HOME FRONT
Munitions
The federal government created the new Department of Munitions and Supply in April 1940 to control the production of munitions for Canada. This department not only equipped Canada's armed forces but also got orders from other countries.
By 1945 Canada's war productio n was fourth among the Allied nations, less only than that of the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. Only 30% of this was needed for Canada's armed forces: the remainder went overseas (aircrafts, ships). Canada produced 815,729 military vehicles, including 45,710 armored vehicles. Canadian-made vehicles were important in equipping the British Eighth Army in North Africa and Italy. Canada also produced rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, antitank guns and antiaircraft guns, as well as the multipurpose 25-pounder artillery piece.
The federal government created the new Department of Munitions and Supply in April 1940 to control the production of munitions for Canada. This department not only equipped Canada's armed forces but also got orders from other countries.
By 1945 Canada's war productio n was fourth among the Allied nations, less only than that of the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. Only 30% of this was needed for Canada's armed forces: the remainder went overseas (aircrafts, ships). Canada produced 815,729 military vehicles, including 45,710 armored vehicles. Canadian-made vehicles were important in equipping the British Eighth Army in North Africa and Italy. Canada also produced rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, antitank guns and antiaircraft guns, as well as the multipurpose 25-pounder artillery piece.
Women and the War on the Home Front
With so many men absent from home in the armed forces and with industries pushing for more production, the Canadian government actively urged women to work in the war effort.
In 1942 Ottawa registered all women between ages 20 to 24, into the Selective Service to meet possible labour shortages. In 1943-1944, about 439,000 women were in the service sectors of the Canadian economy. Another 373,000 had jobs in manufacturing, and of these about 261,000 worked directly in the munitions industries, a large number doing tasks traditionally considered to belong to men. Women, for example, worked in shipyards and in the smelter at Sudbury, and made up 30% of the workforce in Canada's aircraft industry.
A lot of women worked in the home or on farms, and often combined this with volunteer work with the Red Cross or in military canteens. They also helped to prepare packages for the military overseas.
With so many men absent from home in the armed forces and with industries pushing for more production, the Canadian government actively urged women to work in the war effort.
In 1942 Ottawa registered all women between ages 20 to 24, into the Selective Service to meet possible labour shortages. In 1943-1944, about 439,000 women were in the service sectors of the Canadian economy. Another 373,000 had jobs in manufacturing, and of these about 261,000 worked directly in the munitions industries, a large number doing tasks traditionally considered to belong to men. Women, for example, worked in shipyards and in the smelter at Sudbury, and made up 30% of the workforce in Canada's aircraft industry.
A lot of women worked in the home or on farms, and often combined this with volunteer work with the Red Cross or in military canteens. They also helped to prepare packages for the military overseas.
Volunteering
Many people across the country who were too young or too old, or not physically capable for active military service joined student cadet corps and reserve military units to carry out evening and weekend service. A lot of community and religious groups volunteered by knitting warm woolen clothing, collecting books and newspapers, or baking cookies and other treats to send to the soldiers serving at the fighting fronts.
Shipping and Shipbuilding
After the fall of France in May 1940, it became a priority to increase shipping fleet, to replace ships lost, and to make sure that there were naval escort vessels to guard convoys against German submarines.
Canada in 1940 had just started to build patrol vessels for the protection of its own coasts, but Britain soon placed orders for 26 ten-thousand-tones cargo ships and soon after orders for naval escorts and minesweepers.
Before that time Canadian shipbuilding industry had only 3 shipyards employing less than 4,000 men. During the war it expanded to 90 plants on the East and West Coasts, the Great Lakes and even inland. More than 126,000 men and women were employed. In all, the shipyards built 4,047 naval vessels, most of them landing craft but including over 300 anti-submarine warships, among them 4 Tribal class destroyers, and 410 cargo ships. At its wartime peak in September 1943, the industry was able to deliver the ten-thousand-tones SS Fort Romaine in a stunning 58 days from the start of construction.
Park Steamship Company was created to control the operation of cargo vessels. The Park fleet of 176 vessels made 936 wartime voyages carrying munitions and supplies all over the world.
Many people across the country who were too young or too old, or not physically capable for active military service joined student cadet corps and reserve military units to carry out evening and weekend service. A lot of community and religious groups volunteered by knitting warm woolen clothing, collecting books and newspapers, or baking cookies and other treats to send to the soldiers serving at the fighting fronts.
Shipping and Shipbuilding
After the fall of France in May 1940, it became a priority to increase shipping fleet, to replace ships lost, and to make sure that there were naval escort vessels to guard convoys against German submarines.
Canada in 1940 had just started to build patrol vessels for the protection of its own coasts, but Britain soon placed orders for 26 ten-thousand-tones cargo ships and soon after orders for naval escorts and minesweepers.
Before that time Canadian shipbuilding industry had only 3 shipyards employing less than 4,000 men. During the war it expanded to 90 plants on the East and West Coasts, the Great Lakes and even inland. More than 126,000 men and women were employed. In all, the shipyards built 4,047 naval vessels, most of them landing craft but including over 300 anti-submarine warships, among them 4 Tribal class destroyers, and 410 cargo ships. At its wartime peak in September 1943, the industry was able to deliver the ten-thousand-tones SS Fort Romaine in a stunning 58 days from the start of construction.
Park Steamship Company was created to control the operation of cargo vessels. The Park fleet of 176 vessels made 936 wartime voyages carrying munitions and supplies all over the world.
The Canadian Japanese during WWII
With news of the attack on the American naval base at Hawaii on December 7, 1941, years of smoldering fear and resentment against Japanese Canadians exploded into panic and anger in British Columbia.
At the time there were about 22,000 Japanese Canadians in British Columbia, some descendants of the first immigrants who sought work in Canada in the late 1800s. From the beginning, these newcomers had been subject to intense discrimination by a largely white Canadian society.
Within days of the Pearl Harbor attack, Canadian Pacific Railways fired all its Japanese workers, and most other Canadian industries followed themt. Japanese fishermen in British Columbia were ordered to stay in port, and 1,200 fishing boats were seized by the Canadian navy.
Persecution intensified on December 18th, 1941 when Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong and killed or imprisoned most of the 2,000 Canadian soldiers defending the island.
On January 14, 1942, a 100-mile wide strip along the coast was designated a "protected area" by the federal government and all male Japanese Canadians between the ages of 18 and 45 were to be removed from the area and taken to road camps in the interior
On March 4, 1942, all people of Japanese racial origin were told to leave the protected area. A dusk to dawn curfew was imposed and enforced by police. Most of the Japanese with either naturalized citizens or born in Canada. Japanese Canadians were told to pack a single suitcase each and taken to holding areas, to wait for trains to take them inland. Vancouver's Hastings Park was one of areas where families waited, sometimes for months, to be relocated.
After months in animal stalls, the Japanese-Canadians were shipped on sealed trains to the interior Husbands and wives, parents and children were separated -- the men to work on road gangs: women and children to shantytowns in the B.C. wilderness.
In January 1943, the Canadian government authorized the sale of all the properties seized from Japanese Canadians. The homes, cars, businesses and personal property left behind were sold for a nothing. The lives Japanese Canadians had built in Canada were erased.
The movement of 23,000 Japanese Canadians during the war was the largest mass exodus in Canadian history.
After the war, the federal government decided to remove all Japanese Canadians from British Columbia. They forced them to choose between deportation to war-ravaged Japan or dispersal east of the Rocky Mountains. Most chose the latter, moving to Ontario, Québec and the Prairie provinces.
Public protest would eventually stop the deportations, but not before 4,000 Japanese Canadians left the country. On 1 April 1949, Japanese Canadians regained their freedom to live anywhere in Canada.
With news of the attack on the American naval base at Hawaii on December 7, 1941, years of smoldering fear and resentment against Japanese Canadians exploded into panic and anger in British Columbia.
At the time there were about 22,000 Japanese Canadians in British Columbia, some descendants of the first immigrants who sought work in Canada in the late 1800s. From the beginning, these newcomers had been subject to intense discrimination by a largely white Canadian society.
Within days of the Pearl Harbor attack, Canadian Pacific Railways fired all its Japanese workers, and most other Canadian industries followed themt. Japanese fishermen in British Columbia were ordered to stay in port, and 1,200 fishing boats were seized by the Canadian navy.
Persecution intensified on December 18th, 1941 when Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong and killed or imprisoned most of the 2,000 Canadian soldiers defending the island.
On January 14, 1942, a 100-mile wide strip along the coast was designated a "protected area" by the federal government and all male Japanese Canadians between the ages of 18 and 45 were to be removed from the area and taken to road camps in the interior
On March 4, 1942, all people of Japanese racial origin were told to leave the protected area. A dusk to dawn curfew was imposed and enforced by police. Most of the Japanese with either naturalized citizens or born in Canada. Japanese Canadians were told to pack a single suitcase each and taken to holding areas, to wait for trains to take them inland. Vancouver's Hastings Park was one of areas where families waited, sometimes for months, to be relocated.
After months in animal stalls, the Japanese-Canadians were shipped on sealed trains to the interior Husbands and wives, parents and children were separated -- the men to work on road gangs: women and children to shantytowns in the B.C. wilderness.
In January 1943, the Canadian government authorized the sale of all the properties seized from Japanese Canadians. The homes, cars, businesses and personal property left behind were sold for a nothing. The lives Japanese Canadians had built in Canada were erased.
The movement of 23,000 Japanese Canadians during the war was the largest mass exodus in Canadian history.
After the war, the federal government decided to remove all Japanese Canadians from British Columbia. They forced them to choose between deportation to war-ravaged Japan or dispersal east of the Rocky Mountains. Most chose the latter, moving to Ontario, Québec and the Prairie provinces.
Public protest would eventually stop the deportations, but not before 4,000 Japanese Canadians left the country. On 1 April 1949, Japanese Canadians regained their freedom to live anywhere in Canada.
~ Denis K.