Some of you people need to get over the fact the US is 10x the size of Canada. You just can't rawly compare what Canada did to what the US did in WW2. It's not even close.
Really what you need to look at is the relativity of the situation. For Canada's size we accomplished one hell of a lot. And thats what we should be proud of. There's no need to base the validity of our accomplishments on a country that's 10x our size and 10x as powerful.
Dam straight brother.
What we should look at is the Devils Brigade...An American/Canadian unit that was one of the best. On thier first mission, they captured the town of (?) San Dalie (?), Italy and took 200 prisoners without losing a single man..5-6 were wounded. Pretty good show for your first time out I'd say!
Here is a fact... without Canada's contribution; The Japanese fleet would had won at Midway...
Discuss....
I study ww2 history quite deeply, but I do not see any real connection between Canada and Midway....please elaborate.
Canada had minimal part in the Battle of the Pacific and no part (that I have been able to discover) in the Battle of Midway. Midway was a victory for the United States to hold all its own as it was the only force involved in that battle against the Japanese.
Canada's only contribution to the Battle of the Pacific in the Eastern Pacific Ocean was at the Aleutian Islands where we assisted the United States with a landing operation against a Japanese outpost. In the Western Pacific, other than Hong Kong (at the start, not the liberation thereof), no other contribution really comes to mind.
In absolute terms, the US contributed more men and materials than Canada did. But Canada sent almost everything that we could while the Americans were figuring out who to side with. We were also a vital training ground for aircrews, we were the 'safe house' for the Royal family i believe, we had several POW camps, and Halifax was the staging point for many many convoys. By the end of the war we had the third largest navy in the world. The devils brigade was a fearsom group of wariors that became the foundation for the Americans Comando units. In Italy, we did a lot of the dirty work so the Brits could take the glory, unless the Americans took claim of our work first.
I don't mean to say here that America did nothing, but Canada could have done no more than what we did.
Sitting in England for 2-3 years was not what they intended for sure....but look at it from the British stand point....they were SURE the Germans would invade (operation Sealion)...who did they want around to repel the invaders? Canadians.
I got no problem with what the Canadians did in the 2nd war, it could have been more yes, and god knows the C.F. wanted to do more, but once again, for such a small country will did our share.
Canada made a huge contribution to the war effort, it was needed, without Canada maybe Sealion might have been a success?
Canadian war production was vital to the UK who stood alone in Europe against the Nazis.
It wasn't the Queen Mother who was pro Nazi, it was Edward VII, and he spent his war in defacto exile.
The Americans did a lot more in the early parts of the war than most people realise. A little known fact is that the first American warship sunk in WW2 was sunk 2 weeks before Pearl Harbour...by a German U-boat. In the 6 months leading up to dec 7, American warships were escorting allied convoys across the Atlantic.
It's easier to post this link, than to type in what I know about The Battle of the Atlantic not that I know much.
Perhaps the biggest way we contributed.
This thread is the apex of ignorance. I am a wwII buff All I have to say is the dieppe raid. Taking the city of Caen on D-day plus one=June 7th. OK sure not until mid August. THis thread makes me sick to my stomach considering what the USA did to help in the battle of the Atlantic before it even entered the war. Only Canadians of this generation could say such rude remarks. Talk to a vet fromthose times see what they say.
Chill NYCisHome, were not bashing anyone here. Dieppe was a disaster no doubt. However, lessons were learned that surely helped at Normandy.
As for the States and thier being "neutral"
*repairing British ships in American ports
*escorting convoys as far as Iceland
*transfering 2 million ton of ships
Not exactly neutral shhhh, don't tell the Germans
1st American ship sunk....june 11, 1941 Freighter Robin Moor;
Roseovelt used this as a pretext to occupy Iceland, and releive the British Garrisons there
Sept 4 U.S. Destroyer (?)Grier sunk near Iceland;
Roseovelt tells navy to shoot on sight
Oct 16 U.S. Destroyer (?)Kerney struck by German torpedo while escorting a convoy...11 die;
Rosovelt repeals the "Neutrality Act"
Oct. 30 U.S. Destroyer (?)Rueben James sunk...of a crew of 160, 45 survive.
To say that the Americans didn't do anything to help in the earlier years is, quite frankly, a crock!
I'm confused, nothing bad has been said about the US contribution to WW2 in this thread...I think you need to re-read and comprehend the posts to date in this thread NYCisHome before saying that we're trashing the United States. The only questionably worded post was the first one, but in that same post the United States did a helluva lot in WW2.