the plan to
Canada as part of their war effort.
Battle of Dunkirk
• German forces had advanced across Europe and
penned the British forces in a tiny area around the
French port of Dunkirk.
• British forces found themselves stranded without
shelter or supplies. So they launched Operation
Dynamo to evacuate the troops.
– Vice Admiral Ramsay organized as many ships (tug boats,
barges, lifeboats and navy destroyers) to evacuate the
troops.
– 850 vessels took place in the evacuation, 235 boats were
sunk.
• 68,000 troops were lost, but 1/3 of a million men
were evacuated.
The War Comes to Europe