Canadian Battles
The Battle of The
St. Lawrence
• German U-boats penetrated the Cabot
Strait and the Strait of Belle Isles
• Destroyed 23 ships between 1942-1944
• Only time inflicted death within Canada's
inland boarders
• The battle was 300 km away from Quebec
City
The Battle of The
St. Lawrence
• St. Lawrence shipping was Canada’s
“heartland” to industry
• If the Germans closed down the Gulf of St.
Lawrence for shipping would result in a 25
percent decrease in transporting goods
• Ally’s plans for invasion depended on the
safe arrival of this merchandise
The Battle of The
St. Lawrence
• German submarines attacked merchant
vessels as well as Canadian warships
• The goal of the attack was to weaken
Great British
• Wanted to prevent civilian population and
the army supplies
The Raid on Dieppe: Background
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France
Also called Operation Jubilee
August 19,1942
5,000 of the 6,100 troops were Canadians
Remaining troops approx. 1,000 British
Commandos and 50 American Rangers
• More than 900 Canadians killed
• 1,874 taken prisoner
The Raid on Dieppe: Summarizing
the Battle
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Major disaster
Failed to achieve any of their objectives
Raid lasted only 9 hours
Suggested Germans had prior knowledge of the
raid
• Enemy was alert but not forewarned
• Failure was primarily caused by poor and overly
complex planning, inadequate training and
insufficient fire
The Raid on Dieppe: Significance
• Many
Canadians
died
• Pivotal
moment in 2nd
World War
• Very poorly
planned battle
http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt/pics/commando-raid-1.jpg
The Defense of Hong Kong:
Background
• Britain decided Hong Kong
was too vulnerable to
defend
• October 1941, two
Canadian battalions, along
side British and Indian
soldiers were sent to protect
Hong Kong
• It was thought that the
troops would discourage an
attack from Japan
• There was 14 000 men;
1975 Canadians
• December 8 Japan attacked
http://www.archersdirect.co.uk/images/china/china_map_hong_kong.jpg
The Defense of Hong Kong:
Summary
http://www.godfreydykes.info/qe%20burning%20in%20hong%20kong%201972.jpg
• First battle Canadian
Soldiers fought
• There was limited chance of
victory; they did not want to
surrender
• Held Hong Kong until
December 22
• December 22, Allies ran out
of supplies and ammunition
and were forced to
surrender
• Once surrendered, Allies
were taken as POWs; many
were tortured and starved
The Defense of Hong Kong:
Significance
• Canada’s first Battlesoldiers were not well
trained and didn’t have
sufficient supplies for the
Battle
• Many Soldiers taken
prisoner
• 290 Canadian Soldiers
killed
• 500 wounded
• 260 prisoners died
• Over ¼ didn’t return
home
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar/asia/canhk/defence
Juno Beach and the Battle of
Normandy : Background Information
• Date Battle Started: June 6, 1944
• Date Battle Ended: August 25,
1944
• Where did this happen:
Normandy, France
• How Many Went To Juno Beach:
15,000
• # of Casualties: 1047, including
359 dead on D-Day.
Juno Beach and the Battle of
Normandy : What Happened
• The summer of 1944, between the Allied nations and German forces
occupying Western Europe. The allied nations made a plan called:
Operation Overlord. Canada was to take Juno Beach. Their
destination was a 50-mile heavily-defended coast of Normandy.
“Their mission: to establish a beachhead along a five-mile stretch
fronting.”
• The Royal Canadian Air Force planed to attack other German held
defenses and inland positions. “The Canadians advanced against
the best troops the enemy had, but victory would come at a terrible
cost. Canadians suffered the most casualties.”
Juno Beach and the Battle of
Normandy : Significance
• The Significance of this battle was the turning point in
World War II.
The Italian Campaign:
Description
• July 10, 1943- May 8,
1945
• Named for the series of
Allied operations held in
Italy
• 312 000 Allied casualties
( bad planning,
communications, and
weather)
• 536 000 German
casualties
The Italian Campaign: What
Happened?- The Invasions
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Sicily: Allies captured the island
and gained experience
Continental Italy: Allies landed on
“toe” of Italy from the sea.
(Operation Baytown)
Rome: Battle of Monte Cassino –
4 battles. Allies seize Rome
Northern Italy: Gothic Line - Hitler
feared breakthrough in the line
(lead to Germany) but there was
no success.
The Italian Campaign:
Significance for Canada
• First major land operation
• First major role in the war
after Dieppe
• Operation Husky (Sicily)
was the largest sea
invasion of the time.
• Compared to invasion of
Normandy for size and
complexity.
• All 3 Canadian militaries
participated. ( Navy, Air
Force, and regular troops)
Liberation of the Netherlands
Background
The battle took place after D-Day
The Netherlands were finially liberated in March 1945
The Canadian troops were led by General G.D H. Crerar
Liberation of the Netherlands
Battles
The Canadians troops fought a hard year against crack German troops
The Canadian Third Division had to capture Caen, France- 1000 died
During winter of 1944-5 troops moved North in France, through Dieppe, and
Calais, through Belgium and into the Netherlands
By March 1945, Canadian troops had crossed the Rhine river, pushing the
German troops with them
Liberation of the Netherlands
Significance
an example of an Axis Retreat in the western front
The allies had stopped the Axis advance
The Netherlands were now liberated and free
The Netherlands held a liberation celebreation ecvery 5 years after 1945
until 1990, when it was made indo a national holiday
Now, on May 4 and 5, liberation festivals are held all over the country
Home Front
Canada's Industries Gear Up For
War
• When WWII started
Canada's industries
were still recovering
from the depression
• During the War
Canada
manufactured war
products for the allied
forces
http://www.nfb.ca/cinerobot/cinerobotheque/IMG428x321_WEB/45/45121/1.jpg
Canada’s Industries Gear Up For
War
• From 1939 to 1941
employees in Canada’s
industries increased by
50%
• Canadian workers had to
relocate to find work so
the government built
residences around
factories
• After the war Canada’s
industries never slowed
down
http://www.yorktownsquare.com/img/york%20floorola%20products%20inc.jpg
War Materials
• Canadians made various supplies for the
war over seas
• Artilery shells
• Aircraft
• Tank parts
• Vehicles
• Guns
• Ship parts
War Materials Relation
• Without the constant supply of materials
soldiers would never had a chance against
their enemies
Children at war
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During the war children were very
much in danger due to bombing
and German invasion. The
Germans killed anyone and
everyone.
Most of children up to the age of
16 were evacuated out of the
major cities and put in to foster
care in houses in the country.
The rule was you must have 2
people per bedroom or you will be
give kids to take in and foster.
www.townfield.doncaster.sch.uk
Children at war (cont)
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Children had half the ration of
adults and it caused them to be
malnourished and get sick easily.
Children were also forced to work
at a young age to support their
families and the war effort.
The children weren't always
treated well at the foster homes.
www.utexas.edu
Conscription Crisis: Description
• The conscription crisis was not as bad in WWII
as it was in WWI
• After Normandy invasion in 1944 Canada lacked
troops
• Mackenzie King sent 13,000 troops overseas,
most of whom were conscripts from the NRMA
• King was against conscription but eventually
agreed to send 17,000 more troops
Conscription Crisis: Significance
• This was
significant
because
many men
were sent
overseas
forcing their
wives to find
work
http://blogs.e-rockford.com/applesauce/files/2008/04/iww_anti-conscription_poster_1916.jpg
Japanese Internment
• Ten camps in B.C.
• After the bombing on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Canadians were
blamed for everything
• 22,000 Japanese Canadians were scattered over B.C.
• In February 1942 any person of Japanese origin were ordered into
‘protected areas’ with only a single suitcase
Significance :This is important
because this is the most extreme and most
recent case of discrimination that Canada
has had. Canada ‘s reputation of a country
that welcomes all could have ended during
WW2. Japanese Canadians were taken
forcibly from their homes and their farms
and houses were taken by the
government.
http://education.eastwestcenter.org/asiapacificed/ph2006/PH2006projects/7_clip_image001.jpg
What were they like?
• Forced to live in a cramped house with 10 other families with one
stove
• Some camps didn’t have enough room for everyone so tents were
put up
• Houses were panel board, no insulation, rickety walls and maybe a
stove
• During the harsh cold winters many Japanese put lanterns under
their beds to try and keep warm.
• Japanese Canadians rights were stripped from them, issued special
clothes, humiliated, put behind barb wire fences and forced to work
manual labor
http://www.discovernikkei.org/nikkeialbum/sites
/www.discovernikkei.org.nikkeialbum/files/filemanager/public/active/15/3-7_lg.jpg
http://www.discovernikkei.org/nikkeialbum/sites/www.discovernikkei.org
.nikkeialbum/files/filemanager/public/active/15/3-9_lg.jpg
Propaganda: Description
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Canadians were not mentally
prepared for World War two. With
a lack of preparation Canadians
were frazzled to find both men and
women to help out.
“ Wartime Information Board
(WIB), undertook an extensive
propaganda campaign "to dampen
cynicism" and stimulate support
for the war.”
The popularity of the posters
became a very important tool to
enlist people.
http://julia.hanovercomputer.com/toy/nov01/catalog/Uncle%20Sam/pi
ct0082.jpg
http://www.massey.ac.nz/~wwexmss/images/March2007OffCampus/book-WWII-Hitler.jpg
http://poster-posters.com/pics/ww2/propaganda/here.jpg
Propaganda: Significance
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Propaganda has been used to
shape and mold the benefits of the
propagator.
•
Thanks to propaganda, it makes the
opposing side believe that they are
wrong.
http://vantech.vsb.bc.ca/ss/pm/ss11/online/ss11/history/work.jpg
•
Propaganda made this war, it got men
and women to enlist, it got people
angry so they would want to fight, and
it got the opposing side want to fight
as well.
http://web.uccs.edu/history/student%20presentations/heidi/derfur
pg
http://z.about.com/d/history1900s/1/0/p/S/wwiip243.jpg
Science & Technology
• Canada was a great centre
of wartime research
• Scientist were quite young
• World War 2 saw a great
deal of scientific and
technical innovation
• A bunch of corporations
undertook research in
weapons, atomic energy,
radar, nutrition, medicine
and other areas
• Many of the scientists that
worked in other countries
were Canadian
Science & Technology
• Much research done in
World War 2 found civilian
uses after the war and has
helped shape today's
modern world
• The research and
discoveries made during
this pivotal time in history
are still used to this day
• The research that many
corporations undertook
helped win the battle and
improved the life of people
in the years that followed
Victoria Cross: Definition
• Highest British medal rewarded for
Gallantry
• instituted 1856 by Queen Victoria
• Total recipients: 94 (most in WW1)
Victoria Cross: Significance
• Rewarded for conspicuous bravery in the
presence of an enemy or other
courageous acts
• Recognizes the brave acts of those who
fought the enemy courageously
• The cross motivates everyone to stand up
for what is right and to show their bravery
International Battles
Barbarossa: Events of the battle
• Over 4 million troops of Axis Powers
invaded the USSR along an 1800 mile
front
• Operation goal: rapid conquest of the
European part if the Soviet Union
Barbarossa: Description
• Happened on June 22, 1941
• Named after Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
Major part of the war on the Eastern Front
• German: Unternehmen Barbarossa, codename
for Nazi, Germany and Axis Powers invasion of
the Soviet Union during WWII
• West of a line connecting the cities of
Arkhangelsk and Astrakan: referred to as the A-A
line
The Operation
http://worldshistory.informbank.com/articles/events/operation-barbarossa-military.htm
The Battle of Berlin
By: Allie Abell and Garrett Shoemaker
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One of the most important battles of
WWII.
Only a couple of weeks long,
including two massive Soviet
assaulting groups.
These groups assaulted the
German capital Berlin from the east
and south.
Hitler committed suicide, by taking
cyanide and shooting himself.
Berlin’s city defenders surrendered
on May 2nd, 1945.
The Battle Of Berlin
By: Allie Abell and Garrett Shoemaker
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Fighting was still occurring
until the official surrender on
May 8th, 1945.
In the battle alone; 1,000,000
troops and civilians were either
killed, captured or wounded.
2,000 tanks and 1,000 aircraft
were destroyed.
This was one of the most
devastating battles.
Battle of Britain: Definition
• Took place between August and
September 1940
• One of the most famous battles of the
Second World War
• The Germans wanted to control the
English Channel so the British Navy would
not attack
Battle of Britain: Significance
• First battle in history to be fought entirely
in the air
• End of turning point, start of push back
• Objective was to land 160 000 soldiers
along a forty-mile coastal stretch
• Germans outnumbered RAF 4 to 1
• 2800 aircrafts
Battle of the Atlantic: Background
Information
• Battle lasted for 6 years (
longest battle in WW2!)
• Began on September 3, 1939with the sinking of the Montréal
ss asthenia
• Trade from north America to
the united kingdom was
threatened
• Germany had control of entire
coast of Europe
• Germany was trying to destroy
the lifelines of Britain
Battle of the Atlantic: significance
• Considered to have been won by the allies in 1943
• Training, air cover, more and better equipment came
during this battle
• 24 RNC vassals were destroyed
D-Day:
Summary
http://www.cbc.ca/news/dday/gfx/map_dday.gif
• In 1944 allied forces
planed an attack on
German-occupied
France- “Operation
Overlord”
• Landing points were
planed for 5 points on
Normandy Beach
including Juno, Sword,
Gold, Omaha, and Utah
Beach
• The attack was planed for
June 5, but because of
weather conditions it was
postponed to the next day
D-Day:
Significance
• First step in Allied attempt
to defeat Nazi Germany
• Not a complete success German gun positions
were not knock out by
bombardments leaving
Allies in there line of fire
• Landing was completed,
giving Allies a foot hold in
Europe where they could
begin to push back
Germans
• Many casualties suffered
http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/d-day.jpg
Dunkirk
May 1940, during the Fall of France is when it happened
British expeditionary force was surrounded by Germans
The Germans didn’t attack, so 338226 trained men escaped in 900 boat
Also called Miracle of Dunkirk
The Germans then took control of Dunkirk
Fleeing troops
The allies bombed Dunkirk during German occupation
France
Dunkirk
Dunkirk
Over 40000 vehicles and lots of heavy equipment was left behind during the escape
This stuff was deemed less valuable then the trained solders
It is still a mystery as to why the Germans didn’t attack the troops while they fled
•
EL Alamein: Description
• Fought in deserts of North Africa in El Alamein, 150 miles west of
Cairo
• Sand storms
• Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery commanded British.
• Erwin Rommel commanded Germans.
• Germans were highly outnumbered
• “Devil’s Garden”-a mine field laid by the Germans which was 5 miles
wide and littered with a huge number of anti-tank and anti-personnel
mines.
Caleb Fahey
El Alamein: Significance
Stopped Germans from controlling the Suez canal
Stopped the German advancement
Turning point in North Africa
Germans retreated in 1942
By reinforcing the defensive line from the coast to the impassible
Qattara Depression Montgomery was sure Rommel could not advance
further into Egypt
http://galen-frysinger.com/North%20Africa/alamein09.jpg
Atomic bombing
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Attacked Hiroshima on August 6 1945 and
Nagasaki on August 9 1945
Was nicknamed the Manhattan project
The first bomb created 13 kilotons of TNT.
The second bomb created 21 kilotons of
TNT
The reason the attacked the two cities was
because they were major shipping areas
The second bomb created a firestorm where
winds as strong as 1005 km/h blew into the
fire which engulfed anyone that was within
4.4 square miles away
Atomic bombing
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The bombing of Japan was
important to the war because the
bombing forced the Japanese to
surrender
If the Japanese had not
surrendered the Americans would
have bombed them an
approximate amount of eight more
times
Invasion of Sicily: Events
The Invasion of Sicily began on July,
9, 1943 and ended on August, 17,
1943. The invasion was
codenamed Husky, and involved
the allies taking Sicily from the
axis (Nazi Germany and Italy). It
was primarily a airborne attack but
was fallowed by 6 weeks of land
combat. Casualties and captures
accumulated from Canadian,
Italian, German, American, and
British solders resulting in 29,000
dead and 140,000 captured.
www.historyplace.com/.../ww2-pix/sicily-ship.jpg
Invasion of Sicily: Relation to WWII
Sicily was a ground breaking battle for Hitler, it
was a strategic disadvantage in opposing
the allies.
After battling through Sicily for approximately two
months, the Allies finally succeeded in
pushing Nazi Germany forces back to the
mainland. The fall of Palermo led to the
collapse of Benito Mussolini's government in
Rome.
Which further affected some of the outcome of
WWII by naming Mussolini among the
founders of Italian fascism, which included
elements of nationalism, social progress and
anti- communism in combination with
censorship and state propaganda.
http://www.britannica.com/eb/art-73266/GermanJunkers-Ju-87-Stuka-dive-bomber
Iwo Jima
Background
• The Battle of Iwo Jima was fought
between the United States and the
Japanese Empire
• The Battle occurred on February 19,
1945 and lasted till March 26, 1945
Iwo Jima
Events Of The Battle
• 30,000 Americans bombarded the small island with
heavy aerial bombings and shelling from ships
• Japanese who had survived the shellings,
anticipated their arrival and withheld fire until the
beaches were lined with soldiers
• Still the Americans fought hard and killed 20,000 of
the 21,000 Japanese soldiers who started in battle
Iwo Jima
Relation To World War 2
• Given the large amounts of Casualties and
the large amounts of money spent, the
capturing of the island was pointless
• No Military base of any kind would have
been useful on the island
Normandy
http://www.uscg.mil/History/gifs/LCVP_at_Normandy.jpg
Back round Information
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“Operation Overload”
Capture Carentan, Saint-lo, Caen, and
Bayeux on day 1
Two Mulberry Beach Heads were
towed across English channel
The British Landed 314,547 men,
54,000 vehicles, and 102,000 tons of
supplies
America Landed 314,504 men, 41,000
vehicles, and 116,000 tons of supplies
The Allies took Cherbourg in August
1944
Assault led to major territory gains by
the Allies
Normandy (cont.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Falaise_Gap
• At Falaise the Allied tried one
big last push to destroy the
Germans
• The Americans pushed from
the south and French pushed
from the north
• The Germans tried to make
one last offensive to hold
back the Allies
• Eventually the Germans
retreated From trying to take
the coast
Operation Market Garden
• September 17, 1944 – September 25,
1944
• Purpose of the operation was to cross the
Rhine River, the last barrier into Germany
• The operation was to be accomplished by
airborne units seizing and holding several
bridges up the Rhine river
• The operation looked to be successful with
the capture of the Waal bridge
• It fell apart as other units couldn’t take
there objectives
• The result of the battle was victory for
Germany and total defeat for the allies
• Allies suffered 17-19 thousand casualties
• Germans suffered 8 thousand casualties
Pearl Harbor: Description
• On December 7, 1941Japan made a
surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• Two aerial attack waves which totaled 353
• Many American ships in the Harbor were
damaged beyond repair
• When Japan invaded Manchuria and
French Indochina, US limited supplies to
Japan under Export Control Act
Description Continued
• When supplies
were limited Japan
was angered
• Japan felt that by
neutralizing US
pacific fleet they
could protect
Japan’s advance
into Malaya
http://blogs4brownback.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/attack_on_pearl_harbor_japanese_planes_view.jpg
Relation to WW2
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WW2 began because of this battle
Japan declared war on US and Britain
US declares war on Japan
Nazi Germany and fascist Italy declare
war on US
• Significant because many people were
killed and was the beginning of the
Second World War.
Battle For Stalingrad
• Happened August 19th
1942 lasted until
February 2nd 1943
• Germany wanted to
attack Russia and
Moscow seemed to
obvious so they decided
to attack Stalingrad
because its was a major
industrial city and a vital
transportation route
between the Caspian and
Northern Russia
http://www.uh.edu/engines/assault_6.jpg
Battle For Stalingrad
• Hitler had a plan
called Operation Blau,
which was to split the
army in two. One part
going straight into
Russia and the other
going south toward
Stalingrad
http://www.thailand.mid.ru/0img/gpw/image008.jpg
Battle For Stalingrad
• German forces pushed
into Stalingrad
• When winter came
Germans that were new
to the conditions got
stuck in Volga River area,
and lost thousands to
malnutrition, frostbite, and
disease resulting in soviet
victory.
• Due to the destructive
battle Stalingrad was left
in pieces.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Stalingrad_aftermath.jpg