Lesson 5 · Discover Canada p.38–44

History III — Remembrance and the World Wars

Remembrance Day is near-certain to appear. The rest is numbers: who served, who died, which beach, which dates.

Remembrance Day

11 November, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Canadians wear the red poppy and observe a moment of silence.

The poppy means: to remember the sacrifice of Canadians who have served or died in wars up to the present day. Over a million have served; 110,000 have given their lives.

In Flanders Fields was written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian medical officer, in 1915.

p.41

A favourite wrong answer. The poppy does not honour the Sovereign, and it does not commemorate Confederation. It remembers those who served or died in all wars up to the present day — that last phrase is part of the correct answer.

Between the wars

The British Empire evolves into the British Commonwealth of Nations
The 1929 stock market crash brings the Great Depression, the "Dirty Thirties"
Unemployment reaches 27% in 1933
The Bank of Canada is created in 1934
Many refugees are turned away, including Jews fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939

The Second World War

Began in 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. More than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served from a population of 11.5 million; 44,000 were killed. p.43

Event	Detail
Hong Kong, 1941	Unsuccessful defence against Imperial Japan
Dieppe, 1942	Failed raid on the Nazi-held French coast
D-Day, 6 June 1944	15,000 Canadians captured Juno Beach. About one in ten Allied soldiers on D-Day was Canadian
1944–45	The Canadian Army liberated the Netherlands
8 May 1945	German surrender — end of six years of war in Europe
14 August 1945	Japan surrenders — end of four years of war in the Pacific

The three services

RCAF — fought in the Battle of Britain; over 130,000 Allied air crew trained in Canada under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Canada contributed more to the Allied air effort than any other Commonwealth country.
RCN — its finest hour was the Battle of the Atlantic, protecting convoys from German submarines. By war's end Canada had the third-largest navy in the world.
Merchant Navy — helped feed, clothe and resupply Britain.

Two wartime wrongs, two apologies

1914–20	Over 8,000 former Austro-Hungarian subjects, mainly Ukrainian men, interned as "enemy aliens" in 24 labour camps
1942 onward	Forcible relocation of Canadians of Japanese origin and sale of their property without compensation. Canada apologized in 1988 and compensated the victims

Drill

Primary source: Discover Canada, pages 38–44.

Three apology dates appear across the guide: 1988 (Japanese Canadians), 2006 (Chinese Head Tax), 2008 (residential schools). Ask your agent to drill just those if they slip.

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