World War II

World War II - Synopsis

Author’s Disclaimer: World War II has had its history and all pre- and post-war events researched, documented and a multitude of books and movies developed as a result. The various elements of all the affected countries’ military, their political and civilian involvement and impact have been explored as well. In an attempt to lessen the reading involved and retain your interest, many battles and details are intentionally left out. This is in no means an attempt to downplay the importance of the event or those involved. My synopsis of World War II is solely reflective on the events that involved or impacted our Grandpa’s experience. The story of the Calgary Highlanders after Grandpa transferred to the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps in June 1943 is the only exception.

World War II

The German Army invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 smashing Polish troops enroute to Warsaw in an effort to annex Poland into Germany. On 10 September 1939 Canada declared war on Germany. The Canadian Government had committed to once again coming to the aid of Britain by supplying necessary support.

On 10 May 1940 Germany advanced on the Netherlands, Belgium and occupied Denmark. The German Army then spearheaded into France capturing Paris then turning northward toward the coast. The British Expeditionary Force which included members of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division was backed onto Dunkirk.

Operation Sealion was the German plan to invade England but Hitler would not commit ground troops until air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF) was obtained. The Battle of Britain began on 10 July 1940 and continued until 31 October 1940. The German Blitz would continue until May 1941 however the Germans would continue to bomb England until March 1945. Due to the fact that air superiority could not be achieved and the RAF carried out strategic bombings of supply barges and port cities such as Dunkirk, Hitler postponed Operation Sealion and diverted his attention to the Eastern Front and an invasion of Russia.

The Canadian Government had committed four Divisions of ground troops – the 4^th Division being an armoured division. Each Division consisted of three brigades of four battalions. Each battalion consisted of close to 1000 soldiers. 

The 1st Division was sent to England starting in December 1939; the 2^nd Division deployed beginning in June 1940; the 3^rd Division in July 1941 and 4^th Canadian (Armoured) Division in July 1942. The time spent in England was split between training and coastal defence. (Pictured: Members of the 3rd Division arriving in Gourock, Scotland) 

On 19 August 1942 the failed invasion at Dieppe took place. Soldiers from six battalions of the 2^nd Division as well as members of the Calgary Regiment (Tank) participated in the attack. Of the nearly 5000 Canadian troops involved 916 lost their lives, 1321 were wounded and 1946 were taken prisoner.           

The 1^st Canadian Infantry Division was dispatched to Sicily in July 1943 as part of the British 8^th Army to engage the German forces in the Mediterranean war theatre. The strategy was to spread out the German forces, alleviate pressure on the Soviets on the Eastern Front and thin German defences to assist in the planned assault on NW Europe in June 1944. The 5^th Canadian Armoured Division joined the 1^st Canadian Infantry Division in Italy to form the 1^st Canadian Corps. The Canadians fought in Italy until February 1945.

The 2^nd Canadian Corps role was to assist the allies in securing a foothold in France then advance eastward on the left of the British troops clearing the coastal ports to and through the Netherlands. The British, with the American forces on their right, would push eastward into Germany to meet with the Soviet’s westward advancement at Berlin. This would crush the German forces and bring the war to an end.

On 6 June 1940 the 3^rd Canadian Infantry Division were involved in the invasion of Normandy by attacking at Juno beach. Once Caen was captured the 2^nd and 4^th Divisions would be sent from England to join the Allies in the North West European campaign. The 10 week Normandy campaign would cost the Canadian Forces 18,000 casualties – 5,000 of which were fatal. In September 1944 the Canadians would advance northward along the Channel coast liberating Boulogne and Calais. At Pas-de-Calais the Germans had installed the launching sites of the V1 bombers. The “Buzz Bomb” or “Doodle Bug” was a jet propelled bomb that was flown across the Channel toward English towns. Once it ran out of fuel, the bomber would fall towards the earth unleashing one ton of explosives on impact. Beginning in June of 1944 over 8,000 V1 bombers were launched. The Canadians were able to overrun the launching sites and clear the Pas-de-Calais region by 7^th September while advancing northward along the coast French and Belgian coast.

The German port strategy was to destroy ports they had once controlled as the Allies forced them out. The Germans had done this at the port cities of Le Havre, Dieppe, Boulogne, Calais and Breskins. The English had captured Antwerp with its ports still intact. Antwerp provided a main shipping hub that had the capabilities of feeding the advancing Allied armies and allowing much need supplies to reach the troops quicker and easier than via ground transport from Cherbourg in NW France. The only stumbling block was that both shores of the 70 kilometre long Scheldt River estuary that connects Antwerp to the North Sea were held firmly in German hands.

The Germans were in a full out retreat of the area and it could have been easily captured had it not been for a change in Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery’s plans. He believed the Germans were on the verge of defeat and a quick thrust into Northern Germany would bring about their collapse. Operation Market Garden began 17 September and was deemed a failure three days later.

The diversion allowed the Germans to regroup and strengthen their defences on the Walcheren Island, South Beveland and the Breskins area. Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had pressured Field General Montgomery to secure access to Antwerp. The need to have the supply route was critical to defeating the German forces as supplies for the allied forces were getting critically low. Beginning 1 October 1940, it took the Canadian’s 2^nd Division with Allied support until 8 November and 6300 casualties to secure the north shore of the Scheldt estuary – in particular the Walcheren Peninsula. The 3^rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 4^th Canadian Armoured Division fought in clearing the south shore of the Scheldt estuary. Fighting began in October 1944 and by 3 November the Germans were cleared from the northeast corner of Belgium. By 28 November the Scheldt estuary was cleared of mines and shipping access to Antwerp was secured. The winter of 1944 was to be the coldest in the 40 years prior and supplies reaching the Allies could not have come at a more critical time.

A little more than two weeks later, on 16 December, the German forces initiated a massive counteroffensive maneuver by means of a surprise Blitzkrieg. With three armies (a quarter million men) the Germans were determined to split the Allied forces in Western Europe by attacking through the forests of the Ardennes Mountains and driving straight through to Antwerp. Historically, this strategy proved successful for the Germans on three previous occasions: in September 1870, August 1914 and May 1940. Supplies to battle the counter offensive had to be dropped by air to the Allied troops. Eventually the Germans had ran out of fuel, ammunition and men and the Battle of the Bulge ended 25 January 1945. The American forces sustained 100,000 casualties in the fight. Halting the German counteroffensive allowed the commencement of the Allied plan to advance eastward to Berlin.

On February 8, 1945 the fighting continued for the Canadians as the drive into the Rhineland region of Germany and the Netherlands continued for the 1^st Canadian Army. It looked as though the Nazis were losing their grip on the war and an end to the conflict was attainable. With this in mind there was a great deal of pressure to reunite the Canadian forces and have them fight as a single army once again. Operation Goldflake oversaw the removal of 60,000 troops and equipment from Italy over a six-week period beginning in February 1945. All the troops were brought through Naples or Leghorn (now Livorno) to Marseilles and slingshot to Belgium via the Rhone River valley over the following five days.

The 5^th Canadian Armoured Division moved 20,000 troops, 5600 wheeled vehicles, 450 tanks and 320 carriers by rail, road and sea. The first convey left Leghorn on 15 February and arrived in Dixmude, Belgium 12 days later. The 1^st Canadian Infantry Division, left operational in the line in Italy until late February, embarked beginning 7 March and was located in the Reichswald a month later.

It looked as though victory was nearing. The Russians were poised 65 kilometres east of Berlin with two million soldiers, 41,000 guns, 6,300 tanks and 500 aircraft awaiting to attack. The Americans had crossed the Rhine with two armies advancing eastward to Austria and Czechoslovakia while another two were to encircle the Germans at the Ruhr region. To the north, the British army was advancing northeast toward Hamburg and Denmark. To their left the Canadians now fighting as a unified army were given the task of liberating the Netherlands and advancing toward the North Sea to prevent the Germans from retreating into Germany.

The 1^st Canadian Corps was responsible for moving from Nijmegen to Arnhem then curling into the northwest Netherlands to clear the remaining German forces from the areas including Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The 2^nd Canadian Corps, with the 5^th Canadian Armoured Division now attached to it, advanced into the northeastern Netherlands region. The 2^nd Canadian Corps would then advance east into Germany.

On April 30, 1945 Adolf Hitler committed suicide in Berlin. The Russians made it to Berlin prior to the Americans and the Third Reich was beginning to crumble. 

The winter of 1944 was harsh on the Dutch people. Starvation among the civilians had reached a crisis point with many resorting to eating tulip bulbs. On the same day Hitler ended his life, the Germans, not wanting to be responsible for a catastrophic disaster in Holland, signed a truce with the Allies to cease fighting for one week in order to allow the Allies to bring in supplies to feed the Dutch populace. Supplies were brought in by air and by ground – the ground transport was the responsibility of the Royal Canadian Service Corps. By 8 May deliveries had totalled 11 million rations. Unfortunately 22,000 civilians had died of starvation however 4.5 million were saved as a result of the truce.

The truce signified the beginning of the end of the conflict and negotiations continued from there. On 4 May 1945 news came over the BBC that Admiral Friedeberg had met with Montgomery and had proposed the surrender of all German forces in northwest Europe. The surrender was to take effect the following morning at 08:00. Montgomery accepted.

In Wageningen on 5 May 1945 Lieutenant General Charles Foulkes of the 1^st Canadian Corps met with General Johannes Blaskowitz to review the conditions of the surrender of the German 25^th Army in the Netherlands. Major General Guy Simonds of the 2^nd Canadian Corps met with General Erich von Straube at Bad Zwischenahn to do the same.

On 7 May German Field Marshal Alfred Jodl signed the final document of capitulation at General Eisenhower’s headquarters at Rheims. The ceasefire would take effect 8 May at midnight. The BBC announced that 8 May would be celebrated as Victory in Europe Day. The war in Europe was now over. 

Over 1.1 million Canadians served in World War II. 44,000 lost their lives and another 55,000 were wounded.