The+War+at+Sea+and+The+War+on+Land


 * The War at Sea **

When Canada went to war in 1939, its navy played a very important role. Britain could not defeat Germany unless food and military supplies were shipped in from North America. In fact, on its own, Britain could not produce enough food or military supplies to survive.

Since Britain is an island, Germany tried to form a blockade by surrounding the country with hundreds of U-boats (submarines). Individual submarines were vulnerable, especially when sailing on the surface, so they would hunt in groups called wolf packs to make it harder for Allied ships to sink them. They would surround their target and move in for the kill, just as wolves do in the wild.

To counteract the wolf packs, the Allies used a convoy system similar to the system used in World War I. The convoys often left North America from Canadian ports such as Halifax, sailing in groups of up to 30. The struggle between the wolf packs and the convoys became known as the **Battle of the Atlantic**. It was one of the crucial **theatres** (sites of action) of the war.

Frank Curry sailed on a corvette for five-and-a-half years as an ordinary seaman. He had spent his childhood in Winnipeg in the 1930s, listening excitedly to reports on the radio about events in Europe. When war was finally declared, he couldn't wait to sign up.

Figure 7-2 A convoy about to leave Bedford Basin, Nova Scotia. Would you have felt safe travelling aboard one of these ships?

Curry had a rude awakening when he found himself out in the North Atlantic in a corvette, seasick and shivering with the cold, searching hour after hour in the darkness for any sign of German U-boats. "It was a shattering experience," he wrote.

The corvettes... were... marvellous ships for... escorting convoys. They could stay out for long periods of time. They were built simply as covers around engines and large oil tanks. The rest of the space - whatever was left over - was where they crammed in the crew. The only living space you could call your own was wherever you slung your hammock, and that could be anywhere, alongside a pipe or a boiler or a walkway. There weren't such things as cabins or sleeping quarters.

... [When I was called to duty] I would slide out of the hammock to the steel deck, always awash with seawater. I'd still be bone-tired and half sick, clutching at the stanchions, as the ship plunged and rolled, and I'd glance at the weary off-watch sailors wedged, fully clothed, as I had been, onto the lockers or in their hammocks, with their lifejackets wrapped around them. Frank Curry, quoted in Bill McNeil, //Voices of a War Remembered: An Oral History of Canadians in World War II// (Toronto: Doubleday Canada Ltd., 1991), pp. 291-292


 * Literacy Hint **

As you read about the firsthand experiences of different World War II participants, try to put yourself in their place. Consider how they felt about their experiences and how they might feel about war in general.

"Corvette" is also the name of a popular sports car that debuted in the 1950s. Modern versions of the car are being driven to this day. They're known for their speed and sleek style.
 * **Living Language ** ||


 * stanchions **: posts

Figure 7-3 Women didn't normally serve at sea, but they still played a vital role as part of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service. Wrens (as they were called) served in a variety of shore-based positions, including clerk, messenger, switchboard or teletype operator, wireless telegraphist, and motor-transport driver. These Canadian Wrens are about to leave Canada to serve in Britain. Why do you think the navy was anxious to recruit women to fill these positions?


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The War Closes In on Canada's Shores **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">At first, it seemed that the German U-boats might win. In 1942 alone, the wolf packs sank 1164 Allied ships. Britain's survival was on the line.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Some of the naval fighting took place close to Canada's shores. German U-boats were detected and sunk as they patrolled the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. Submarines were also sunk off the coast of Nova Scotia, where they waited for convoys to pass. The Allied side lost merchant ships in the waters off Bell Island in Conception Bay. A Nova Scotia-Newfoundland ferry was also sunk, and 137 people died, including many women and children.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Recognizing the strategic location of Newfoundland, both Canada and the United States established military bases in Newfoundland and in Labrador. The Americans built a naval base at Argentia in Placentia Bay, an army base at Pleasantville near St. John's, and an air force base at Stephenville. Canadians and Newfoundlanders could no longer think of World War II as a distant war. By 1943, the convoys and the corvettes had improved their efficiency. The U-boats were less successful. As the year wore on, the wolf packs were in retreat, and supplies began to get through more regularly. As Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain said at the time, the tide had turned.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">During the five years of the war, 25 000 merchant ships were convoyed across the Atlantic. Only the British navy played a larger role in winning the Battle of the Atlantic and winning the war in Europe.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Did You Know? **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">A German submarine, U-537, set up a weather station in Martin Bay, Labrador, to transmit weather signals to European stations. The signals were used to prepare weather forecasts for German ships and U-boats operating in the North Atlantic. The station was not discovered until 1980.

__ Question __ __ 1. Imagine that you are a member of the naval services. Write a short letter home describing how you feel you're helping the war effort. __


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Did You Know? **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The Canadian army took part in all the major; campaigns of the war. At its peak, almost 500 000 soldiers were serving at one time. During the course of the war, it is estimated that 23 000 soldiers lost their lives and 58 000 were injured.


 * The War on Land **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">By June 1940, Britain was the only major power in Europe that Germany did not control. This meant that its overseas Commonwealth allies - such as Canada and Australia - had an especially important role to play.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Although Canada had a fairly small population, it was able to assemble a strong fighting force. Among those who signed up early on was 21-year-old Charlie Martin. Like Frank Curry, he'd heard the radio reports from Europe through the 1930s. Now, Hitler had most of Europe in his power, and Britain was in desperate need. In June 1940, Martin left the family farm to join the infantry, and was assigned to the Queen's Own Rifles. A little more than a year later, the battalion was shipped out to Britain. Losses occurred in both winning and losing campaigns. Here are just some of the major battles that Canadians participated in.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The Dieppe Raid, 1942 **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The first major mission for Canadian soldiers stationed in Britain was to raid the German forces at the French coastal town of Dieppe. Their goal was to make a quick landing, assess the strength of the German defences, and leave again.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The Canadians crossed the English Channel by boat on August 19, 1942. John Mellor of Kitchener, Ontario, was among those who fought at Dieppe. Here's how he described the landing:

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">As soon as [the Canadians] dropped into the water from their landing craft they ran into this murderous barrage of gunfire. Many died before they took even one step forward. Those that followed had to step over their bodies...

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">If they managed to get on the beach at all, they found it totally strung with entanglements of barbed wire... and sown with mines. Even if they got across that, they came face to face with the actual sea wall itself, which was [about 2.5 metres] high. That was covered with rolls of barbed wire too, on the top, and there were machine-gun posts all the way along.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The whole front itself, [1.6 km] long and crescent shaped, had boarding houses and hotels that were filled with hundreds of Germans with machine-guns and mortars zeroing in on the main beach.

//<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Voices of a War Remembered //<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">, pp. 269-70

Figure 7-4 (Image)

//<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Dieppe Raid //<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;"> (1942) by Charles Comfort. How do you think the soldiers felt as they were approaching the beach?


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Literacy Hint **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">If you add the numbers in rows 2 to 5 of this table, the total (5577) exceeds the total shown in row 1 (4963). This is because some of the wounded in row 3 were also counted in rows 4 and 5.

Figure 7-5

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Human Cost to Canadians of Dieppe Raid, 1942. Use these numbers to explain why the Canadian forces were so devastated by the Dieppe Raid.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN TABLE:

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Canadian Soldiers in Dieppe Raid: 1. Total number of Canadians involved

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number: 4963

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Percentage: 100.0

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Canadian Soldiers in Dieppe Raid: 2. Killed

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number: 907

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Percentage: 18.3

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Canadian Soldiers in Dieppe Raid: 3. Wounded

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number: 586

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Percentage: 11.8

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Canadian Soldiers in Dieppe Raid: 4. Captured as prisoners of war

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number: 1874

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Percentage: 37.7

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Canadian Soldiers in Dieppe Raid: 5. Returned to England

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number: 2210

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Percentage: 44.5

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Source: Adapted from Gerald Hallowell, ed., //The Oxford Companion to Canadian History// (Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 180.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END TABLE.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The Allies' light tanks proved useless on the stony beach as rocks jammed their caterpillar tracks. German airplanes finished off the job by bombing the beach. Miraculously, John Mellor survived all this, but he didn't get off easily. A fragment of metal knocked his eye out.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Charlie Martin was not at Dieppe, but he benefited from the lessons learned there. Just two years later, he and the Queen's Own Rifles were part of another beach landing not far from Dieppe. As you will see, in 1944, the generals would deliberately select sandy beaches where there were no cliffs. The tanks and trucks could be driven straight out of the landing craft without getting jammed on the stony beach, and there was nowhere for defenders to hide. But there were people who wondered - John Mellor among them - why so many soldiers had to die at Dieppe in order to learn these lessons. Some felt that the military made excuses for a badly planned mission, and that the planners should have foreseen these problems before the raid.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Soldiers in the Pacific **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">So far we've looked at World War 11 in Europe. But Japan had been at war with its neighbours, especially China, since 1937. In 1939, Japan joined the Axis nations and continued its military operations in the Pacific. It was decided to send Canadian and other Allied soldiers to Hong Kong - a British colony at the time - to try to keep it from falling to Japan.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The Canadian troops saw little action there until late in 1941. At that time the British expected Japan to attack, so they urgently requested more troops. In October 1941, 1975 Canadian soldiers were shipped from Vancouver, arriving in Hong Kong in mid-November. They formed part of a total defence force of 14 000 troops.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">On December 8, Japan attacked. It captured Hong Kong in only 17 days. By the time Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas Day, 290 Canadians had been killed and 493 injured. This was a total casualty rate of almost 40 percent. The survivors spent the rest of the war as prisoners of war (POWs).

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The POWs in Japanese camps were badly treated. Many were not given enough food, were forced to do hard labour or to march long distances to new locations. POWs found to have broken camp rules were brutally punished. Certainly the conditions that the Canadians met in the Japanese POW camps were among the very worst in the war.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">TIMELINE: Key Events In the Pacific War **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">1937: War between Japan and China begins

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">1940: Japanese troops occupy Malaya, Vietnam, and other countries in Southeast Asia

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">1941: Japanese troops capture Hong Kong, taking Canadian troops prisoner

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">1941: Japanese air force attacks American base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; United States declares war on Japan and Germany

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">1943: American forces begin to push back Japanese occupiers and liberate captured territory

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">1945: American planes drop nuclear bombs on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Japan surrenders

Figure 7-6 (photo)

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">A group of Canadian and British prisoners being liberated from a POW camp, August 1945. What do you see in the picture that shows the prisoners have been mistreated?

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">John Ford, from Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland, became a POW after being captured in Java in 1942. He was first held in Singapore, and then taken to Nagasaki, where he was put to work building ships.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">It was slave labour... You'd have your breakfast (a small tin of rice) in the morning. You'd take your lunch with you, a little rice can. Then, when you'd go back to the camp again at night, the same thing, a little bit of rice. Occasionally, probably once a month or once every two months, you'd get a bit of cabbage stew. Nothing, only water.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Danette Dooley, "A-Bomb Survivor Wants Recognition," //St. John's Evening Telegram//, 20 August 2005 __ Questions __ __ 2. What reasons did the Allies give for the failure of the Dieppe Raid? __ __ 3. Imagine that you were a prisoner of war in a Japanese POW camp. Outline three ways you would have tried to cope with the mistreatment. __


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The Italian Campaign, 1943-45 **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">One of Canada's successful campaigns was fought in Italy. In 1943 the Canadians made their way up the country's east coast, fighting battles at Ortona and Ravenna. This involved house-to-house fighting as the Canadians slowly pushed back the German occupiers. House-to-house can be a most vicious method of fighting because enemy troops are at close quarters and can quickly surprise and kill one another. In the Battle of Ortona, many troops were killed on both sides within only a few days. But by the spring of 1945 the Allies had liberated all of Italy, and a successful campaign came to an end.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">D-Day and Beyond, 1944 to 1945 **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">In the early morning of June 6, 1944, Charlie Martin and the Queen's Own Rifles were on a landing craft heading for a strip of sandy beach in the Normandy region of France. The seas were rough, but Charlie, who was by now sergeant-major of A Company, felt calm. He and his men had been training for two years - and this was their chance to put what they had learned into practice.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Martin was about to take part in one of the most important battles of the war: the D-Day landing. The total Allied invasion force numbered 150 000 troops, of whom about 30 000 were Canadian. Their mission was to capture the beaches of Normandy, then push inland. Charlie's boat was the first to hit shore.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The order rang out "Down ramp." The moment the ramp came down, heavy machine-gun fire broke out from somewhere back of the seawall. Mortars were dropping all over the beach... <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Charles Martin, //Battle Diary: From D-Day and Normandy to the Zuider Zee and Ve// (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1994), pp. 6-7

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">By the end of the first day, A Company had advanced seven miles (11 km) and achieved their objective - but at a huge cost. Half the Company's members had been killed or wounded.

Figure 7-8 (map) <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The Canadian army's Italian campaign. What geographic features can you see that might make Italy hard to defend?

Figure 7-9 (map) <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The attack took place along five beaches codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Canadian troops were assigned to Juno. By the end of the first day, the Canadians had pushed farther inland than any of the other Allied forces. What lessons did the Canadians learn at Dieppe that helped them make the D-Day landing a success? Figure 7-10 (map) <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The Canadian army's campaigns in Europe. Approximately where on this map did the D-Day landings take place? Figure 7-11 (photo) <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">In May 2005 Canadian veteran Fred Kidd, 96, shakes hands with Dutch children after the special ceremonies in the Netherlands to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands. Why do you think the people in the Netherlands continue to honour these veterans so many years after the end of the war?

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The tears came. I went behind a wall. So many had been lost. I found myself questioning - idiotically - why war was conducted this way. Four years of training and living together, a common purpose, friends who became brothers - then more than half of us gone. //<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Battle Diary //<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">, p. 14

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">About 715 Canadians were injured and 358 lost their lives on D-Day, but the invasion was a huge success. From Normandy, the Allies worked their way north and east. The Germans gradually surrendered or fell back, and by early 1945 the Canadians had entered the Netherlands. Starving Dutch citizens welcomed their liberators, who brought much-needed food supplies.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Did You Know? **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Some Canadian soldiers married Dutch women, who came to Canada as "war brides." To this day, a special relationship exists between the Netherlands and Canada.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Liberating Concentration Camps **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Not all the liberation duties were pleasant ones. Some Canadian soldiers were assigned to liberate prisoners from concentration camps. Jim Anderson, from Ancaster, Ontario, described what he saw.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">There were great piles of bodies in several locations and, as you can imagine, an overwhelming stench. To this day I feel bad about the revulsion I felt towards some who came forward and put their arms out to hug and embrace us. Most of them were filthy, wasted, scabby, and toothless... //<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Voices of a War Remembered //<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">, pp. 210-211

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Liberating the concentration camps was difficult for the liberators and prisoners alike. Although they were being freed, many of the prisoners had nowhere to turn.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">... Many of them were so anxious to get away from there that they were walking and crawling towards the gates and the holes in the barbed wire. We were trying to convince them to wait for the Red Cross and the other help that would be coming but it did no good. They just wanted to get away. //<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Voices of a War Remembered //<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">, pp. 21-211

__ Question __ __ 4. Look back at the quotations from John Mellor, Charlie Martin, John Ford, and Jim Anderson. Outline the challenges that each of these soldiers describes. Whose challenges do you think were the most difficult to face? Explain why you made this choice. __

Figure 7-12 (photo) <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">An Allied soldier at the liberation of a concentration camp. How do you think the soldiers felt entering these camps? How do you think the prisoners felt?