Canadian Military History Gateway
Subject > Wars, Battles and Conflicts
Organization > Canadian War Museum
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.
Site: Canadian War Museum
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.
A new rifling system was developed at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, consisting of five deep grooves that could withstand the intense heat generated by the cordite. The result was the .303 Lee-Enfield Mark I rifle, introduced to the Canadian Army in 1896.
Photographs of Salvation Army head-dress and uniforms worn during the Second World War.
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.
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.