1935

Events of WWII

Operation Barbarossa

Winter 1941

Canada's Declaration of War

September 10th, 1939

Hong Kong

December 25th, 1941

D-Day

June 6th, 1944

RCAF: Night Bombings over Germany

1943

Battle of Britain

July 1940

Shortly after Germany’s defeat in the Battle of Britain, Hitler launched “Operation Barbarossa”, the invasion of the USSR. Even though Germany and the Soviet Union had agreed in 1939not to invade each other. The German troops were able to push the Soviet army deeper and deeper into the Soviet Union. By autumn, the Germans had managed to reach the outskirts of Moscow and Leningrad. German troops were not equipped for the long and cold winter, and they lost their advantage. In 1942, Germany launched another offense in the USSR. The Germans were stopped by the cold winter once again. After suffering more than 300 000 casualties, they surrendered. By early 1944, the soviets were advancing into Eastern Europe, and into Germany. This event was important because it was a step forward in the Allies defeating Germany.

By Mid 1943, the Allies started a series of night bombing raids, aimed at destroying German industry. Night after night, British and Canadian bombers pounded German cities, and the United States bombers attacked during the day. The casualty rate was very high: 10 000 Canadian bombers lost their lives in the war, one quarter of the total number of people killed in WWII. This event was important because it developed the Canadian air force.

Only hours after the Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor, Japanese troops begun their surprise invasion of the British Colony of Hong Kong. By Christmas 1941, Hong Kong had fallen to the Japanese. Canada had sent troops only months earlier, all 1975 Canadians were either killed or taken prisoner. This event was significant because it was the cause of Hong Kong being taken over by Japanese.

The Allies launched “Operation Overlord” - a full scale invasion on Europe. There were 5 landing points along a beach codenamed “Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah”. On the morning of June 6th, 30 000 Canadians arrived at Juno. Difficult to get inland because of German soldiers and obstacles, there were able to land over 1 000 000 troops withing 2-3 weeks of initial landing. 359 Canadians died and 715 were wounded. This event was important because it was a huge advance for the Allies against the Axis.

In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain secured an agreement with Hitler than would cease his aggression, but Hitler ignored the agreement. In may 1938, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited Canada to gain support, but Prime Minister King did not want Canada involved in another war. September 1st, Germany invaded Poland, and Britain and France declared war on Germany. September 8th, Prime Minister King called a meeting to decide Canada's response. On September 10th, Canada declared war on Germany. This event was important because it brought Canada into WWII.

Hitlers goal was “Operation Sea Lion” - the invasion of Britain. On July 1940, the German Luftwaffe started a massive bombing campaign, aimed at destroying harbours and shipping facilities in southern England. These raids became known as “the Blitz”. The Germans had more aircraft than the British, but they were unable to defeat the British air force. Eventually the British air force was having more and more success shooting down more German bombers, and in May 1941, Hitler gave up his plan to invade Britain. This event was important because it prevented Germany from invading Britain.

1945

1941

1940

1938

1943

Battle of the Atlantic

1940-1944

Dieppe

August 1942

Dunkirk

May-June 1940

Invasion of Italy

July 1943

Pearl Harbor

December 7th 1941

On December 4th, 1941, the Japanese planes bombed the United States naval base in Peral Harbor, they then bombed the Philippines. The next day, the U.S government declared war on Japan and their allies. Germany and Italy then declared war on the U.S. This event was important because it cause the U.S to join WWII.

May 10th, the German Wehrmacht began its invasion of the Netherlands, and through Europe. Within a few days of arriving to France, German Panzers had reached the English Channel. The Allied forces were soon surrounded in the French town on Dunkirk. They had to escape before the Germans captured the town. They decided to try an evacuation by sea. The British Navy rounded up every boat capable of navigating the English Channel. The evacuation begun on May 26th. Two days later, the German Luftwaffe bombed the Port of Dunkirk, making the Allies escape more difficult. On June 4th, the evacuation was complete. Nearly 340 000 soldiers were brought to safety. This event was important because it saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

This was the struggle during WWII between the Allies and Axis to control the supply route for the Allies across the Atlantic. The Allies sailed in convoys to protect supply ships from being sunk by German torpedos. Canada started creating warships called corvettes to escort convoys across the ocean. During the winter of 1941-1942, the Germans had the upper hand, German submarines sank ships at a rapid pace. By May 1942, the Allies were able to track German ships more easily. This event was important because Canada took lead in the Battle of the Atlantic. The RCN is also credited with having provided about half the escorts across the Atlantic.

Canadian soldiers participated in the invasion of Sicily. After 2 weeks of fighting, they were successful. In September, they moved to mainland Italy. Advances were slow. In the battle of Ortona, Canadians fought for a month and lost 1372 people. On June 4th, they finally took Rome. The Fighting continued until the Spring of 1945. This event was significant because this meant Ally control over Italy.

the Allies wanted a small raid to test out the new techniques and equipment. The second Canadian Division was chosen to be the main force on the attack of the French port of Dieppe. From the beginning of the raid, things went wrong. On the morning of August 19th, 1942, one of the ships carrying Canadians to Dieppe ran into a small ship battle. The noise alerted German troops on shore. Canadians were supposed to leave before dawn, the ships were delayed and the Canadians got to shore in daylight, and were attacked by German soldiers. Communication between ships and troops on land was poor. The raid was a terrible failure. This event was significant because it taught Canadians what not to do, and help Canadians and the allies be successful in D-day.