Transcript The Canadian Home Front

The
Canadian
Home
Front
Role of Women
Women Overseas

1941 – Official
Women’s branches of
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Army (CWAC)
Air Force (RCAF –
Women’s Division), and
Navy (Women’s Royal
Canadian Naval Service
– “Wrens”)
- were created
Canadian Women’s Army Corps – CWAC)
Canadian Women’s Army Corp
(CWAC)
RCAF – Women’s
Division
Wrens
Women Overseas –
cont’

By end of war, more than 46,000 Canadian
women served overseas as:
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Cooks
Pilots
Mechanics
Welders
Radar operators
Coastal defenses
Nurses
Pilots in Ferry Command flying planes across Atlantic
Special Operations Executive (SOE) – secret agents
(saboteurs, couriers, and radio operators behind enemy
lines)
http://archives.cbc.ca/clip.asp?IDClip=4974&IDCat=394&IDCatPa=264
http://archives.cbc.ca/clip.asp?IDClip=4975&IDCat=394&IDCatPa=264
Women on Home
Front
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Dramatic increase in
# of women in
workforce
Factories began to
operate 7 days a
week, 12 hours a day
By 1944 – 1 million
women working
Women on Home Front
– cont’
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Women paid less than men for
same work
Federal government provided
day care and tax breaks to
women, but when war ended,
provisions removed
Most people expected women
to give up jobs to returning
soldiers once war over
Many women forced to quit /
fired
Women’s Contributions in
WWII

Discuss with a Partner
and Report Out:
Explain the similarities
and differences in the
role(s) that women played
in World War One and
World War Two both at
home and overseas.
Production – “Total War
Effort”
“Total War Effort”
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When WWII began, the Great Depression ended
Whole economy focused on maintaining flow of
weapons and supplies to Britain
Industries involved with war effort – factories retooled to create:
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Bombs
Bullets
Ships
Aircraft
Armoured cars
Government Role
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Canadian government played a
much-expanded role in WWII
Crown Corporations (owned by
gov.) dedicated to all aspects of
wartime production
War Supply Board - Managed by
C.D. Howe
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Given almost dictatorial powers to
organize Canadian industry toward
supplying the front
“Arsenal for Democracy” – all
the “weapons” a country has go to
war
C.D. Howe
Government Role –
cont’
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Government paid for war
effort through:
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Taxes
War bond sales (Victory
Bonds)
Gold payments from Britain
Gov. introduced rationing –
restrictions on:
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Gas
Coffee
Tea
Government Role –
cont’
Metal drive – melted down scrap metal to build
ammunitions, planes, etc. for war
Mobilization

1942 – National
Selective Service Act
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Due to labour shortage in
industries
Required all able-bodied
male and female workers to
register for essential war
work, including married
women with children
Led to government
providing free daycare and
tax breaks to families with
working mothers
Government Role –
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Lend-Lease Act – 1941
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Introduced by USA
Allowed Allied countries to buy
materials from USA without having to
pay up front
However: Canada concerned that
Allied countries would no longer buy
from them
PM King and President Roosevelt
issued the Hyde Park Declaration

stated the US would buy more raw
materials from Canada & would supply
Canada with American parts for
weapons production
Propaganda
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x14l5p_1941-disney-seven-wise-dwarfs_fun
Propaganda
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Information spread for the
purpose of promoting a
particular cause
Not necessarily truthful
National Film Board
(NFB) of Canada
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developed hundreds of
documentaries and short
films to encourage
Canadians to participate in
war effort
Propaganda Use:

To Conserve / Ration important materials:
Propaganda Use:

To create image of enemy as evil
Propaganda Use:
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To discourage Canadians from carelessly talking
about wartime matters (fear of spying)
Propaganda Use:
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To encourage people to engage in war
effort in a variety of ways:
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=4JkX0EpKMK4
Conscription Crisis
Conscription ?

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1939 – PM King made an election promise
to never introduce conscription
(mandatory military service) for overseas
duty
By 1940 – King implemented the
National Resource Mobilization Act
(NRMA)
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gave the government the power to requisition
the property and services of Canadians for
home defense
Everyone over 16 years had to sign up to
defend the country for “home defense”- NOT
OVERSEAS
Only those that were mentally unfit or with
strong religious beliefs (i.e. Jehovah
Witnesses) were excluded
After Conscription Crisis of 1942 - Some
conscripts mobilized under the NRMA served
overseas in 1944
Conscription – 1942
Plebescite

By 1942 – need for more
troops overseas

PM King held a
plebescite (referendum/
vote) asking Canadians to
release him from his
promise not to introduce
conscription

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Majority of English Canadians
supported conscription (80%
yes)
Majority of French Canadians
did not - (72% NO)
PM King Voting in 1942
Conscription Plebescite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAyW-pmiiK8
Conscription Crisis
Outcome

As the war was ending,
conscription sent 13,000
Canadians overseas
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Only 2,000 reached the
front lines
While Conscription Crisis
of 1942 created tensions
between French &
English Canada, it did
not create the same
extreme conflict of the
WWI (1917) crisis
Government Role at
Home

Discuss with a Partner
and Report Out:
Explain the methods (at least 5)
used by the Canadian
government to mobilize the
Canadian population for the war
effort.

When answering, think about:
the behaviours the government
wanted to encourage or
discourage in women, men,
workers, children, etc. How did
they influence people?
Canadian Training
Facilities
1. British Commonwealth Air
Training Plan
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1939 –facilities in Canada
created to train pilots & other
crew members from
Commonwealth countries
By 1942 – huge demand for
pilots as Allied countries began
systematic bombing of German
cities, dams, and industries
(also see “Bomber Command”)
By the end of the war – 130,000
air personnel were trained at
over 230 sites across Canada
1. British Commonwealth Air Training
Plan
RAF Bomber Command
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organization that controlled the
RAF's bomber forces
Bomber Command’s aircrews
destroyed a significant proportion
of Nazi Germany's industries and
many German cities.
Many of Bomber Command's
personnel and squadrons during
the war were neither British nor
part of the RAF; a large
proportion came from
Commonwealth countries such as
Canada, or were exiles from
occupied Europe.
2. Camp X
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Special spy training
facility located just
outside of Oshawa,
Ontario
Opened a few days after
the Japanese bombing
of Pearl Harbour
Canadian, British, and
American spies were
trained at this top-secret
school
Camp X – cont’
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Several Canadian
spies served “behind
the lines”
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provided valuable
information about the
enemy
Participated in acts of
sabotage
Most government and
military leaders did not
know Camp X existed
Trained 500 agents to
work around the world
Camp X – cont’
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Also had top-secret
communications
centre with complex
radio called Hydra
Intercepted enemy
signals and
transmitted info
between North
America and Britain
Training in Canada

Discuss with a Partner and Report Out:
How and why was Canada used as a training
base for the war? In your answer, consider: what
were the advantages to having training bases in
Canada rather than Britain?
Treatment of Minorities
During WWII
Enemy Aliens
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As in WWI, The
War
Measures Act was used
again
the government required groups
of Canadians to register as
enemy aliens for fear they might
be spies or might commit acts of
sabotage
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deeply suspicious of ethnic
groups whose homelands were
at war with Canada
26 internment camps set up all
over Canada
Internment camp in Quebec –
1940-42
Enemy Aliens
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forced German Canadians who had been
naturalized after 1921 to register- 800 arrested
Once Italy entered the war in 1940 - between 500700 Italian Canadians were interned on the
suspicion of being fascist sympathizers – of these,
200 were naturalized citizens, and 20 were born
in Canada.
100 Communists also interned when communist
party outlawed
In total - over 100,000 Canadians were forced to
register
Conscientious
Objectors
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Religious groups who practiced
pacifism were met with hostility
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Jehovah’s Witnesses
Quakers
Hutterites
Mennonites’
Doukhobors
Members of these groups avoided
military service by pleading that
they were “conscientious
objectors”
Offered public service work in lieu of
military service
Conscientious objectors
building the Jasper Road in
Alberta, 1941
Minority Groups Blacks
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Outright discrimination against Black
Canadians until 1942
As the war went on – Black and White
Canadians served together in the
armed forces
Blacks began to demand equality in
other areas
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)
enrolled blacks - but with limits
Blacks denied enrolment as aircrew could only be accepted as ground
crew
One black man who made it as
aircrew Flying Officer Alan Bundy, flew
42 operational missions in Europe and
was discharged from the RCAF in
1946 without any recognition.
Minority Groups Aboriginals
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Aboriginal peoples served in
armed forces
At least 3,000 status (treaty)
Indians - including 72 women enlisted, as well as an unknown
number of Inuit, Métis, and other
Natives
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Actual numbers were no doubt
much higher
at least 17 decorations for
bravery in action were earned
After war - believed that if they
were willing to fight and die for
their country, that should share
the same rights as all citizens –
This request was not granted
Minority Groups Chinese
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1939-45
China and Canada are allies
during W.W.II. Chinese
Canadians fought with Canadian
armed forces
Chinese-Canadian communities
and organizations raised money
for the Canadian war effort
1945
British Columbia passes a law
giving the vote to Asians who
are Canadian citizens and who
fought in WWII
Chinese Canadian soldiers
in WWII
Minority Groups
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Also prejudice against
refugees from Europe
(people fleeing
persecution)
Canada made it
particularly difficult for
Jewish refugees to enter
the country
Passengers of SS St Louis
SS St. Louis
Incident - 1939
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After Kristallnacht in
1938 – many Jewish
people desperately tried
to leave Germany
SS St Louis – ship with
907 Jewish people – 400
women and children
was to take Jewish
refugees to Cuba – then
to enter the USA
Not allowed to land in
Cuba or USA
SS St Louis – cont’
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Tried to land on East Coast of Canada but
government decided they would not make
“good settlers” and were turned away
Many died later in concentration camps
Anti-Semitism in
Canada
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Anti-Semitism – hatred of
Jews – existed in
Canada
Some people refused to
hire Jewish judges,
lawyers, professors, and
teachers
Many clubs and resorts
openly displayed signs
on their doors declaring
“No Jews Allowed”
Anti-Semitism –
cont’
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Restrictive Immigration Policies:
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Preference given to British and American
immigrants
Others actively discouraged
1938 – Canadian League of Nations
Society met with PM King to appeal to the
government to accept Jewish refugees
from Europe based on humanitarian
grounds
Anti-Semitism –
cont’
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Government official said,
“We don’t want to take too
many Jews, but in the
present circumstances
particularly, we don’t want
to say so.”
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When asked how many Jews the
Canadian government intended to allow
to enter Canada, another government
official responded by saying,
“None is too many.”
History of Racism / Racist
Tensions in BC
1907
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– race riot in Vancouver
5,000 racist Canadians smashed the
windows of Japanese homes and
stores and terrorized Japanese
Canadians so that they would leave
Canada
White Canadians frustrated with
competition for jobs because
Japanese willing to work for lower
wages
1928 – PM King limited the #
of Japanese immigrants
coming to Canada

Only 150 allowed to enter Canada
each year
History of Racism / Racist
Tensions in BC
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Before WWII
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After Pearl Harbour (Dec, 1941)
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Japanese and Chinese Canadians
denied right to vote
Not permitted to join the armed forces
People feared Japanese Canadians
might supply Japan with secret
information or help them invade
Canada
1942 – Japanese internment
Camps Began
Japanese Internment
Camps - 1942
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Japanese Canadians
stripped of their rights
Men, women, and
children fingerprinted,
photographed, and
given an identification #
Required to carry ID
cards at all times
Japanese Internment – cont’
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Forced to choose
between deportation
(being sent to Japan) or
relocation away from the
West Coast - Most
relocated
22,000 Japanese
Canadians sent to
internment camps –
14,000 born in Canada
Deportation occurs when someone
is sent back to their country of origin
- If you’re a Canadian citizen, how
can you be deported?
Japanese Internment – cont’
1943 – Custodian of Aliens Act
Liquidated
the
possessions of
Japanese Canadians
 Items
sold quickly
 Prices unrealistically low
 Money raised went to the
realtors and auctioneers,
storage and handling
charges
• Essentially – Japanese
had to pay for their
stay at internment
camps
Japanese Internment – cont’
– law passed stating Japanese could
be deported to Japan if they did not leave
BC, even if born in Canada
1944
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1946 – after
war over –
Japanese
Canadians
released from
internment
camps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMk_RRO5ZUw
Compensation &
Redress - 1988
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1988 – Japanese
Canadians were
compensated (given
money) for all they had
endured during the war
PM Brian Mulroney
signed a compensation
package giving $21,000
to all internees
PM Mulroney & Art Miki
signing Redress Agreement
$12 million paid out
Is this enough?
CBC Archives: Apology and Compensation
http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conflict/second_world_war/topics/568/
Treatment of Minorities
during WWII

Discuss with a Partner and Report Out:
Explain how the following minorities were
treated during WWII:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Women
“Enemy Aliens” – Germans and Italians
Blacks
Aboriginals
Chinese
Jews
Japanese
Paragraph Assignment

Choose two of the discussion items from this
slideshow to complete in writing in Paragraph form
Due: Thursday January 6th

Your choices are:


Women’s Contributions - Explain the similarities and differences
in the role(s) that women played in World War One and World War Two
both at home and overseas.


Government’s Role - Explain the methods (at least 5) used
by the Canadian government to mobilize the Canadian
population for the war effort.
Training in Canada - How and why was Canada used as a training
base for the war? In your answer, consider: what were the advantages
to having training bases in Canada rather than Britain?

Treatment of Minorities – Choose 2 minority groups from
Canada (see previous slide) and explain how they were treated
during World War Two.