Workers on the deck of a motor torpedo boat, under construction in Montreal, Québec, Canada, 24 April 1941. Canada's role in the war was critical in the victory, providing all types of military hardware along with food, construction material, oil, medicine, clothing and valiant fighting forces.
Photo Credit: Archives Canada mikan-3205300

September 10: it’s WAR for Canada

Everyone hoped it did not come to this

But, after the obvious failure of the Munich agreement, and Germany’s invasion of Poland, Britain declared war on Germany on September 3rd.

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Workman John Hawkins of Toronto checks the tags of Bren machine-guns at the John Inglis Co. plant in Toronto. Canada produced millions of arms for the Allied war effort. © Archives Canada mikan-3197327

Unlike in WWI, this time Britain’s declaration did not automatically include Canada.  Although there was never a doubt about Canada’s commitment,  then Prime Minister Mackenzie-King wanted to assert Canadian independence on the issue and delayed for a week. On September 7, a special two-day session of the Canadian Parliament was called and gave approval for joining the war.

Canada mobilizes before Britain

The official declaration of war on Germany was made the following day, September 10.

What is little known is that even before Britain, Canada had begun a partial mobilization in August, and the Canadian Active Service Force was mobilized on September 1, two days before the British declaration of war, and well before its own declaration on September 10;

Canada was ill-prepared with a standing army of only about 4,500, and few dozen mostly outdated aircraft, and six destroyers.

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Canada produced hundreds of thousands of unique Canadian Military Pattern (CMP vehicles like this 1944 Chevrolet 60cwt restored in the 1990’s by Marc Montgomery. They erved in all theatres and with almost all allied forces including Britain, and Russia © Marc Montgomery

A nation of only about 11 million at the time, soon had one million citizen volunteers in uniform. Many other Canadians had been signed into the British Royal Air Force or served with the British army and navy.

A mostly agricultural nation at the time, Canadian industry grew exponentially and turned almost exclusively to war manufacture.

Canada produced literally millions of machine-guns, pistols, and rifles, many millions more of ammunition and shells, along with artillery pieces, naval guns, warships, armed and unarmed cargo ships, bombers (eg Lancaster), trainers and fighters (eg Hurricane,Mosquito), tanks and armoured vehicles, communications equipment, uniforms, and hundreds of thousands of cargo and specialty military trucks as well as creating the largest air crew training programme in history.

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