Chapter 5 History - Part II

Question 1

1. Canadian Aid at WW2

Answer 1

• PM King hoped Canadian war effort would be mostly supplies and training rather than troops to avoid issue of conscription.
• Dec. 1939 - Canada agreed to host British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), in which flight personnel all over commonwealth came to Canada to train w/ British instructors.

Question 2

3. Resources Needed for War

Answer 2

• Demands of total war meant govt became more involved in planning & controlling economy.
• April 1940 - Dept. of Munitions and Supply created and C.D. Howe in charge.
• Howe told industries what & how to produce and convinced business leaders to manufacture goods they never made before.
• Vancouver built ships, Montreal constructed planes (ex: Lancaster) and Canadian car industries produced military vehicles.

Question 3

4. Resources Produced during War

Answer 3

• Munition factories opened in Ontario and Quebec, and crown corporations produced what private companies couldn’t.
• Farmers told to produce more wheat, beef, dairy and other foods.
• Govt ran telephone lines, refined fuel and mined uranium, some calling Howe “Minister of Everything”.

Question 4

5. Start of WW2

Answer 4

• Allies (British, France and commonwealths like Canada, New Zealand and Australia) organized forces, while alliance of Germany, Italy (1939) and Japan (1940) became Axis.
• Allied troops stations along France’s border for Germany, but Germany didn’t invade for seven months from Oct 1939 to Ap 1940, period called “phony war”

Question 5

6. German Tactics at WW2

Answer 5

• Germany renewed blitzkrieg (lightning war) when attacking Denmark and Norway in April 1940, successful tactic using surprise, speed and massive power.
• War planes led attack, knocking key positions and supply lines, while German panzers (tanks) would crash through enemy lines.
• Soldiers parachuted into territory, destroying communication and transportation links, leaving defense confused and surrounded.
• Germany then attacked Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium all within weeks.

Question 6

7. Dunkirk Invasion in Britain

Answer 6

• Days after attacking France through Belgium, panzers reached English Channel and surrounded Allies in French port, Dunkirk, at which Britain would lose bulk of army if it surrendered, needing escape before Germans captured town.
• British navy rounded up boats that could navigate English Channel. Hundreds of fishing boats, pleasure crafts and ferries joined navy and merchant ships, heading across Channel for Durnkirk.

Question 7

8. The Dunkirk Evacuation

Answer 7

• Two days after May 26th evacuation began, German Luftwaffe bombed Dunkirk.
• 340,000 Allies (thousands more than originally thought) safely brought in Britain, miracle that boosted morale.
• German army later swept France, to which France surrendered on June 22, 1940.

Question 8

9. Operation Sea Lion

Answer 8

• Hitler launched “Operation Sea Lion” to invade Britain.
• Operation required Royal Air Force (RAF) to be defeated so German forces could cross English Channel.
• In July 1940, Luftwaffe bombed harbours and shipping facilities in southern England, before targeting airfields and aircraft factories in August, and later several areas of London.
• RAF retaliated and bombed Berlin, to which Hitler ordered Luftwaffe to bomb British cities over weeks, known as “the Blitz”.

Question 9

10. Defeat of British Invasion

Answer 9

• Germans unable to defeat RAF despite more aircraft, due to Britain’s radar technology and Spitfires/Hurricanes as two effective planes, as well as reinforcements from pilots, planes and supplies from commonwealth countries.
• Hitler gave up Sept. 1940 on Britain. 23,000 people, mostly civilians, killed in Battle of Britain.

Question 10

11. WW2 in North Africa

Answer 10

• Days before Luftwaffe attack on Britain, Axis Powers began 3-year campaign in North Africa known as “Desert War” as struggle for valuable resources and strategic positions.
• Once Italy fought with Axis in June 1940, British invaded Libya, Italian colony, to which Italy invaded Egypt w/ goal of reaching Suez Canal as major strategic point.

Question 11

12. Victory in North Africa

Answer 11

• Axis had to dominate Mediterranean by controlling Strait of Gibraltar and Suez Canal to access oil in Middle East.
• Dec. 1940 - British Commonwealth destroyed Italian army, to which German forces dispatched to prevent Allied victory.
• Despite German hopes of quick victory, neither side won until tide turned in 1942, with final Allied victory in N. Africa in May 1943.

Question 12

13. German Invasion of the Soviet Union

Answer 12

• Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa “red beard” on June 22, 1941, seeing USSR as source of raw goods, agricultural land and labour for Army as part of German Empire.
• German army reached outskirts of Moscow and Leningrad (St. Petersburg) deep into Russia by autumn, but were unprepared for winter.

Question 13

14. German Losses in the USSR

Answer 13

• Germany launched another offensive in 1942 to receive rich oil fields in south, going as far as Stalingrad but stopped by severe weather.
• Germans couldn’t turn back nor hope for reinforcements due to N. Africa.
• German army retreated after +300,000 casualties. Soviets retook much land it lost and fought w/ Allies.

Question 14

15. Pearl Harbor in America

Answer 14

• Japan prepared to invade American and European colonies to gain oil, rubber and tin.
• In surprise attack against US on Dec. 7 1941, Japanese Planes bombed US naval base in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
• +2,400 people killed and much of American fleet destroyed.
• Japan then bombed US territory Philippines, leading US to join Allies and fight Japan, before Germany and Italy declared war on US.

Question 15

16. Japanese Invasion of Hong Kong

Answer 15

• Japan attacked British colony Hong Kong hours after Pearl Harbor.
• Canada sent two battalions from Winnipeg and Quebec to reinforce British in Hong Kong.
• 20,000 Allied soldiers defeated after 18 days on Dec. 25, 1941 “Black Christmas”, in which every Canadian killed or imprisoned.
• 1,700 Canadian POWs faced brutal conditions and later became slaves, of which +260 died after 3.5 years in prison.

Question 16

17. The Royal Canadian Navy

Answer 16

• Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) had 13 ships and 1819 sailors, but later had 400 vessels and +100,000 sailors.
• Battle of the Atlantic in full swing by 1941, so Britain depended on food and supplies from Canada and US, but “wolf packs” of German U-Boats attacked.

Question 17

18. Allies at Sea

Answer 17

• German submarines sinked hundreds of ships, some sailing into Gulf of St. Lawrence and up St. Lawrence River to attack.
• Allies built more ships than were being destroyed, and British later cracked German naval code, allowing Allies to track German sub movement easily.

Question 18

19. Royal Canadian Navy’s role and the WRCNS

Answer 18

• RCN provided about half of escorts across Atlantic w. better Canadian training of Navy and sophisticated equipment.
• Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service created in 1942, most WRES worked on shore as wireless operators, coders, drivers and operational plotters.

Question 19

20. Corvettes in Battle of the Atlantic

Answer 19

• Allies held convoys so warships could protect vessels carrying supplies, but German U-Boats destroyed hundreds of ships and millions of tonnes of cargo, so Canada built small warships “corvettes” to escort convoys across ocean.
• Corvettes quick, maneuvered well and held long-range Liberator bombs but wasn’t stable vessel. Allies believed they won Battle of the Atlantic by May 1943.

Question 20

21. Royal Canadian Air Force

Answer 20

• +215,000 enlisted in Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and 35 squadrons posted overseas at peak, while aircrews fired bombs in N. Africa, Italy, NW Europe and SE Asia.
• Women’s Division (WD) of RCAF created in 1941, training as clerks, cooks, hospital assistants, drivers, telephone operators, welders, instrument + engine mechanics.
• RCAF refused licensed females to fly until later, where they ferried bombers to Britain but never fought in front lines.

Question 21

22. Bombing Raids by the RCAF

Answer 21

• RCAF participated in controversial mission: night bombs over Germany as part of Britain’s Bomber Command.
• Canada’s Bomber Group pounded German cities (ex: Dresden and Cologne) night after night to retaliate against German air raids on English cities, diminish German morale and destabilize German industrial centers.
• Tens of thousands of civilians killed.

Question 22

23. Worst Bombing Raid by RCAF

Answer 22

• Worst attack was on Hamburg in July 1943, where relentless bombing created firestorm and city engulfed in flames.
• +40,000 civilians killed. Casualty rate of RCAF 7/10. Nearly 10,000 Canadian Bomber Group members died.

Question 23

24. Preparation for the Dieppe Raid

Answer 23

• Allies hoped to postpone Europe invasion but felt prepared for smaller raid, as it would allow testing of new techniques and equipment.
• 2nd Canadian Division chosen as main attack force in raid on French port Dieppe, launching 4 pre-dawn attacks along coast followed by Dieppe attack, supported by air force bombers and tanks brought in by ship.

Question 24

25. Allied Gains, Soviet Losses

Answer 24

• 1942 - Allied forces strengthened as US joined in Dec. 1941, gaining ground in N. Africa. U-Boats taken out in Atlantic and retreated in Pac. Ocean.
• Soviets stopped Germans at Stalingrad, preventing advance across Middle East to Egypt.
• 1942 - Soviets lost nearly million in fight against Germans, demanding Allies invade Europe from west to force Germany to fight two-front war.

Question 25

26. Failure of the Dieppe Raid

Answer 25

• August 1942 - ship carrying Canadian soldiers to Dieppe met German convoy, two sides fighting as noise alerted Germans on shore.
• Ships delayed and troops landed in daylight, machine-gunned by Germans.
• Tanks ineffective from not getting enough traction to move on the beach.
• Communication between ships and land poor, leading commanders to send reinforcements ashore believing first wave of soldiers reached town.
• 2nd wave troops were trapped, then killed by Germans on cliffs along coastline.

Question 26

27. Casualties of the Dieppe Raid

Answer 26

• Dieppe Raid failed from 907 soldiers killed, 600 soldiers wounded and 1946 taken prisoner out of nearly 5,000 Canadian soldiers.
• Some historians believed Allies were able to launch successful invasion on knowledge from Dieppe, others believing raid poorly planned and taught Germans more than Allies.
• Later in Sept. 1944, Canadians would march through Dieppe.

Question 27

28. Allies Pave Way Through Sicily and Italy

Answer 27

• British PM Winston Churchill felt Allies should recapture Sicily and Italy “soft underbelly” of Europe.
• Victory in N. Africa allowed forces to launch attack from south, Italian Campaign lasting almost two years costing thousands of lives.
• July 1943, Allies invaded Sicily, fighting Italians and Germans through 240 km of mountainous terrain, losing 562 soldiers in battle.
• Allies captured island after 38 days. Victory led Mussolini to be overthrown and new Italian govt surrendered, but Germans continued to defend Italy.

Question 28

29. Battle of Ortona

Answer 28

• Allies followed Germans retreating to mainland Italy. Canadians needed to capture medieval town of heavily fortified Ortona on Adriatic Sea.
• Before reaching Ortona, Canadians captured several smaller villages, crossed river Moro and fight across several km of German-occupied territory.
• At Ortona, advances slow and battles fought house-by-house on steep streets. Canadians captured town on Dec. 1943 but lost 1,372 soldiers before Germans withdrew.
• Canadians advanced through Italy w/ nearly 6,000 deaths.

Question 29

2. British Commonwealth Air Training Plan

Answer 29

• Airfields built on Prairies and other places near small towns and villages, old aircraft refitted.
• BCATP trained +130,000 pilots, navigators, flight engineers and ground crew at cost of $2.2 billion, 70% of which paid by Canada, marking major Canadian contribution to war.