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Second Sino-Japanese War Begins
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Period: to
World War Two (incl. Second Sino-Japanese War)
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German Annexation of Austria
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German Invasion of Czechoslovakia
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German Invasion of Poland (WW2 begins)
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[CA] Canadian Declaration of War on Germany
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[CA] Creation of the Department of Munitions and Supply
April 9, 1940: Canada creates a Department of Munitions and Supply to manage the production of war material. Another source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Munitions_and_Supply -
[CA] Canadian Declaration of War on Italy
Canada declared war on Italy after Italy declared war on the United Kingdom and France on June 10th, 1940. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declarations_of_war_during_World_War_II -
Fall of France
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Operation Barbarossa (German-Soviet War)
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Bombing of Pearl Harbour (American entry)
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[CA] Canadian Declaration of War on Japan, Romania, Hungary, Finland
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[CA] Battle of Hong Kong
December 8, 1941: Hong Kong is attacked by the Japanese; on December 25, Hong Kong falls. A Canadian military detachment called the C Force (which comprised troops from Winnipeg) was stationed in Hong Kong. Of 1,975 Canadian troops, 290 were killed with the remaining 1,685 taken prisoner; a further 260 of these Canadians would die as prisoners of war before the end of the war. -
[CA] Dieppe Raid
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[CA] Invasion of Sicily
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[CA] Battle of the Liri Valley
May 11-16, 1944: Canadian troops support other Allied troops in Operation Diadem, an offensive near Rome. -
[CA] D-Day
June 6, 1944: 15,000 members of the Canadian Army as well as hundreds of members of the RCAF and the crews of 60 vessels of the RCN participate in the landings in Normandy as part of an invasion force of some 150,000 Allies. By the end of D-Day, the Canadians had penetrated deeper into France than the British or Americans. Sources:
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/classroom/fact-sheets/wwchronol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_in_World_War_II#Liberation_of_France -
[CA] Normandy Campaign
July 10, 1944: the city of Caen in France, the Canadian D-Day objective, is finally taken by a combined British-Canadian assault. August 25, 1944: the Battle of Normandy ends with the liberation of Paris, the Canadians having been successful in what is generally agreed to have been the fiercest portion of the campaign. Source: https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/classroom/fact-sheets/wwchronol -
[CA] Liberation of France
August-September 1944: First Canadian Army, tasked with clearing the heavily-defended English Channel ports of their German garrisons, take Dieppe, Le Havre, Boulogne, and Calais. Sources:
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/second-world-war-wwii#BelgiumHollandandGermany
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/classroom/fact-sheets/wwchronol -
[CA] Battle of the Scheldt
October-November 1944: The First Canadian Army played a crucial role in clearing the Scheldt of German forces during the Battle of the Scheldt, fought in northern Belgium and the southwestern Netherlands, opening crucial supply lines for the Allies via the port of Antwerp. Source:
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canada-and-the-battle-of-the-scheldt -
[CA] Relief in the Dutch "Hunger Winter" of 1944-1945
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[CA] Rhineland Campaign
February 8, 1945: commencement of the Rhineland Campaign; General Crerar's First Canadian Army, augmented by Allied formations, becomes the largest force ever commanded by a Canadian. March 10, 1945: The Rhineland Campaigns ends with the Germans, pushed back by the Canadians and US 9th Army, withdrawing across the Rhine. -
[CA] Liberation of the Netherlands
April 1, 1945: the First Canadian Army begins its campaign to open up a supply route through Arnhem and clear the Netherlands and the coastal belt of Germany. Notable battles in this offensive include the Battle of Groningen and the Battle of Otterlo, both in April. Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands_in_World_War_II#Liberation -
[CA] Liberation of Zwolle
Perhaps the single most badass Canadian moment of WW2, the Dutch town of Zwolle was single-handedly liberated by the Canadian Léo Major. -
Germany Surrenders
End of WW2 in Europe -
Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Soviet Declaration of War on Japan
August 6: The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
August 8: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Japanese-held Manchuria.
August 9: The United States drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Source: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/world-war-ii-key-dates -
Japan Surrenders
End of World War 2