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Battle of the Atlantic
Germany used submarines (U-boats) to sink supply ships coming to Britain from other countries. The German sank about 20 ships per week. Canada set up convoys (groups of 50 - 60 supply ships) that were protected by 3 - 4 corvettes (boats with small fast gun). Safely escorted 25,000 merchant ships to Britain and 1000s to Russia. The Royal Canadian Navy(RCN) developed a lot during WWII. They have 11 ships and 20,000 sailors in 1939. And they have 400 ships and 113,000 personnel in 1945. -
Battle of Britain
The Nazis Germany try to invade Britain by the power at the air. Canadian pilots join the Royal Air Force(RAF) to fight with the Germans. About 25% of the pilots join this battle are Canadians. Sadly, 16 of the first 25 Canadian pilot died in the war. The good thing is the RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force(RCAF) shot down about 3,000 Nazis planes. so the Nazis Germany give up to invade the Britain. British PM Churchill think “Never was so much owed by so many to so few”. -
Canadians at Hong Kong
On Dec 7, 1941, Japan attacked America at Pearl Harbor. On Dec 8, 1941, Japanese attacked Hong Kong. The Canadian soldiers were protecting Hong Kong for the British. However, those Canadian soldiers are inexperienced and they don't have very good weapons. And theJapanese had better weapons airplanes and ships. After 17 days of fighting, they surrendered to Japanese on Dec 25, 1941. During the 17 days, 290 Canadians died, 500 wounded. 267 Canadians died in Japanese prison camps. -
Canadians in the Air
May 30, 1942, 1000 bombers raid Cologne, Germany. Between July 24 - 31, the Allies raid Hamburg, Germany. 60% of the city destroyed and 80,000 civilians killed. In 1939, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was small, but 4th largest in the world in 1945. Canadians bombed German cities at night trying to destroy factories that made war supplies. Not very successful as many pilots died and factories were not totally destroyed -
Dieppe Raid
The Allies wanted to scare the Germans so they move soldiers away from the Soviet Union and wanted to know more about German coastal defenses in France, so they decided to have a small raid of French coastal town, Dieppe. It was the Canada’s worst defeat during WWII. The Allies dress rehearsal for full-scale invasion. The Allies have learned a lot from this raid and 2 years later the same mistakes would not be made when attacking Normandy, France -
Italian Campaign
Operation Husky was the begin of the attack on Italy. Canadian troops were the first to take the island of Sicily. 60 Canadians were killed / injured, but they captured 650 enemy soldiers. After 1 month Sicily was captured, but 2310 Canadian dead/wounded
Ortona was key city on the way to capturing Rome. Defended by the best German army. Canada lost over 2300 men, but used “mouse-holing” technique to capture the city. Blasted holes in walls of buildings to avoid being shot by Germans. -
D-Day
June 6, 1944, Canada, America and Britain attacked Normandy, France to take France back from the Germans. It is Canada’s largest military operation of WWII. 14,000 soldiers landed on the beach and 10,000 sailors on 100 ships off the coast. Canada was most successful at Juno Beach, but had 335 dead and 739 wounded. 30 days later, 1 million Allied soldiers landed. -
Liberation of Europe
Sep 1, 1944, Canada freed the Netherlands from the Nazis. Canada had 7,600 dead/wounded. Canada gave food to the Dutch people who were so happy they threw flowers (tulips) at the Canadian soldiers. Mussolini captured and killed Apr 28, 1945. Hitler commits suicide Apr 30, 1945. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945 (VE Day means Victory in Europe Day) -
Commandos in the Pacific
Chinese Canadians had elite commando unit called Force 136. They were used to sabotage Japanese war effort by destroying Japanese weapons, bridges and railways. Japanese Canadians helped create propaganda and served as translators. Aug 6, 1945 and Aug 9, 1945, America dropped an atomic bomb "Little Boy" on the city of Hiroshima and "Fat man" in the city of Nagasaki. Aug 14, 1945, Japan surrendered, this day is called V-J Day(Victory Over Japan Day). It also means the WWII end.
