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It marked the beginning of WWII.
https://time.com/5659728/poland-1939/ -
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“When Hitler invades Poland in ’39 there is no political support any longer for appeasement,” explains Rob Citino, Senior Historian at The National WWII Museum.
https://time.com/5659728/poland-1939/ -
It was the longest battle of World War II. Canada played a key role in the Allied struggle for control of the North Atlantic.At the time, the Canadian Navy was small, with only six destroyers and about 3,500 personnel, a third of whom were reservists.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-the-atlantic -
It was a battle fought without armies. No rifles, no tanks, no barbed wire. The skies above Britain served as the battlefield for the British Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe. The RAF defeated the much larger Luftwaffe.25% of the pilots in the Royal Air Force (RAF) that defeated the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) were Canadians.
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2018/01/25/the-battle-of-britain-leadership-and-logistics-in-britains-skies/ -
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was small in 1939, but by 1945 4th largest in the world. Canadians bombed German cities at night trying to destroy factories that made war supplies. Not very successful as many pilots died and factories were not totally destroyed.
https://www.warmuseum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/guide-air-services.pdf -
The day after Pearl Harbor destroyed the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the Japanese launched an assault on Hong Kong.Inexperienced Canadian soldiers were protecting Hong Kong for the British. Canadian troops surrendered to Japanese Dec 25 after 17 days of fighting. Japanese had better weapons (airplanes and battle ships). 290 Canadians died, 500 wounded. 267 Canadians died in Japanese prison camps.
https://mmis.hkpl.gov.hk/hong-kong-in-world-war-ii -
WWII’s First Critical Turning Point.
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2021/04/11/battle-of-moscow-wwiis-first-critical-turning-point/ -
Pacific War, major theatre of World War II that covered a large portion of the Pacific Ocean, East Asia, and Southeast Asia, with significant engagements occurring as far south as northern Australia and as far north as the Aleutian Islands.Chinese Canadians had elite commando unit called Force 136. They were used to sabotage Japanese war effort by destroying Japanese weapons, bridges and railways.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pacific-War -
US and Japanese naval forces engaged in a five-day battle in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that changed the course of the war in the Pacific.
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/topics/battle-of-midway -
In August 1942, Allied forces launched a hit and run raid on the Nazis occupied French port of Dieppe. Almost immediately things started to go wrong.3,367 Canadians either killed, wounded or captured; 275 British killed, one destroyer and 33 landing craft lost; 550 seamen dead, 106 aircraft downed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ff4_diepperaid.shtml -
The biggest tank battle in history, one of the biggest turning points in WWII, saw the Red Army seize the initiative and then push back the Nazi armor.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48963295 -
In December 1943, as part of the Allied advance through Italy during the Second World War, Canadian forces fought one of their toughest battles of the war in a bid to capture the town of Ortona. The month-long campaign — first at the Moro River outside Ortona, then with vicious street fighting in the town itself — cost more than 2,300 Canadian casualties, but eventually won Ortona for the Allies.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-ortona -
The Third Reich’s apocalyptic last stand.
https://www.military-history.org/cover-feature/the-battle-of-berlin.htm -
Date September 1944–April 1945
Location Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Participants
Allies: Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands
Axis: Germany
Casualties 7,600 Canadian deaths https://www.bing.com/search?q=Liberation+of+the+Netherlands&form=ANNTH1&refig=3753a7a8979744fab5ced2890ea12993 -
The Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Juneau Beach was the code name for the Allied invasion of 10 kilometers of the French coastline on D-Day on June 6, 1944, during World War II. It gets under control at the end of the day.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day