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Forged in Fire: The Second World War, 1931-1945
Photos
Warren Bernard Runs After his Father Jack, British Columbia, 1940Canadians enlisted by the thousands when Canada declared war on Germany on 10 September 1939. The Canadian military grew to over 60,000 members in less than one month and individual regiments had little difficulty recruiting. Virtually each one represented a new family separated by war.
Courtesy of Mrs. D. Joan MacPherson Library and Archives Canada, C-038723 |
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Women Packing ParachutesPrevented from participating on the frontlines, women in the military took on important support tasks, such as folding and packing parachutes.
Nicholas Morant, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada,
pa-140654 |
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Relief PackagesCanadian troops on board a train receive packages from the Red Cross. The organization distributed these packages to Allied troops throughout the war.
Canadian Pacific Railway Archives, NS.8135 |
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Destruction on the Beach at DieppeThe Canadian amphibious raid at Dieppe on 19 August 1942 was the bloodiest day in Canadian military history. Seventy per cent of the attackers were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. In less than nine hours of fighting, 907 Canadians died, 1,946 were captured, and more than 2,400 were wounded.
Library and Archives Canada, C-14160 |
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Canadian Troops in CampochiaroUnder sniper fire, personnel of the Carleton and York Regiment advance up the steep main street of the mountain village of Campochiaro, Italy, 21 October 1943.
Alexander M. Stirton, Library and Archives Canada, pa-114482 |
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Fighting in SicilyIn this 20 July 1943 photograph, troops of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry are in combat, while enemy vehicles burn in the background. Twenty thousand Canadian troops helped lead the Allied conquest of Sicily, the Canadian army's first sustained land operation in the Second World War. Canadians met greater resistance as they pushed into the Sicilian interior and came more into contact with determined German forces.
Library and Archives Canada, pa-163670 |
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Caring for the InjuredNursing Sister Lieutenant B. Rankin administers a blood transfusion to a wounded soldier in Montreuil, France, 10 September 1944.
Library and Archives Canada, pa-128234 |
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Going Ashore"Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade...The eyes of the world are upon you."
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, 5 June 1944
Library and Archives Canada, pa-132790 |
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Canadian Troops Landing at D-Day
In this photograph, soldiers of the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade (Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders) go ashore from LCI(L) 299 at Bernières-sur-mer on 6 June 1944. Canada participated as a full partner with the United States and the United Kingdom in an amphibious invasion of coastal France code-named Operation Overlord but generally known as D-Day. Some 14,000 Canadians were among the nearly 150,000 Allied troops who landed or parachuted along the invasion area.
Gilbert Alexander Milne, Library and Archives Canada, PA-122765 |
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D-Day InvasionAllied naval forces that included 110 Canadian warships and 10,000 sailors supported the Normandy landings. Canadian ships and sailors helped protect the invasion fleet, cleared German minefields, bombarded German coastal positions, and ferried Allied troops across the Channel.
Courtesy of the Department of National Defence, CT-299 |
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Equipment on the Beach at NormandyThe Normandy campaign became a brutal battle of attrition. The Allies tried to push inland. The Germans, holding the high ground, tried to throw them back into the sea. Both sides suffered terrible casualties. Progress was frustratingly slow, and battles often ended in stalemates.
George Metcalf Archival Collection CWM 20020045-1455 |
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Canadian Soldiers Guard German Prisoners on D-Day, Bernières-sur-MerThese German prisoners, captured during the assault, were evacuated to England along with Canadian wounded.
Library and Archives Canada, pa-136280 |
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Rationing at the Grocery StoreThe relative scarcity of foods and consumer goods vital for the war effort led to rationing. Every man, woman, and child received a personal set of ration books, and needed it to buy goods such as gasoline, butter, sugar, meat, tea, and coffee.
The Montreal Gazette, Library and Archives Canada, pa-108300 |
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Propaganda on the Home FrontLoggers in Quebec sit down to eat breakfast. The two posters on the wall encourage them to focus on the war effort.
Library and Archives Canada, pa-123533 |
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Metal DrivesThe ongoing war increased the need for metal. Civilians, including these children at Hopewell Avenue School in Ottawa, responded by organizing scrap metal drives to support the war effort.
Malak, Library and Archives Canada, pa-182924 |
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Women WorkersTwenty-five per cent of Canada's war workers were women. Like this welder, many worked in positions previously reserved for men. Women's social profile grew, as tens of thousands worked outside the home for the first time. After the war, however, social pressure and government policy encouraged women to return to the home.
Library and Archives Canada, e000760454 |
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RCAF BeaufightersEnemy vessels in the English Channel were a serious threat to the invasion force. They could potentially cost the Allies the element of surprise or attack the landing force. Royal Canadian Air Force anti-shipping and anti-submarine squadrons joined other Allied aircraft in the effort to destroy all enemy surface warships and submarines in the Channel. Anti-shipping aircraft like these Beaufighters used cannon and rocket fire to attack enemy vessels.
Courtesy of the Department of National Defence, PL61347 |
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Battle of the AtlanticIn the early stages of the Battle of the Atlantic, more Allied merchant ships were being destroyed by U-Boats than were being built. Even though the Allies gained the upper hand in mid-1943, U-Boats continued to sink ships until the end of the war. Here, the corvette HMCS Fennel rescues survivors from the minesweeper HMCS Clayoquot , torpedoed by U-806 near Halifax on 24 December 1944.
Library and Archives Canada, pa-134342 |
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Wrens Service Machine GunsPrior to the Second World War, women were not allowed in Canada's armed forces except as nurses. This policy was reversed beginning in 1941 and, in early 1942, recruiting began for the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service, the "Wrens". The women who joined performed many of the same duties as men, including equipment maintenance and communications, but did not serve aboard warships.
George Metcalf Archival Collection CWM PLA 663716 |
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A Lancaster Bomber Over its TargetThe Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) contributed heavily to a massive and costly air offensive against Germany's ability to wage war. Attacks on industrial centres, military installations, and cities devastated vast areas and killed hundreds of thousands. They also diverted German resources from other fronts and damaged essential elements of the German war effort. Nearly 10,000 Canadian aircrew died in the bomber offensive, almost three-quarters of the RCAF's total combat losses during the war.
Courtesy of the Department of National Defence, PL-144407 |
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RCAF Air Gunners' School, 1941Training prepared students for deadly combat. This photo, taken upon graduation from a school in Mossbank, Saskatchewan, indicates with an "X" those young men who were killed overseas during the war.
George Metcalf Archival Collection CWM 19870036-002 |
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Invading Germany: The Rhineland CampaignBy February 1945, Canadian and Allied forces were on Germany's western border with the Netherlands, and were preparing to launch an offensive into the Rhineland. In this 8 February 1945 photograph, infantry of the North Shore Regiment are marching past amphibious personnel carriers near Nijmegen, the Netherlands, shortly before attacking.
Library and Archives Canada, pa-140424 |
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Canadian Machine GunnersThese machine gunners of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa provide covering fire during the bloody battle to take Carpiquet airfield outside of Caen, 4 July 1944.
Library and Archives Canada, pa-129037 |
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Sherman TankArmoured units provided the Allies with mobile firepower. The American-made M4 Sherman tank was the workhorse of the Canadian Armoured Corps from 1943. With a crew of five, its armament consisted of a 75mm gun and a number of machine guns. In this picture, a Sherman of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division is on the move near Cintheaux, France, 8 August 1944.
Ken Bell, Library and Archives Canada, pa-131373 |
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The Humble JeepThe four-wheel drive, quarter-ton general purpose MB vehicle, or Jeep, was one of the workhorses of Allied armies throughout the war. Produced in the United States, the Jeep was fast and reliable on damaged roads. The Canadian army used jeeps extensively, especially in the muddy, thawing ground of the Rhineland. This 6 March 1945 photograph shows Jeeps and armoured vehicles in a forest near Sonsbeck, Germany.
National Archives of Canada, pa-138353 |
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The 25-Pounder Field Gun"Little wonder some of my artillery friends often appeared a little stand-offish ... I realized they were stone deaf and half-stunned from the blasts of their own artillery pieces."
C.S. Frost, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Ken Bell, Library and Archives Canada, pa-115569 |
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The Face of GenocideIn April 1945, Canadians accompanying British forces in Germany entered the Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. Sickened and horrified by the atrocities they witnessed, these Canadians made a visual record on film and on paper of the war's tragic victims. Note the writing on the back of this photo, which reads: "May we never forget and never let it happen again".
George Metcalf Archival Collection CWM 19850625-006 (#S2.1) |
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War Brides and ChildrenMany Canadian personnel stationed overseas married women from the United Kingdom and Europe. The press dubbed the transport to Canada of 45,000 war brides and their 21,000 children "Operation Daddy".
Toronto City Archives Fonds 1266, Item 102055 |
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Girl with WreathIn a cemetery ceremony at Adegem, Belgium, a young girl places a wreath on the grave of Rifleman Clifford Howard Baxter, Royal Winnipeg Rifles, June 1946.
George Metcalf Archival Collection CWM 19890086-953 |
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Major David Currie, VCMajor David V. Currie, South Alberta Regiment, was awarded the Victoria Cross at St. Lambert-sur-Dives, through which ran the last road open to the escaping Germans during the closing stages of the Normandy campaign. With a handful of soldiers, Currie captured the village and held it for several days in the face of repeated counterattacks by superior German forces. His command destroyed seven tanks, 12 guns, and 40 vehicles, and captured an incredible 2,100 German prisoners. This photo is the closest we have to someone actually winning a Victoria Cross. Currie is standing on the left with a pistol in his hand, while Trooper R.J. Lowe reports to him.
Library and Archives Canada, pa-111565 |
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Sergeant Major John Osborn, VCCompany Sergeant Major John Osborn, a First World War veteran, served with the Winnipeg Grenadiers at Hong Kong. On 19 December 1941, Osborn led his troops in an attack on Japanese positions. When a Japanese grenade landed near his comrades, Osborn threw himself on it, and was killed instantly when it exploded. Osborn was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
Library and Archives Canada, pa-037483 |
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War Art
Posted to Newfie
Painted by Paul Goranson in 1942Military personnel could be seen everywhere on the home front. This painting by Paul Goranson depicts the mingling of civilians and soldiers on a train in Newfoundland.
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art CWM 19710261-3199c |
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Infantry, near Nijmegen, Holland
Painted by Alex Colville in 1946Infantry, near Nijmegen, Holland shows a group of soldiers trudging wearily towards the viewer along a muddy Dutch road in December 1944. Colville said the painting "expressed the terrible life that they had; lack of sleep, food, exposure, constant danger. It's amazing that people endured. They did, these ordinary young guys."
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art CWM 19710261-2079 |
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D-Day - the Assault
Painted by Orville Fisher in 1945War artist Orville Fisher landed with the 3rd Canadian Division on Juno Beach. The Germans had tipped the beach obstacles, used for cover by Canadian soldiers, with explosives to destroy landing craft and stop advancing tanks.
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art CWM 19710261-6231 |
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Casualty on the Beach at Dieppe
Drawing by Alfred Hierl in 1945In a controversial effort to test the strength of Germany's Atlantic coast defences, 4,963 Canadians of the 2nd Canadian Division participated in the assault on Dieppe, France, on August 19, 1942. The raid was a disaster. Seventy per cent of the Canadians were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. Hierl was one of a number of German official war artists who witnessed the carnage and painted it.
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art CWM 19710261-5976 |
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Forming Bulkhead Girders
Painted by Caven Atkins in 1942In this Toronto shipbuilding scene, the presence of a 'V for Victory' banner in the background reminds the viewer of the purpose of the activity depicted. Atkins believed that painting war-related industries on the home front was important because without it "no war can be fought, let alone won."
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art CWM 19710261-5657 |
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Night Target, Germany
Painted by Miller Brittain in 1946Bomb aimer Miller Brittain wrote to his parents in 1944: "The night attacks although they are deadly are very beautiful from our point of view. The target is like an enormous lighted Christmas tree twenty miles away but straight beneath one looks like pictures I have seen of the mouth of hell." Miller later wrote to his parents that while he felt this painting was an accurate depiction of night attacks, "I don't like it yet as a picture. In fact at the moment, I feel like putting my foot through it."
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art CWM 19710261-1436 |
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Parachute Riggers
Painted by Paraskeva Clark in 1947The National Gallery of Canada commissioned Clark to paint women in the services in 1944. After spending some time with the Wrens (Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service), Clark "lost all hope to see 'any drama' there. But I found exciting enough the fact that in some of the activities, women performed the jobs, previously done by men and thus, released (perhaps) some men for fighting duties or for war industries." Clark found the assignment challenging, noting in a letter that the real story of women in wartime was to be found in their homes.
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art CWM 19710261-5679 |
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Morning Parade
Painted by Pegi MacLeod in 1944In this painting, Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC) personnel march on parade in Ottawa. The National Gallery of Canada hired MacLeod to depict the women's services in Ottawa in 1944 and 1945.
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art CWM 19710261-5784 |
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Passing?
Painted by Thomas Beament in 1943Eleven exhausted sailors from a recently torpedoed merchant vessel sit in a battered raft in this painting by Harold Beament. The sailors are trying to signal though the fog to a fast-moving ship that seems to be passing them by. It is doubtful whether or not the passing destroyer will notice them as the raft is difficult to see among the waves.
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art CWM 19710261-1042 |
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Audio Clips
Voices of Survival
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Factory WorkListen to the women and men who built the tools of war.
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Captive VoicesListen to eyewitness accounts from Canadian prisoners of war.
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Telegrams
Telegram from OverseasTelegrams like these were sent to families on the home front to inform them that a loved one had been killed in the line of duty.
George Metcalf Archival Collection CWM 19750411-002 |
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Telegram from OverseasTelegrams like these were sent to families on the home front to inform them that a loved one had been killed in the line of duty.
George Metcalf Archival Collection CWM 20030267-016 |
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Letters
Letter HomeSergeant Edwin Worden wrote this heart-felt letter to his wife from a ship crossing the English Channel on 5 June 1944, the day before he went ashore on D-Day. He was killed in action three days later.
George Metcalf Archival Collection CWM19800396a |
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Good NewsLance Corporal Martyn was captured at Hong Kong in 1941. In this letter fragment, his father writes upon receiving news that Martyn has been released and will be returning home.
George Metcalf Archival Collection CWM 19810276-039 |
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Journals
Excerpts from the Diary of Harry White, prisoner of war at Hong Kong:
Oct. 10, 1943
We were allowed to send 10 messages for the Cndns. And Bardal let me send one
because I had not received any mail as yet. Hope it gets through. Rations very
low, nothing but rice and "green horror" (a name we have for the watery greens
we have to eat).
Nov. 12, 1943
Work party calls for 500 men these days, have to use many sick men. Badger died.
A full blooded Indian, one of my men, from Kamsack, Sask. I was in charge of
his funeral. We held a quiet service in the chapel. The Padre (Chaplain) is
with us. He reads a short sermon, we cover up the grave, blow a bugle call (the
Last Post), and that's the end of another good Canadian. Often wonder if they
will bury me up there some day.
May 14, 1945
Jack Poole started a little boxing class. Corrigan, Prendergast and I doing
a little. Am in rotten shape for it though.
May 15, 1945
My little Kerry's birthday past, he is 8 years old. Hell, I've missed a lot
of his life. How much longer will we be stuck in here?
May 18, 1945
Cracked my rib boxing. Guess our bones are very brittle these days. |
