The Beginning of WWII: Canada Goes to War

Why Canada Slept Memories of WWI – Tragic losses Pacifism – Promote the cause of peace, The Women’s International League for Peace The Great Depression – Foreign Politics seemed irrelevant. Isolationism – Canadians lived in a “Fire-proof House”, Canadian influence not powerful enough. Political Leadership – Major concern Canadian unity, foreign war would divide. Appeasement – Misjudged the fascist threat, agreed with Munich Agreement in 1938.

Canada Enters the War On Sept. 10, 1939, one week after Britian and France, King and the Canadian Government declared war on Germany. Between September 1 and 10, Canada used its neutral status to purchase $20 million worth of arms from the still neutral United States before entering the war on Great Britain's side. Canada subsequently declared war on Italy in June 1940 and, on Japan, in December 1941.

Why Enter? Mackenzie King's government embarked upon the war with one overarching concern: that the war effort not undermine national unity. King promised a war of "limited liability" – wherein Canada's principal contributions to the war effort would be economic and productive rather than military.

Mobilization of the Armed Forces Canada's armed forces were small, poorly equipped, and for the most part unprepared for war in 1939. The Permanent Active Militia (or Permanent Force (PF), Canada's full time army had just 4,261 officers and men, while the Non-Permanent Active Militia (Canada's reserve force) numbered 51,000 partially trained and ill-equipped soldiers. Over the course of the war, the army enlisted 730,000; the air force 260,000; and the navy 115,000 personnel. In addition, thousands of Canadians served in the Royal Air Force.

Approximately 60% of Canadian males aged 18 to 45 did not serve in the armed forces during the war. On 16 Sept., the first convoy left for England. By January 1940, 23 000 mostly untrained Canadian Troops were in Britain. Hope was that the war would be over soon.

Phoney War…. Then War! Sept. 1939 – May 1940- called “phoney war”: due to lack of any military operation or attack by either side…. THEN in 1940, Hitler’s modern army overran Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Soon, Hitler turned his attention to France.

The Miracle of Dunkirk Thousands of British troops raced across the English Channel to defend France. A contingent of Canadian soldiers remained in Britain to defend against the expected German invasion. Despite Britain's valiant effort, the Germans advanced rapidly (Blitzkrieg) into France leaving both British and French troops trapped. In May, 1940, British troops had to be evacuated from the seaport town of Dunkirk on the French coast.

In May, 1940, British troops had to be evacuated (Operation Dynamo) from the seaport town of Dunkirk on the French coast. 300 000 soldiers were rescued by boats of all sizes - in addition to the British destroyers, a makeshift fleet of sightseeing boats, river ferries, fishing boats and privately owned crafts sailed across the British Channel to return the stranded troops safely back to Britain. Despite the “miracle” it was a terrible defeat, much of the heavy British war equipment had to be abandoned and France fell in six weeks. The “Spirit of Dunkirk” proved to be a huge morale booster for the British Army and was used as a propaganda tool to help sustain support at home and rally international support for the war effort