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German Troops Invade Poland
Using blitzkrieg (lightning war) tactics, Germany quickly invaded Poland. The quick attack left the Polish defences scattered, leaving them with little time to get organised or resist the attacks. -
Canada Decalres War on Germany
Quickly after Britain and France declared war on Germany, Canada also declared war on Germany. Prime Minister Mackenzie King decided to join the war, with the condition that conscription would never be implemented. -
France Surrenders to Germany
After the evacuation of Dunkirk, Germany's Nazi troops took France. -
British Troops Flee from Dunkirk
After Belgium collapsed, British and French troops retreated Dunkirk, a French beach. Eventaully, all 340,000 soliders were evacuated with the help of approximately 900 ships. -
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Battle of Britain pt.1
In this war, Birtain had a navy that was superior to Hitler's, which led him to think that he needed to demolish the Royal Navy to defeat Britian. To do so, Hitler wanted to controle the air so he could destroy Britain's fighter planes, factories, and morale. In the summer of 1940, the British Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe battled in the airspace above Britain. -
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Battle of Britain pt. 2
The Royal Air Force was outnumbered 3:1, but with the use of their radar, they were able to battle as equals with the Germany. The radar allowed Britain to detect the German bomber and fighter planes with radio waves while they were still over the English Channel. The English also posessed Enigma, which let them decipher German messages. These machines allowed Britain to be prepared for attacks, which led to reduced destruction to their already modest airforce. -
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Battle of Britain pt. 3
In August of 1940, a squadron of Geman bonbers got lost, and accidentally bombed London civilians. Completely outraged, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill bombed Berlin. Wanting revenge, Hitler competely ceased attacks on on the Royal Air Force airfields, and commanded daylight bonbings on London. Many speculate that the shift in focus induced Germany's loss of the Battle of Britain. This also let the Royal Air Force to regroup, train new pilots, and rebuild its strength. -
Germany Invades its Former Ally, Russia
During the invasion, alos known as Operation Barobossa, Hitler broke the Nazi-Soviet pact when he caught Russia by surprise and invaded them. Stalen implemented the "scorched earth" policy while retreating - destroying livestock, machinery, and suppies so the Nazis would have nothing to take. -
Japanese Attack U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor
The Japanese launched a surprise attack on the American Naval Base in Pearl Harbour. This attack was ment to weaken the U.S. Navy so the Japanese could continue to conquest the Pacific for future attack. It was not intended to pull the U.S. into the war, but that was the reasult it caused. -
U.S. Enters War
In response to the bombing of Pearl Harbour, America declared war on Japan - officially entering the war. Hitler declared war on the United States in support of Japan, which lead to the U.S. decalring war on Germany as well. -
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Battle of Hong Kong
After declaring war on Japan in support of Canada's ally, America, Canadians invaded Hong Kong. They were forced to surrender after 17 days of fighting because ammunition and supplies ran out. 500 Canadian soldiers were wounded, 290 soldiers were killed, and the soldiers who were captured were put into Prisoner of War camps. The conditions of living were extremely harsh in these camps, and a total of 267 Canadian Prisoners of War died in these camps. -
Canadian Troops Arrive in Hong Kong
After America declared war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbour, Canada decared war on Japan in support of their ally. Canada was sent to fight in Hong Kong, which resulted in the first time Canadain troops saw active battle in WW2. -
Canadians Vote 3 to 1 in Favour of Conscription
During the Second World War, Canada found themselves in a conscription crisis yet again. The Aliies needed more soldiers, but Prime Minister Mackenzie King had previously promised Canada that he could join the war, but he would not implement conscription this time. He asked Canada to vote on whether conscription should be implimented or not, and the reasult was 3:1 in favour of conscription. -
The Battle of Dieppe
The Battle of Dieppe was ment to be a rehersal for the real invasion of Europe, but ended in a devastating loss for Canada. Close to 5,000 Canadian soldiers landed on the beach of Dieppe with the objective of taking the beach and the town; but upon arrival, Canadian soldiers were taken down in quick succession. 900 soldiers were killed, 1,000 were woulded, and 1,900 were taken prisoner. Although this was a hugh loss for Canada, many lessons were learned from Dieppe and applied to D-Day. -
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Allies Invade Sicily
Canadians playaed a crucial role on the Allie's invasion of Sicily. The entire conquest took 28 days, and it opened the Mediterranean sea lanes and an air base for the upcomming attack on the Italians. The Attack also lead to the destruction of the Italian government, and the overthrow of Benito Mussolini in Rome. The new government surrendered on September 3, 1943. -
D-Day pt. 1
Also known as Operation Overlord, D-Day was the largest Canadian Military operation of WW2, and is thought of as the most complex military operation ever attempted. A harbour was made by 55,000 workers with 210,000 tons of steel, and 1,000,000 tons of concrete. This harbour was eventually used to move 7,000 tonnes of vehicles and supplies per day durring the 12 day attack. -
D-Day pt. 2
An elaborate story that consisted of a false plan for the Allies to attack from the narrowest part of the english Channel was fed back to Germany, with the help of doubble-agents. This ment that German troops would be focused on the fake attacking point instead of the real one, leaving the Aliies with impared German forces. -
Victory in Europe: Germany Surrenders
After being continually being pushed back, the last German troops surrendered. -
U.S. Drops Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan pt.1
With the battle in Hapan proving to be extremely hard, American President Harry S. Truman was informed that another million American deaths could be expected if they were to completely defeat Japan. Truman decided that the number of casualties was too high, and decided to drop the atomic bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy", on Hiroshima, an industrial Japanese city of 340,000 people. The city was competely demolished, with the destruction of 60,000 of the 92,000 buildings. -
U.S. Drops Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan pt. 2
The official death count was 78,000, but 60,000 additional citizens who were affected by atomic bomb injuries or diseases also perished. -
U.S. Drops Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki, Japan
The Japanese governmet did not surrender immediately after the bombing of Hiroshima, and U.S. President Harry S. Truman ordered another atomic bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man", to be dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The city consisted of 250,000 people, and the death tole rose over 35,000 people. An additional 170,000 Japanese citizens died from injuries and diseases caused by either bomb. -
Victory in Japan: Japan Surrenders
The U.S. called for the unconditional surrender of Japan, and after the terror of tow atomic bombs, Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender over radio.
