War World II
Life In Canada
1939-1945
At War Again
Most Canadians understood and believed in the
purpose of WWII but were not happy to be at
war again
WWII ended the suffering of the Great
Depression but it brought different hardships
Men and women in the armed forces were in
danger
Family and friends at home worried about their
safety
Lack of supplies for both the armed forces and
civilians
Governing Canada
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King set
up new departments to handle new challenges
associated with going to war:
Producing materials
Finding the money to pay for war
Setting up new factories and keeping factories
working
Recruiting and training armed forces
Managing information that was given to citizens
Uniting the country behind the war effort
Producing Materials
Exportation of many products increased:
– Wheat
– Automobiles
– Pulp and Paper
– Meats
– Aluminum
– Fish
– Lumber
– Fishery products
– Milk products and eggs
Value rose steadily
Producing Materials
126, 000 men and women built ships in the yards from
Nova Scotia to British Columbia
Canada’s Production record
– Aircraft 16,000
– Rifles 900,000
– Military vehicles 815,000
– Merchant ships 410
– Landing craft 3,302
– Navy Tugs 6,500
– Escort Ships 487
– Machine guns 244,000
Made uniforms
Challenges
Finding the money to buy things such as
munitions, food, uniforms, tanks, planes, fuel
and ships
People serving in the armed forces also needed
to be paid
Income tax – helped pay for some of the war
effort
Victory Bonds – like a loan; Canadians bought
these bonds and after the war cashed them in at
a profit
War Industry
Keeping the factories going – WW2 ended
unemployment and the Depression
King set up a team of officials to tell factory
owners what they must manufacture
Crown corporations - companies owned by the
government purpose was to manufacture war
materials – car factories now made trucks and
tanks
By the end of the war, more than a million
Canadians were working in war plants
As the demand for labour increased, wages went
up - and so did prices – King set up measures
to control both
Rationing
Rationing – limited the amount of sugar, tea
coffee, butter, meat, alcohol, gas and tires the
public could buy
Ration Book was issued to
each member of the family
When a rationed product,
such as sugar, or tea was
purchased, the appropriate
stamp was removed from
the book by the
storekeeper.
Wartime Canada
Price Controls
– Good, rentals, electricity, gas, steam heat,
and water, telegraph and telephone services
Housing Problem
– Cramped
– No privacy
– Prefabricated homes – financed by the
Federal government and built by Wartime
Housing Limited
Collections
Collections
– Bones
– Rags and old clothing
– Metal scrap
– Paper
– Glass
– Rubber
Gas rationed by use or occupation
Violators of the price ceilings and rationing were fined
heavily
Urged to save metal paper glass rubber and rags so that
these could be used by factories
Telling the Story of War
Photographs
– Army photography units took most of the pictures that were
printed in newspapers, magazines and propaganda literature
Official war artists
Interviews
– Many soldiers complained that journalists often wrote stories of
the battle without ever visiting the front lines or interviewing
those who did the actual fighting
Briefings
– Information regarding the progress of the battle were given to
reporters and in turn would ask questions
Newspapers
Radios
Propaganda
Government needed to keep Canadians spirits
high
Duty to spread news that helped people feel
good about Canada’s war effort
Important to control information and tell the
story of the war the way they wanted it told
Government produce posters and
advertisements to persuade people to volunteer
for the armed forces or to help in other ways
Wartime Information Board
Created by the King government
Wrote stories and provided information
and photographs to newspaper and
magazines
Explained how well Canadian forces were
doing
Even comic books carried the message
that Canadians must pull together to fight
the enemy
Censorship
To make sure information about the war effort
wouldn’t fall into enemy hands
Approved speeches that were broadcasted
Military censors read all letters written by
members of the armed forces to make sure they
contained no information that could help the
enemy; letters written to soldiers who were in
POW camps
Stories written in the newspaper and magazines
Conscription
1940 King’s government passed the National Resources
Mobilization Act
– Men were conscripted but promised that they would be required
only to defend Canada – NOT overseas
– The term they had to serve was extended several times
As time went on, they needed more men than they had
volunteers
1942 King held a special vote on Conscription, a
Plebiscite – a direct vote on an issue of major national
importance
Canadians were asked if they were in favour of releasing
the government from its pledge that it would not
introduce conscription for overseas service
79% of English-speaking Canadians said YES and 85%
of French-speaking said NO – Canada was divided
Conscription Continued…
Opposition was strongest in Quebec, believed
that Canadians should not be forced to fight
In other some provinces the objection was much
higher – New Brunswick and Alberta
Many aboriginals opposed conscription – believe
no one should be forced to fight, especially
those who did not even have the right to vote
on the issue
1944 – King was forced to act – ordered 16,000
of them to go.
13,000 were actually sent overseas and about
2,500 reached the front lines
Women at War & Work
Served as nurses behind the front lines as
well as an active part of the armed forces
The Canadian army, air force and navy
created women’s divisions – totaled
50,000 in uniform and 4500 in medical
services
Women were urged to fill the jobs that
had been left empty by men who signed
up for the armed forces
Role of Women Continued…
Also fill new jobs in the war industries
25,000 in aircraft factories
250,000 in munitions factories, shipyards and
construction sites
800,000 worked on Canadian farms – harvested
crops, fixed machinery, operated households
and cared for children
Salaries for women rose significantly during this
time – average weekly wage was $31.00 –
double what women had earned before the war
Volunteers
Many Canadians who were too old or too young or not
physically fit to join the armed forces volunteered to do
jobs at home
33,000 volunteers on the east and west joined the
Aircraft Detection Corps – watch for enemy aircraft
Knitted socks, sweaters and other clothing for troops
overseas
Donations and bought war bonds to raise money for the
war effort
Women’s Volunteer Service – ran nurseries for the
children of women who worked in war industries
Young People
Groups across Canada who contributed to the
comfort of men overseas
– Ex. Knitting clubs and sending the clothing to the
troops
Wrote letters to boost morale
Recycling drives
– Paper
– Collect scrap material
Cadet training was mandatory for boys in many
high schools across Canada
Ontario Farm Service Force
War Measures Act
Allowed the government to suspend
Canadian rights when there was a
National emergency
– Pass censorship laws, control transportation
and production
Defined anyone who had immigrated from
Italy or Germany as an ‘Enemy Alien’ –
required to register with the RCMP and
report to the police every month
Japanese Canadians
Before WW2 – were barred from voting and were not
allowed to enter certain professions or serve in the
armed forces
Most people of Japanese decent in Canada lived in
British Columbia
Many owned small boats and fished for salmon along the
coast; worked in fish canneries; owned small plots of
land where they grew fruits and vegetables
When Japan attacked Pearl Harbour things became even
worse
Many Canadians feared that they remained loyal to
Japan
Consequences:
Fired from jobs
Possessions were seized
Registered all people of Japanese descent and
required all Japanese Canadians to carry
registration cards with their thumbprint and
photograph.
Fishing boats were impounded and those in the
fishing industry were the first to be evacuated
Japanese-language schools and newspapers
were shut down
Timeline
Jan. 14, 1942 – all male Japanese Canadians
between the ages of 18-45 were shipped to
camps in British Columbia
Feb. 26, 1942 – the rest of British Columbia’s
Japanese Canadians were sent to camps
Nearly 22,000 Japanese Canadians were forced
to leave the West Coast
Families were separated, homes and property
were seized and sold
Not until 1988 did the government apologize
and offered to compensate the survivors
Aboriginal People
Aboriginal people of military age signed up at
about the same rates as other Canadians
Joined the army because the air force and the
navy would not accept recruits who were not of
‘the white race’
Raises money and worked in factories and
shipyards
Produced extra food for the armed forces
Allowed the use of reserve land for airports, rifle
ranges and defense posts
Black Canadians
Found it harder to enlist and were rarely
promoted
Men’s Brotherhood - prepared Christmas
boxes and sent them to troops overseas
Women organized drives urging people to
buy war bonds; sewing circles that made
clothes for refugees and volunteered with
the Red Cross
Worked in war industries
Chinese Canadians
Few were allowed to join the armed forces until
1944 when Canada needed more troops
Despite discrimination they supported the war
effort
Operation Oblivion – Chinese Canadian
volunteers with a secret mission to help Chinese
troops fight the Japanese invaders – cancelled
and sent to Borneo and given little chance of
surviving – all returned and four awarded
medals
Outcome
1941 – 11.5 million – mostly in cities and
towns
Ten Year Later – 14 million and most in
Urban areas
Canada would emerge as a stronger, more
prosperous and more independent country
with a a greater awareness of human
rights