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Canadians contrbution throughout WW2
The 6 most significant contributions made by the Canadain Armed Forces throughout WW2 -
Battle of Britain part 2
The 1st phase was the beginning of the battle and it began on July 10th 1940 and lasted through the period of one month. During this time Germany attacked the English ports and radar stations. -
Battle of Britain Part 3
The 2nd phase was the main brunt of the battle. German forces targeted all Britain land and air fighter forces. In particular, they targeted airfield 11 which had the only Royal Canadian Air force squadron involved in this battle. For this attack Germany sent 1500 fighter planes and was only greeted with about 700 of Britain’s. This battle lasted for about a month and continued into September. -
Battle of Britain Part 4
The third phase involved heavy bombing in the attempt to destroy military locations. However Germany made the mistake of bombing London which ended up buying Britain time to repair its aircrafts. Needless to say that Germany suffered heavy casualties because of that. -
Battle of Britain (End)
The final phase was the end of the battle. Just as Britain’s days were numbered, Hitler suddenly decided all the manpower used wasn’t worth it so he pulled out his troops and set his sight on Russia. Canada’s air force definitely contributed to this battle. They sent in 100 air forces and about 23 lost their lives. As well the Canadian air forces provided much needed back up when Britain was on verge of losing. Many of the Canadians who served got distinctions of honour for their service. -
Battle of Britain
When France had surrendered to Germany, Hitler turned his attention to Britain. With the foreknowledge that Britain had an excellent air force, he proceeded with extreme caution and it was known as Operation Sea lion. The goal of this battle was to gain air superiority over the air fighter forces and was the only battle entirely fought in air. In total, this battle went through 4 phases. -
Defense of Hong Kong beiginning
On October 1941, the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers were sent to guard the pacific coast, specifically Hong Kong. However before coming here, those troops were positioned in places where the treat of attack was less serious and therefore they did not receive much military training. Since the treat of a Japanese attack didn’t seem imminent at that time, many believed that the Canadians soldiers would only be helping out with some non-combat duties. -
Defense of Hong Kong middle
However in December of 1941, Japan had launched a series of attacks on Pearl Harbor, Northern Malaya, the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island and Hong Kong. The inexperienced Canadians soon found themselves fighting hand to hand combat with the Japanese. While this battle was a doomed failure, Canadians still pushed on and displayed the true Canadian fighting spirit. -
Defense of Hong Kong end
In the end, of the 1,975 troops sent, 1,050 casualties with 290 killed in action and another 264 killed while being held prisoner thus making it one of Canada’s worst casualties in WW2. -
Battle of Dieppe
The Battle of Dieppe took place on Aug 19th, 1942. 61, 000 Allied troops including 5, 000 Canadians were shipped by a 200 vessel convoy to the beaches of the port town of Dieppe, France in the attempt to take it back. This battle was led by the 2nd division and they tried to take the beaches and ports around Dieppe. There were originally two plans of action, one called operation jubilee and the other was operation Rutter. -
Battle of Dieppe Cont.
Due to terrible weather conditions, operation Rutter was overruled and operation jubilee was put in action. The result of this battle was disastrous as not only did Canada lose, but they suffered huge casualties. Out of the 5,000 Canadian troops, Canada had 3367 troops either killed, wounded or captured causing a 68% casualty rate making it one of Canada’s biggest failures in history. All in all, the battle of Dieppe is arguably the most bitter and controversial battles in our history. -
Aftermath Of Dieppe raid - video
The consequences after the failure of the Dieppe raid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFnS0dNDYV0
cite: Youtube, Dieppe Raid - Escape & Aftermath footage, running time: 3:31, published: March 22, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFnS0dNDYV0 -
Invasion of Sicily part 2
This misconception lead to a very weak German defense in Sicily .so on the day of the attack, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade along with the British advanced along the southern tip of Italy. -
Invasion of Sicily part 3
With the America was advancing from the west, the British and Canadian troops were going from the east, that had managed to force Germans in a small space under mount eta and also, captured Piazza Armenia, Valguarnera, Catenanuova and Regalbuto. Finally there was only one main enemy position left: Adrano. The Canadian troops faced strong enemies as well they encountered terrible rocky terrain that forced them to use mule to bring the guns, and supplies. -
Invasion of Sicily part 4
Nevertheless, even in the adversity, they pulled through and captured Adrano. Days later, British and American troops took Sicily and the battle was won in about 38 days. The battle freed Mediterranean Sea lines and secured a new air field base which made invasion of mainland Italy easier. It was also Canada’s first campaign. -
Invasion of sicily- video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROpzlhKhTbc - video for intro of the invasion
cite: The Invasion Of Sicily (1943), youtube, running time: 8:41, published april 13, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROpzlhKhTbc -
Invasion of Sicily part 1
After the allied force won the North African Campaign on May 13, 1943, they turned their sights onto southern Italy since they had move for further advancements. The invasion of Sicily, code named operation Husky took place July 10, 1943 where they sent 150,000 troops, 3,000 ships and 4,000 aircrafts. Just before that Hitler was tricked by operation mincemeat that made him draw all his troops to the west of Italy believing there would be an impending attack over there. -
d day Cont.
The battle began on the beaches of Normandy, a peninsula along the French coast, thus why it is also known as the invasion of Normandy. Overall the battle was successful and Canada only suffered 1074 casualties with 359 deaths; significantly less than the Battle of Dieppe. D day was a crucial battle to win because if the allied forces had failed, many speculated German would have taken over the world. -
D day
D day was the final attempt to take back France and also the most crucial battle of WW2 and it started on June 6th, 1944 and lasted until mid-July. The battle was split was into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Juno, Gold, and Sword. All those battles were known as operation Overlord. Out of those 5, while Canada assisted in them all, the battle called Juno was the one where Canada was the main player. The other 4 went to either America or Britain. -
Liberation of Netherland
Canada was given the tremendous task to liberate Netherlands from German control. During this battle Canada was the main manpower throughout this whole operation. The battle began early September of 1944 when troops from southern Netherlands and with continuous bombing and attacks under Canadian general Harry Crear and Canadian Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, managed to take Antwerp thus allowing cargo ships to entre and support the troops. The advancement was halted in the face of winter. -
Liberation of Netherland Part 2
In March, two Canadian forces joined together, along with a few allied armies began to clear the path between Maas and Rhine Rivers, thus pushing German forces eastward and out of the Rhine. This was also the first time in history two Canadian divisions fought together and under the same Canadian officer. By late march Canadian troops had begun forced any remaining German troops out of Netherland. -
Liberation of Netherlands - video
what happened when canada freed netherlands, Holland from germany
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l6KhHROT_s
cite: Youtube, canadains liberate Holland, running time: 1:30 min, published: November 20, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l6KhHROT_s -
Liberation of Netherland End.
Even while faced a strong German defense and treacherous paths formed when the Germans blew up dykes in their retreat, Canada prevailed and officially freed Netherland from under German rule. In this entire battle, 13,000 men killed even before the advancement into Netherlands with 6,300 Canadian casualties; while the battle in Netherland resulted in the deaths of 7,600 troops.
