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World War 2 Major Events
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Canada Declares War
Canada entered the war one week after Britain did. The reason for Canada waiting a week was to show their independence from Britain. Many people didn’t think this was a good idea due to the previous horrors of WWI. Canada and Britain were the first two countries to join the war on the allies’ side. Prime Minister King was against joining another war in Europe but he decided to do it anyways to show Canada’s power and force. This event is significant because it was the start of WW2 for Canada. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Canada declares war on Japan. Twelve weeks later the Canadian federal government uses the War Measures Act to order the removal of all Japanese Canadians residing within 100 miles of the Pacific coast, for reasons of "national security". Over 20,000 men, women and children of Japanese ancestry were removed from their homes. This is significant because Canada declared war on Japan causiing the first Canadians on land to die in the Hong Kong battle -
Hong Kong
The Japanese managed to take over Hong Kong without much resistance, so the allies sent troops to help. Japanese troops never surrendered due to their culture. This made it more difficult for victory. In the end the Japanese won this battle. Over 550 Canadians were killed or taken prisoner. Being taken prisoner by Japan was horribble. Many many drooped dead of starvation or exhaustion.Tis event is significant becuase many Canadian casulities were lost in this battle. -
Battle of Dieppe
This was an attack on the German occupied port of Dieppe. The Canadians were given this so they could get some battle time and experience war first hand. This battle was a complete failure. The troops were delayed so they could not invade during the night. Any vehicles sent up the beach got stuck in the loose gravel becomeing imobile. There was a lack of communications so troops kept going in.This fail helped plan D-day.This is significant because this is where Canada had there first battle. -
Night Bombings on Germany
The Royal Canadian Air Force participated in some of the most contrivercial missions in the war. The RCAF was involved in nightly bombing runs over Germany. These bombings killed many civillians and set fire to a lot of buildings. The bombings were speciffically targeted at military bases, major cities, and other places of interest.This is significant because it gave Gernmany a reason to attack Canada for any reason, causing hatred aganist Canada. -
Invasion of Italy
The Italian invasion was a hard fought battle. Troops had to go house to house. Germans pretended to surrender then would wait for the troop to get closer, then shoot them down with machine gun fire. This was one of the harder battles for Canadians especially because they were pulled out before they reached the capital.This battle is significant because Canada could not withstand the firepower and it reminded them of WW1 because there was no tank support beacause of the narrow streets. -
D-Day
D-day was the largest assult on German lines. The allies practiced and went over every aspect of the beaches. This made the operation go a little smoother than the battle of Dieppe. Canada also learned from their mistakes at Dieppe. This attack was kept a secret up until the day of attack. This time air support helped out. The beach Canada was designated to take was Juno. This battle was significant because Canada won and took over Juno because Germany was not prepared. -
Liberation of the Netherlands
Instead of Canadians being assigned to take Germany they were assigned to liberate the Netherlands. The Canadian troops pushed German forces and soon had them surrounded. Canadians also sent food drops to the dutch becasue the Nazis were starving people. In this act the Dutch saw Canadaians as brave heros that saved them.The Canadians are now sent tulips by the Netherlands thanking us for what we did.This is significant because this was a sign of bravery by the Canadians for what they did.
