History Browser

VE Day marked the end of the war in Europe. Canadians still overseas in Paris and London as well as those at home danced in the streets. The Hamilton Spectator archived articles dealing with reactions in Eastern Canada.

For Canada and Canadians the Second World War began in Parliament. Canadian newspapers documented the changes in government and social platform during World War Two.

As World War II war drew to a close, members of all the armed forces of the Allies wanted nothing so much as to shed their uniforms, and fast. But there was not enough shipping available to bring Allied troops from all over the world as quickly as they wished.

The Liberals, headed by Prime Minister Mackenzie King, steered Canada through some rocky waters during the war years. The challenges the government faced were well documented in the English language newspapers of the time.

The Battle of the Atlantic was the struggle for control of the sea routes between the Americas and Europe and Africa. German forces attempted to break Britain’s vital supply link from the United States and Canada. During this six year conflict both sides suffered losses of personnel and materials.

Stories of the contributions of the industrial centre of Hamilton to the war effort, both through military might and industry, make up a large part of the Spectator clippings in this collection.

On 6 June 1944, Allied forces invaded Western Europe along an 80-kilometre front in Normandy, France. Of the nearly 150,000 Allied troops who landed or parachuted into the invasion area on D-Day, 14,000 were Canadians.

This article explains the history of the Cold War era of NATO, the Warsaw Pact. It focuses on Canada's role during this era. Includes a list of suggested readings.

The Royal Canadian Navy grew rapidly during the Second World War. The roles it played in military actions ranged from acting as an escort force for merchant ships to fighting German submarines and landing on the coast of German-occupied France as part of major operations. Some of the experiences of the Canadian Navy were recorded in newspapers of the time.

Almost 9,000 members of Canada’s armed forces became prisoners of the enemy during World War II, as well as several hundred Canadian civilians. Undernourishment and boredom were the prisoners' great enemies. There were worries at home about prisoners in the deteriorating conditions of 1945, but nearly all were liberated by the advancing Allied armies, including the Russian Red Army, or freed themselves when the enemy surrendered.