END OF WORLD WAR II

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END OF WORLD WAR II

• D-DAY TO SURRENDER

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AMERICAN ENTRANCE

• After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in
  Hawaii on December 7, 1941, the American forces
  were very damaged in the South Pacific
• Damage or destruction of 18 warships, 188
  aircraft and 2,333 US servicemen were killed and
  another 1347 wounded
• The Japanese had only lost about 29 aircraft
• Deemed a victory for the Japanese, it hardened
  the resolve of the Americans to help end the war

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AMERICAN ENTRANCE

• The US fleet was out of commission for over a
  year, however three main aircraft carriers were
  not in the Harbour at the time of attack
• Most of the damaged ships were later restored for
  use in the war in the South Pacific
• The absence of a third wave of fighters against
  Pearl Harbour by the Japanese would have
  destroyed fuel supplies and made it harder for
  the Americans to recover as quickly

4
AMERICAN ENTRANCE

• The Japanese victory was short lived, as the
  American government used the emotion of the
  attack to solidify the American home effort to
  enter into the war
• FD Roosevelt referred to the attack as a day of
  infamy and encouraged the American people to
  bring the full power of the military into the war
  to defeat the Axis of Evil

5
AMERICAN ENTRANCE

• Immediately after the Pearl Harbour attack,
  Hitler declared support for their Japanese Allies
  and declared war on the US
• By doing so he drew the Americans into the fight
  in Europe, where they would bring much needed
  reinforcements and supplies to the battered
  British Commonwealth and Russian forces
• The American entrance into Europe drew some of
  the Nazi forces from the East and allowed Russia
  to push forward

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AMERICAN ENTRANCE

• The Canadians and the Americans at home had to
  play important roles in helping those in Europe
  as well as accounting for protection at home
• Mackenzie King and Roosevelt discussed defense
  plans for North America and signed the Ogdensburg
  Agreement in August 1940 dealing with air, sea
  and land defenses

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AMERICAN ENTRANCE

• By 1941 the war was taking a financial toll on
  the British and Canadians, while the Americans
  maintained neutrality
• In April 1941 the Lend-Lease program was
  developed between the three allies in order to
  help the war effort, but keeping the Americans
  neutral
• The US would lend war materials to the Allies,
  and gain access, through leases, to British owned
  military bases
• This allowed the US to aid the Allies with
  important materials, but still appear to be
  outside the activities of war - mostly to avoid
  a drop in public opinion

8
SPIES AND POWs

• The Camp X located between Whitby and Oshawa
• For two years the Camp produced 500 graduates,
  half of whom became spies, secret agents and
  guerilla fighters
• The training was tough
• Night parachuting, explosives training, coded
  communications, civilian resistance, resist
  torture

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SPIES AND POWs

• Two Canadian secret agents were
• GUSTAVE BIELER
• First Canadian Special Operations Executive (SOE)
  working in occupied France
• Captured in January 1944
• Endured torture by the Gestapo
• Sentenced to death in Sept 1944 by firing squad
  not hanging (usual for prisoners)

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SPIES AND POWs

• HENRY FUNG
• First Chinese-Canadian agent parachuted in Malaya
  in June 1945
• He was 19-years old working with the SOE blowing
  up telephone lines, railway bridges and harassing
  Japanese road convoys
• Contracted malaria and jaundice and had to be
  shipped home by the British to Canada

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SPIES AND POWs

• ENIGMA CODE
• In 1939, Polish agents escaped to Britain with
  information regarding the German coding machine
  called Enigma (Greek for mystery)
• The British were able to break the code using
  another machine called Ultra
• This enabled them to obtain vital information
  about military activities of the Nazis
• The Nazis were unaware of the advances of the
  British and Americans in this regard

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SPIES AND POWs

• Allied forces in Hong Kong were 14000 British,
  Indian, Canadian and Chinese soldiers
• Canadians arrived in November 1941 to join the
  other forces and all were forced to surrender to
  the stronger Japanese forces by December 1941
• They were all kept in brutal prisoner of war
  camps on mainland Chine until 1945 when Japan was
  defeated and they were liberated
• Most were forced to work in Japanese war
  industries

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D-DAY OPERATION OVERLORD

• Complex and risky operation that called for
  coordination of air, naval and land forces from
  Canada, Britain and the US in order to invade
  Europe and get a foothold
• The attack was separated into three phases in
  order to best utilize resources and make the
  greatest impact against the Nazi forces in Europe

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D-DAY OPERATION OVERLORD

• PHASE I
• Air Bombing and Parachuting
• Aircraft bombing German defences
• Drop paratroopers and glider shock troops to
  seize vital roads and bridges
• Looking to secure the skies over Normandy in
  order to facilitate more troops safety being sent
  in to Europe to overtake the forces

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D-DAY OPERATION OVERLORD

• PHASE II
• Naval Clearing and Delivering
• Operation Nepture involved an armada of 7000
  ships clear lanes of minefields and bombarding
  the Nazi positions
• Also had to convoy 100000 assault troops to the
  Normandy beaches, 20000 vehicles and a array of
  equipment
• All had to be at the right beach at the right
  time

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D-DAY OPERATION OVERLORD

• PHASE III
• Land Forces, Assaulting and Securing
• First US Army was assigned to Utah and Omaha
  beaches,
• The second British Army was to hit Gold and Sword
  beaches
• The Canadians were assigned to Juno beach
• The main objective for all was to secure a
  position in France from which further offensives
  could be launched

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VE-DAY VICTORY IN EUROPE

• Canadian Efforts
• July August 1944 closing the Falaise Gap
• Nazis were trying to keep an escape route open
  through the French town of Falaise as they
  retreated from France
• This position was between the American and
  Canadian advancing forces
• Allied planes bombed continuously through the day
  as the Nazi troops moved
• By the end, 50000 Nazi troops were captured and
  all of Normandy was in Allied possession

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VE-DAY VICTORY IN EUROPE

• Battle of the Scheldt
• October November 1944
• First Canadian Army had to clear the Belgian port
  of Antwerp to allow access to Allied forces
• British bombers blasted the area dams and flooded
  the region allowing the amphibious vehicles to be
  used
• Although the Canadian losses were high (6367
  lost) but the difficulty of the attack won praise
  from the British
• Nazi forces in Antwerp surrendered in November
  1944

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VE-DAY VICTORY IN EUROPE

• END OF THE WAR
• February May 1945
• Early activities were more like WWI trench
  warfare than WWII
• Western Allies cross the Rhine River in March and