The Canadian Home Front I

The Role of Women I

• Overseas– 1941, first time in Canadian history that there was “official” women’s

branches of the army, air force, and navy• Canadian Women’s Army Corps – CWAC• RCAF – Women’s Division• Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service – Wrens

– By the end WWII, 46,000 Canadian women served overseas• They did everything from act as cooks, nurses, mechanics, radar operators,

coastal defences, and even pilots– Also worked with GB, USA, & AUS women in Special Operations Executive

(SOE) as secret agents & top secret radar station operators (Battle of Britain)

Role of Women II

• The Home Front:– Much like WWI, there was a dramatic increase of women in

the workforce• Factories were operating 7 days a week @ 12 hrs/day• 1944: over 1 million women in the Canadian Workforce

– Not all that “great”• Women were not getting paid as much for doing the same work as

men• CAN gov’t did provide tax breaks and daycare during the war

– End of WWII, these provisions were taken away; though women would not stay employed and return to “family life”

The Canadian Home Front II

• Production:– Start of WWII, economic Depression of 1930s = over as

economy was focussing on the production of wartime supplies• Canadian industry played a great role in war effort

– Factories created bombs, bullets, ships, aircraft, and armoured cars• Auto factories were re-tooled to produce the needed

materials for the battle front– “Total war effort” was the result of Canadian industrial

focus during the wartime effort

Production II

• Canadian Government:– A much greater role was being played by the CAN gov’t

• Crown Corporations were established all in an effort to dedicate to all aspects of wartime production

– Rationing programs were established:• Restrictions on gas, coffee, tea, butter, milk, sugar, and meat

– War Supply Board was established• Managed by C.D. Howe

– Given almost “dictatorial” powers • Goal: Organize Canadian industry in a manner that ensure

that production was geared at war effort• Funding: War bonds, taxes, and gold payments from GB

Production III

• Lend Lease Act, 1941:– Allied countries were allowed to buy supplies from

USA without having to pay up front• This worried PM King, as maybe Canadian materials

would no longer be bought by Allied countries – PM King and Pres. Roosevelt signed the Hyde Park

Declaration• USA would buy more raw materials from Canada, and

would supply CAN with American parts for weapons manufacturing

The Canadian Home Front III

• Propaganda:– In an effort to promote the war effort at home,

government agencies used propaganda to convey a message• This message was not always “truthful”

– National Film Board of Canada developed films and posters to create a negative image of the enemy, and to discourage Canadians from carelessly talking about wartime matters

Propaganda II

• Examples of WWII Propaganda

• http://www3.nfb.ca/ww2/home-front/propaganda-the-battle-for-hearts-and-minds.htm?pext=1&view=695937&subview=extraits&subtype=extraits&autoplay=1#aPlayback

The Canadian Home Front IV

• British Commonwealth Air Training Plan:– Established in Canada in 1939, these were

facilities used to train pilots from Canada and other Commonwealth countries• 1942, huge demand for pilots as Allied countries began

systematic bombings of German cities– End of WWII, 130,000 air personnel were trained

at over 230 sites across Canada

The Canadian Home Front V

• Camp X:– Special training facility located outside of Oshawa, Ont

• Opened a few days after attack on Pearl Harbour– CAN, GB, & USA spies were trained at the top-secret school

• Most CAN gov’t officials did not know that Camp X existed– 500 agents were trained here to work around the world

• Camp X had a top secret communications centre, where a complex radio (Hydra) intercepted enemy signals and transmitted information between North America & Britain

The Canadian Home Front VI• Conscription:

– 1939, PM King promised in election that he would not introduce conscription for overseas duty• 1940, King introduced the National Resource Mobilization Act, this required

all men to help with the war effort, but not overseas duty…– 1942, need for more troops overseas

• King held a plebiscite (vote on a single issue), asking Canadians to release him from his “promise”

– Most of CAN “ok” with this, French Canadians were not on board• End of WWII: CAN sent 13,000 conscribed troops overseas, only 2,000 saw

battle– Compared to WWI Conscription Crisis of 1917, King avoided breaking

ties with French Canada, instead he only “strained” them…

Discrimination in CAN WWII• As was the case during WWI, CAN gov’t required groups of

Canadians whose ancestry was of one of the enemy countries in WWII to register as “enemy aliens”– 100,000 registered, 650 went to interment camps

• Pro-Nazi & Communist political parties were banned in CAN• Religious groups who practiced pacifism (opposed to war &

violence) were met with open hostility– Inc. Jehovah Witnesses, Quakers, Hutterites, Mennonites, &

Doukhobors– Many of these people avoided military service as they stated they were

“conscientious objectors”• Had to appear in front of a judge, then offered public service work in lieu of

military service

Discrimination II

• Prior to 1942, there was outright discrimination towards black Canadians– As the war progressed and black and white

Canadians served together, black Canadians demanded equality in other areas

• Similarly, aboriginal people believed that as long as they were willing to fight, that they should also share in the same rights as all Canadian citizens

Discrimination III

• There was also prejudice against refugees from Europe (people who were fleeing persecution) – CAN made it difficult for Jewish people to enter the country

• Anti-Semitism in & around WWII– One of the most horrifying legacy of the Nazi war campaign was their attempt

to eliminate Europe’s Jewish Population (Holocaust – more on that later)• Many Jewish people fled from Europe to avoid this

– Anti-Semitism existed in CAN before WWII (“No Jews Allowed”)• British & American immigrants were welcomed, immigrants of “other” backgrounds

were discouraged– 1938, Canadian League of Nations Society met with PM King to accept Jewish

refugees on humanitarian grounds• CAN gov’t official “We don’t want to take too many Jews, but in the present

circumstances particularly, we don’t want to say so..” And when asked how many “None is too many.”

Discrimination IV

• Japanese Internment:– History:• 1907, race riot in Vancouver; 5,000 racist Canadians

smashed windows of Japanese homes & stores– White Canadians were upset at Japanese taking their jobs

• 1928, PM King limited number of Japanese allowed in CAN; 150 per year• Prior to WWII, Japanese and Chinese Canadians were

denied right to vote, and not permitted to join the armed forces

Japanese Internment II

• Post Pearl Harbour:– People feared that Japanese Canadians might supply Japan with

information or even help invade Canada– 1942, interment began:

• Japanese Canadians lost their rights• Men, women, & children were photographed, fingerprinted, and given an

identification number• Forced to carry ID cards at all times

– Japanese Canadians were forced to choose between deportation to Japan, or relocation away from the west coast – relocation was the popular choice• 22,000 Japanese Canadians (14,000 who were born in CAN) were sent to interment

camps• Located in BC Interior, Kootneys, & Caribou regions

– Okanagan Valley “work camps” for Japanese to work in orchards– David Suzuki (third generation Canadian)

Internment III

• 1943, CAN gov’t passed a law called Custodian of Aliens Act– Allowed possessions of Japanese Canadians to be sold without their

permission• Suzuki family dry cleaning business was sold while family at internment camp in Slocan

Valley (Interior of BC)– Items sold quickly, often at ridiculously low levels

• Money raised paid for auctioneers, real estate agents, and storage of goods = rent to stay at internment camps

• 1944, law passed stating that Japanese could be deported to Japan if they did not leave BC – even if they were born in Canada

• 1946, end of WWII, Japanese released from internment camps• Compensation, 1988:

– 46 years after the first internment camp, PM Brian Mulroney signed a compensation package of $21,000 for every internee’s survivor ($12 million paid out in total) for all they endured during the war…