Ch 5 Flashcards
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan
●The BCATP is a plan in which British instructors train pilots/other flight personnel from all over the British Commonwealth in Canada.
●In December 1939, Canada agreed to host/administer this training plan.
●Canada was an ideal training place because of its open skies, climate, and distance from enemy aircraft
○Air Fields were built on the Prairies and near small towns/villages.
●Old aircraft were refitted and returned to service.
●A major contribution to the war effort
●Trained over 130 000 pilots, navigators, flight engineers, and ground staff.
●Total cost was over $2.2 billion
○Canada paid over 70%.
Total War
a policy in which Canadians were willing to do whatever it took to defeat the enemy
C.D. Howe
● Minister of Munitions and Supplies
● Given extraordinary authority to do whatever it took to gear up the economy to meet wartime demands
Crown corporations
● Businesses and industries owned by the Canadian government
● If the private sector was unable to produce what Howe wanted, he created crown corporations to do the job
Allies
Britain, France, Commonwealth countries including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Later the US and USSR also joined
Axis Powers
Germany, Italy (joined in 1939), Japan (joined in 1940)
Blitzkrieg
● Lightening war
● German panzers (tanks) would crash through enemy lines, driving forward as far as they could
● At the same time, war planes would roar through the skies, constantly bombing the enemy below
● German soldiers would also parachute into enemy territory, destroying vital communication and transportation links
● First used in Denmark and Norway in April 1940
Phoney war
● October 1939 - Spring 1940
● A period of no war
Panzers
● German tanks
● Vital in the blitzkrieg in which the panzers crash through enemy lines, driving forward as far as they could
Wehrmacht
German armed forces
Dunkirk
●It took Germany just hours to conquer Denmark and two months to subdue Norway.
●On May 10, 1940, German Wehrmacht began its invasion of the Netherlands.
○Wehrmacht - armed forces
●The German forces moved quickly through Belgium, and finally into France
●German panzer reached the English Channel within a few days of arriving in France
●Allies become trapped at Dunkirk
●British navy along with all other usable ships, attempt to rescue forces on May 26
○hundreds of fishing boats, pleasure crafts, and ferries joined naval and merchant ships as they headed across the Channel for the beaches of Dunkirk.
○German Luftwaffe (air force) bomb Dunkirk, making escape more difficult, but did not stop evacuation
○340 000 rescued
○had to leave all equipment behind
●June 22, 1940 ~ France surrendered
Luftwaffe
● German air force
● Vital in the blitzkrieg in which the Luftwaffe assist the panzers with constant bombing
Operation Sea Lion
● Invasion of Britain
● Germany planned to destroy Britain’s air power first
● It was unsuccessful
Battle of Britain
●Hitler plans “Operation Sea Lion”
○invasion of Britain
○needed to destroy British Air Force
●July 10, 1940 ~ beginning of bombing campaign
○aimed at harbours and shipping facilities in southern England
●started attacking airfields in August
●attacked civilians in September
○attacked London
○raids became known as “the Blitz”
●British overcame invasion due to radar
○also had good defensive fighter planes: Spitfires and Hurricanes
○had support of Allies from Commonwealth
●Hitler gives up Operation Sea Lion in May 1941
The Blitz
● In September, 1940, the German started to bomb civilians in the Battle of Britain for fifty-five consecutive nights
● These raids were known as “the Blitz”
Radar
●radio detection and ranging
●electronic system that uses radio waves to detect objects beyond the range of vision
●provides information about the distance, position, size, shape, direction, and speed of an object.
●used to detect approaching aircraft and naval vessels.
Spitfires
● Defensive fighter planes helped the Allies win the Battle of Britain
● Limited in number
Hurricanes
● Defensive fighter planes helped the Allies win the Battle of Britain
● Limited in number
Operation Barbarossa
● German code name of the invasion of the USSR
● Germany and the Soviet Union had agreed in 1939 not to invade each other, but Hitler needed to conquer the USSR in order to fulfil his long-term plans of a German Empire.
● Hitler did not plan to invade the USSR until later in the war, but got suspicious of Joseph Stalin’s motives when the Soviet Union took over part of the Balkans in 1940.
● Germany invaded USSR on June 22, 1941
● Soviets were unprepared at first, and Germans were able to reach the outskirts of Moscow and Leningrad (now: St. Petersberg) by autumn
● Germans were ill-equipped for the long, cold Soviet winters and lost their advantage over the Soviets
● in 1942, Germany launched another offensive in the USSR
○ They wanted to capture the rich oil fields in the south
● German troops got as far as Stalingrad but were stopped by the winter, again.
● German army surrendered in early 1943 after suffering over 300,000 casualties
● Soviet army took the offensive and retook much of the territory that they lost
● by early 1944, the Soviets were advancing into Eastern Europe, towards Germany.
Pearl Harbour
● U.S. naval base located here
● On December 7, 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, destroying half the fleet.
○ USA declares war on Japan the next day
The Dieppe Raid
● A trial run for the Allies to test out new techniques/equipment
● Canadians were anxious to participate in the war
○ The Second Canadian Division was chosen to be the main force of attack during this experimental raid on the French port of Dieppe, which was under German occupation.
● The plan was to have four pre-dawn attacks along the coast, followed by one main attack on the town of Dieppe half an hour later. Allied troops were to be covered by air force bombers, and tanks were to be landed at the town.
● The raid did not go as planned.
○ On August 19, 1942, one of the Allied ships met a German convoy. They engaged in a sea battle, which alerted the German troops on the shore.
○ Canadians were supposed to disembark before dawn, but the ships were delayed, so by the time they arrived, it was early daylight. The German soldiers could easily see them and machine-gun them.
○ Communication was poor between ships and troops. Commanders sent more reinforcements ashore, believing that the first wave of soldiers had reached the town. Instead, these troops got trapped on the beaches and were easy targets for the Germans.
○ Allied tanks could not get enough traction on the pebbled beach, leaving many of them immobile.
● The raid was a failure.
○ 907 Canadians were killed during the 9-hour battle which was more than any other day of war.
○ 586 Canadians were wounded
○ 1874 Canadians were taken prisoner
●Opinion is divided on whether Dieppe was a valuable learning experience or a complete disaster
○Some believe that the Allies learned from their mistakes and this experience led them to launch a successful invasion later in the war.
○Others believe that the war was badly planned, and taught the Germans more than the Allies.
Battle of the Atlantic
● Lasted from September 3, 1939 – May 7, 1945
● Was in full force by 1941; Canadian contribution was much needed.
● “Wolf packs” of German U-boats patrolled the Atlantic and sunk Allied merchant ships bound for England
○ Britain was almost completely dependant on the USA and Canada for food and military supplies
○ Germany was trying to starve Britain by cutting off vital shipping routes to the island.
● Allies sailed in convoys: warships escorted vessels carrying vital supplies, protecting them.
○ This did not stop the attacks from the Germans, who continued to sink millions of tonnes of cargo
● Canada started building corvettes
● The Germans continued strong until the winter of 1942-1943
● May 1942, Britain cracked German naval code
● December 1942, Britain cracked a second German code
○ At this time, more ships were being built than destroyed
● 1943, Germany’s U-boat fleet suffered serious losses, and more Allied convoys were reaching their destination
Corvettes
● Small warships that Canada built to escort the convoys across the Atlantic Ocean
● Small, quick, manoeuvred well, but unsteady
● Helped by Liberator bombers
● Used in the Battle of the Atlantic
Atomic bomb
●United States developed it in the Manhattan Project
●One sphere about the size of a baseball was equal in power to over 20,000t of TnT.
●one single atomic bomb could cripple an entire medium-sized city
●permanently changed the nature of warfare
●used on Japan twice on the 6th and 9th of August 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively.
V 2rocket
●German weapon
●had a range of 350km
●used with deadly accuracy against London near the end of the war
○had no impact on the outcome of the war
●Wernher von Braun was the designer
○moved to US after the war
○designed Gemini and Apollo rockets that eventually led to the US moon landing in 1969
Enigma
●“Enigma” was a German coding machine
●converted radio messages into code so that they could not be understood by the enemy.
●this message spurred the development of an early computer that could decode German signals.
Winston Churchill
● British Prime Minister
● Thought that the best way for the Allies to recapture Europe was through the ‘soft underbelly’ of Europe
○ ‘soft underbelly’ = Italy and Sicily
○ The invasion ended up lasting almost 2 years, costing thousands of lives.
RCN
● Royal Canadian Navy
● Grew significantly during the war
- By 1945, it had 400 vessels and over 100,000 sailors: 99,688 men and 6500 women
● Contributed in the Battle of Atlantic to escort the supply ships; is credited with having provided about half the escorts across the Atlantic
RCAF
● Royal Canadian Air Force
● Grew quickly after the war began
○ Altogether 250,000 Canadians joined the RCAF during the war years.
○ At one point, there were 48 Canadian squadrons posted overseas.
● Played a variety of important roles
○ Participated in bombing raids in Britain, North Africa, italy, Northwest Europe, and Southeast Asia.
○ Participated in one of the most controversial missions of the war: night bombings over Germany.
D Day
● June 6, 1944
● Allies launched “Operation Overlord” on this day
○ A full-scale invasion of Europe; biggest Allied invasion of the war
● Planned and rehearsed to the smallest detail
○ Allies learned from the failure at Dieppe
● Five landing points along an 80km stretch of beach in Normandy, northern France
○ Code-named: Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, Utah
● June 6, 1944: over 30,000 Canadian soldiers arrived at ‘Juno’ Beach in the morning
○ First wave of attacks; difficult task because they had to get past concrete barriers erected by the Germans, through barbed wire, and other obstacles, in order to work their way inland.
● Allied troops had two advantages
○ Had massive air/naval support - ability to land more than a million troops within two or three weeks of the initial landing
○ The details of the attack remained a secret from the Germans - Germans anticipated an attack, but the weather had been stormy leading up to the invasion. The Germans believed that the Allies would not attempt a landing in bad weather conditions.
● Casualties were high on June 6, 1944, despite the Allies’ careful planning and advantages
○ 359 Canadians died and 715 were wounded
Operation Overlord
● Launched on D-Day, June 6, 1944
● A full-scale invasion of Europe; biggest Allied invasion of the war.
● Allies had to fight for weeks to work their way inland
○ They began an 11 month advance through France and Belgium, towards Germany
○ Campaign was tiring and dangerous, but the Allies were (sometimes) welcomed as the liberators of Europe
● March 1945, Allied forces attacked Germany
○ Canadian forces had a separate task: the liberation of the Netherlands
● May 4, 1945, German troops in the Netherlands surrendered
● May 7, 1945, Germany surrenders the war
Holocaust
● January 30, 1933 – May 8, 1945
● a genocide in which Jews, Roma (Gypsies), Slavs, and other people that Hitler and the Nazis considered inferior were murdered
○ more than 6 million were killed by 1945
● The anti-Semitic and racist views of Hitler and the Nazi government were well known in the 1930s
● By 1941, the Nazi government adopted the “Final Solution”
○ A plan to get rid of inferior/undesirable people from their society
○ Death camps were built in many places and German scientists experimented with the most efficient ways of mass murdering people.
● Jews from all over Europe were shipped to the death camps
○ the weak, old and young were sent to the gas chambers immediately
○ the strong and healthy were slave driven until they became weakened due to the harsh conditions, at which point they were sent to the gas chambers.
Final Solution
● The grisly and horrifying plan to rid Nazi society of all people they considered undesirable
● Adopted in 1941 by the Nazi government
● Death camps were built in a number of places, including Bergen-Belsen and Buchenwald in Germany and Auschwitz and Treblinka in Poland
● German scientists experimented with the most efficient ways of killing large numbers of people
- Jews from all over Europe were shipped to the death camps
- On arrival, they were stripped of their clothes and valuables, their heads were shaved, and families were separated
- The weak, the old, and the young were sent immediately to the “showers”, which spurted deadly Zyklon-B gas
- The strong and healthy were put to work – their turn at the “showers” came when overwork, starvation, and disease had weakened them
● By 1945, the Germans had murdered more than six million Jews, Roma (Gypsies), Slavs, and other other people they considered inferior
Zyklon B Gas
● Deadly poison gas that is used to kill people in the “showers”
● Used in death camps by Nazi Germany
Hiroshima
● The first of the two Japanese cities to be hit by America’s atomic bomb during WWII
● On August 6, 1945, a U.S. bomber, nicknamed Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
○ 70,000 residents were killed and another 130,000 were wounded, severely burned by radiation or injured by collapsing buildings.
Nagasaki
● The second the two Japanese cities to be hit by America’s atomic bomb during WWII
● On August 9, 1945, three days after the bombing in Hiroshima, an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
○ 40,000 residents were killed.
○ Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945
Enola Gay
● The U.S. bomber that dropped the atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing 70,000 residents and injuring 130,000 more.
● It was nicknamed after the pilot’s mother.
National Resources Mobilization Act
● Many Canadians, including the opposition Conservative Party, demanded more government action in the war after seeing the speed with which the Germans occupied Europe in 1940
● King’s government brought in the National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA) in response to the demands
○ Gave the government special emergency powers to mobilize all the resources in the nation to defeat the enemy
○ Allowed for conscription, but only for home defense
Internment Camps
● Government-run camps where people who are considered a threat are detained
● Nazi Germany put all opposers in internment camps in WWII
Liberation of the Netherlands
● Food and fuel supplies had been cut off to the Dutch by the end of 1944
● In early April, Canadian troops began their attack on the Netherlands
● Battles were fought house by house
● Casualties were high: over 6300 Canadians were killed
● April 17, Canadians defeated the German army in the northern city of Groningen
● Some Canadians worked their way south to the city of Zwolle, while other Canadians fought their way into the cities of Arnhem and Apeldoorn.
● May 4, the German troops in the Netherlands were surrounded and surrendered
● Canada begun airdrops of food for the people in the Netherlands, even before the Germans surrendered
○ This was followed by convoys of trunks carrying food and fuel
○ Eventually, Canadian army trucks were delivering thousands of tonnes of food a day to the civilian population
● Canadians were hailed as heroes
What happened in 1939?
● September 1: Germany invades Poland
● September 3: Britain and France declare war on Germany
● September 10: Canada declares war on Germany
● December: Canada agrees to host BCATP
What happened in 1940?
● April: Germany invades Denmark and Norway
● May: Germany invades Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France
● May-June: Evacuation of Dunkirk
● June: National Resource Mobilization Act allows conscription of Canadians for home defence
● June 22: France surrenders to Hitler
● July: Germany air force begins bombing Britain (“The Battle of Britain”)
When was the Battle of the Atlantic fought?
1939-1944
What happened in 1941?
● June 22: Germany invades USSR
● December 7: Japan bombs Pearl Harbour
● December 8: United States declares war on Japan
● December 25: Canadian soldiers defeated in Japan’s invasion of Hong Kong
What happened in 1942?
● February: Japanese-Canadians sent to internment camps
● April: Canadians vote in plebiscite to support conscription
● August: Raid on French port of Dieppe by Canadian and other Allied forces.
When did the Allies bomb German cities?
1943-1945
What happened in 1943?
● July: Canadian troops participate in invasion of Sicily and mainland Italy
● December: Canadians win Battle of Ortona, Italy
What happened in 1944?
● June 6: D-Day; Canadian troops join British and Americans in Allied invasion of Normandy in northern France
What happened in 1945?
● Spring: Canadian troops help liberate the Netherlands from German military control
● May 7: Germany surrenders
● August 6: United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima
● August 9: United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki
● August 15: Japan surrenders
What was the Munich Agreement and what did Hitler do?
● The Munich Agreement in September 1938, let Hitler take over part of Czechoslovakia on the promise that he would cease his aggression
● In March 1939, however, Hitler ignored the terms of the agreement, and his troops marched through the rest of Czechoslovakia
What did the British king and queen do in May 1939 and what was their purpose?
● In May, Britain’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited Canada, the first time a reigning monarch had ever visited this country
● The purpose of their visit was to rally support for Britain in these tense times (after Germany took over Czechoslovakia)
● Crowds of cheering Canadians lined the streets wherever the royal couple appeared across the country
● When the King and Queen left Halifax on June 15, they could be satisfied that the bonds of friendship between Canada and the former “mother country” remained very strong
What did the Prime Minister Machenzie King want?
● Prime Minister Mackenzie King did not want Canada to become involved in another world conflict
● He had desperately hoped that Britain’s policy of appeasement towards Hitler would be successful
● He doesn’t want to bring up the issue of conscription that would deeply divide Canada
● Canada’s economy was slowly improving, and King didn’t want the country plunged back into debt
What assurance did Mackenzie King give Canadians during the debate on Canada’s involvement in the war? Why did he do this?
● He said that there would be no conscription
● He would lose support in Quebec if conscription was enacted
What did Prime Minister King do to decide Canada’s response toward World War II?
● On September 8, Prime Minister King called a special session of Parliament to decide Canada’s response
● King gave a strong speech in favour of declaring war
● The Minister of Justice, Ernest Lapointe from Quebec, also spoke in favour of the war, which helped convince Quebec voters that Canada’s involvement in the war was necessary
- Lapointe spoke bluntly about what conscription would do to Liberal supporters in Quebec
What party was against going to war?
Only J.S. Woodsworth, leader of the Commonwealth Cooperative Federation (CCF), argued against going to war
When did Canada declare war on Germany?
On September 10, 1939
How was Canada not ready for the war in 1939?
● Army, air force, and navy troops were small in number, and most of Canada’s equipment was outdated and unfit for combat
● The army had only 4500 troops, a few dozen anti-tank guns, sixteen tanks, and no modern artillery
● The air force and the navy also had outdated equipment and only a small number of recruits
Compare Canadians’ reaction to the announcement of World War I with that of World War II. Why did many people volunteer?
● People did not cheer on the streets
● Aboriginal people volunteered at a higher percentage of their population than any other group in Canada
● Many people volunteered for different reasons
- Money ($1.30/day for privates plus $60/month for a dependant spouse and $30/month for each child.)
- Strong ties with a Britain/sense of duty
- Nationalism/National pride
What was the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan?
● The BCATP was a plan in which British instructors would train pilots/other flight personnel from all over the British Commonwealth in Canada
● In December 1939, Canada agreed to host/administer it
Why was Canada chosen to host the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan?
● Open skies
● Optimal climate
● Far away from enemy aircraft
Why did Mackenzie King support the British Commonwealth Air Training?
● Mackenzie King supported the plan because he wanted Canada’s contribution to the war effort to remain within Canada– home– as much as possible
- By adopting the BCATP, Canada would be doing exactly that: supporting the war at home
● However, Mackenzie King’s wishes did not exactly come true, as Canada ended up becoming much more involved in the war, outside of the BCATP
How did Canada’s policy of total war change the economy? Why was the policy necessary?
● C.D. Howe, minister of Department of Munitions and Supplies, was authorized to do whatever he thought was necessary to prepare the economy for wartime demands
- Vancouver built ships for the Navy
- Montreal built planes/bombers (such as the Lancaster)
- Canada’s car industries built military vehicles/tanks
- Munitions factories opened in Ontario and Quebec
- Farmers produced more wheat/beef/dairy products/other foods
● If the private sector was unable to produce what Howe wanted, he created Crown corporations to do the job
● This policy was necessary to prepare Canada for war–Canadians were willing to do whatever it took to defeat the enemy
When was Department of Munitions and Supplies established and who was the minister of Munitions and Supplies?
● In April 1940, the government established the Department of Munitions and Supplies, and King appointed C.D. Howe as its minister
What authority was Howe given and what did he do?
● Howe was given extraordinary authority to do whatever it took to gear up the economy to meet wartime demands
● He told industries what to produce and how to produce it
- Vancouver was building ships for navy
- Montreal was constructing new planes and bombers
- Canada’s car industries were producing military vehicles and tanks
● Even farmers were told to produce more wheat, beef, dairy products and other foods
What does the Allies include?
Britain, France, Commonwealth countries including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
What does the Axis power include?
Germany, Italy and Japan
How and when did Germany invade Denmark and Norway?
Germany used its blitzkrieg tactic and invaded Denmark and Norway in April 1940
What is the blitzkrieg?
● The blitzkrieg was a powerful and extremely successful war tactic
● In surprise attacks and with lightening speed, German panzers (tanks) would crash through enemy lines, driving forward as far as they could
● At the same time, war phanes would roar through the skies, constantly bombing the enemy below
● German soldiers would also parachute into enemy territory, destroying vital communication and transportation links
From where did the Allied forces evacuate to Britain?
Dunkirk
How long did it take to conquer Denmark?
Just hours
