Wars | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Bomarc Missile Crisis

    The CIM-10B Bomarc was the world’s first long-range, nuclear capable, ground-to-air anti-aircraft missile. Two squadrons of the missile were purchased and deployed by the Canadian government in 1958. This was part of Canada’s role during the Cold War to defend North America against an attack from the Soviet Union. Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s refusal to equip the missiles with nuclear warheads led to a souring of Canada’s relationship with the United States, especially once the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the issue to the fore. The issue split Diefenbaker’s Cabinet and contributed to his party losing the 1963 election.

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  • Article

    Bren Gun Scandal

    When Canada prepared to produce Bren guns in the lead up to the Second World War, corruption allegations against the process were published. A royal commission was set up by the government but found no evidence of corruption.

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  • Article

    British Commonwealth Air Training Plan

    In 1939, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia signed an agreement creating the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). Located in Canada, the plan's mandate was to train Allied aircrews for the Second World War, including pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, wireless operators, air gunners, and flight engineers. More than 130,000 crewmen and women were trained between 1939 and 1945, making this one of Canada's great contributions to Allied victory in the war. It led United States President Franklin Roosevelt to call Canada the "aerodrome of democracy."

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/6a823326-afa8-474e-a4e7-8b72b9a5dd53.jpg British Commonwealth Air Training Plan

  • Article

    Brock's Monument, Queenston Heights

    The monument to Sir Isaac Brock stands atop Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment at Queenston Heights, overlooking the lower Niagara River. The current monument is the second erected in Canada to honour Brock, a military commander who died during the Battle of Queenston Heights in the War of 1812.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/da5bc151-a17e-4794-9d5d-fd6eb47e06f9.jpg Brock's Monument, Queenston Heights

  • Article

    Camp X

    Camp X — a popular name that reflects the secrecy surrounding its activities — was a training school for covert agents and a radio communications centre that operated close to Whitby, Ontario, during the Second World War. It was the first such purpose-built facility constructed in North America. Known officially as STS (Special Training School) 103, Camp X was one of several dozen around the world that served the needs of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the British agency created in 1940 to “set Europe ablaze” by promoting sabotage and subversion behind enemy lines. The radio communications centre, with its high-speed transmitter known as Hydra, was closely linked with British Security Co-Ordination (BSC), the New York-based agency directed by the Winnipeg-born businessman William Stephenson. Soviet defector Igor Gouzenko was hidden there after his defection in September 1945.

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  • Article

    Canada and Antisubmarine Warfare during the Cold War

    During the Cold War, the Canadian Navy played a crucial role in antisubmarine warfare (ASW), working closely with its allies to patrol and monitor the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for Soviet submarine activity. Canada invested in new technology and continually modernized its fleet of ships and aircraft to better detect and counter Soviet submarines. It also operated strategic warning systems with its allies, particularly the United States. By the end of the Cold War, Canada had developed a very high reputation in the field.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/9f869e07-d522-4293-927d-787f3be65104.jpg Canada and Antisubmarine Warfare during the Cold War

  • Article

    Canada and Antisubmarine Warfare in the First World War

    When the First World War began in August 1914, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was unprepared to fight a war at sea. Founded only in 1910, it consisted of two obsolete cruisers, HMCS Niobe and HMCS Rainbow, and about 350 regular sailors, augmented by 250 reservists. During the war, it was assigned a growing number of tasks, which it was ill-equipped to perform. This included protecting Canadian coastal waters against German U-boats. The RCN scrambled to find ships and sailors but was ill-equipped to fight enemy submarines, which sank several vessels in Canadian waters in 1918.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/ASW/VictoryBondsPosterLlandoveryCastle1918.jpg Canada and Antisubmarine Warfare in the First World War

  • Article

    Canada and Gas Warfare

    Poison gas was used throughout the First World War by almost all armies. Its widespread use was unique in the history of warfare. The various types of gas, delivered by canisters, projectors, or shell, killed, maimed, and wore down morale. By 1918, soldiers of all armies encountered gas frequently while serving at the Western Front. Canadian soldiers were among the first to face the death clouds, at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. At least 11,572 Canadian soldiers were casualties of poison gas, yet many were denied pensions after the war. During the Second World War, chemical weapons were not used on the battlefield; however, the Suffield Experimental Station in Alberta developed and tested chemical and biological weapons beginning in 1941. From about the middle of the 20th century, Canadian officials worked on the global stage to ban chemical weapons, and in the 1990s, Canada signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (see Arms Control and Disarmament.)

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  • Article

    Canada and SOSUS

    The Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) was a network of passive sonar stations established by the United States Navy (USN) in the early 1950s to “listen” for Soviet submarines. SOSUS was a core element of antisubmarine warfare (ASW) during the Cold War. It developed out of intense postwar oceanographic research into how sound is propagated under water. Given Canada’s shared responsibility for the defence of North America, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was actively engaged in this research and mission and helped operate SOSUS. The mission was highly classified throughout the Cold War and only declassified in 1991. SOSUS became part of the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS), a broader network of fixed and towed sensors that remains operational. 

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  • Article

    Canada and the Battle of the Atlantic (Plain-Language Summary)

    The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest battle of the Second World War. It lasted between 3 September 1939 and 8 May 1945. The Atlantic Ocean was important for the Allies because they needed to send supplies and people by ship from North America to Europe. German U-boats (submarines) attacked and sank many of these ships. Canada played an important role in the Battle of the Atlantic. The Canadian navy and air force protected convoys of supply ships and hunted U-boats. The Canadian merchant navy transported troops, food and other supplies. (This is a plain-language summary of the Battle of the Atlantic. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Canada and the Battle of the Atlantic.) 

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/8cb80cb6-7ee5-4b1d-b742-922466dbc5f3.jpg Canada and the Battle of the Atlantic (Plain-Language Summary)

  • Article

    Canada and the Battle of the Scheldt

    The Battle of the Scheldt was fought in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands in 1944 during the Second World War. It was part of the Allied campaign to liberate northwestern Europe and defeat Nazi Germany. The First Canadian Army played a crucial role in clearing the Scheldt of German forces, opening crucial supply lines via the port of Antwerp. However, this victory came at a cost. The Allies suffered nearly 13,000 casualties during the battle, including more than 6,300 Canadians.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/BattleScheldt/Graves_Battle_Scheldt.jpg Canada and the Battle of the Scheldt

  • Article

    Canada and the Cold War (Plain Language Summary)

    During the Cold War, most of the world was divided into two camps. The "West" was led by the US and the "East" was led by the Soviet Union. Canada sided with the West. The Cold War started after the Second World War. It ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. There was no direct or "hot" war between the two superpowers. But tensions were high, and people were afraid of nuclear war. Some smaller wars were fought, like the Korean War. (This article is a plain-language summary of the Cold War. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Canada and the Cold War.) 

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/CubanMissileCrisis/7322067464_e858ddfc17_z.jpg Canada and the Cold War (Plain Language Summary)

  • Article

    Canada and the Dutch Hunger Winter

    The Dutch Hunger Winter was a severe food crisis that took place in the Netherlands in 1944–45, during the Second World War. By the time the country was liberated by Canadian and Allied forces in May 1945, around 20,000 Dutch people had died from the famine. With liberation came an influx of food and other provisions for the starving population. The Canadian role in liberating the Netherlands resulted in a lasting relationship between the two countries.

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  • Macleans

    Canada Likely to Join US in War against Iraq

    This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on September 23, 2002. Partner content is not updated. IT WAS BY MOST ACCOUNTS an uncomfortable meeting when Jean CHRÉTIEN sat down with George W. Bush for 45 minutes in Detroit's Cobo Hall last week.

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    https://development.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Canada Likely to Join US in War against Iraq

  • Article

    Canada's Road to the Second World War

    As the threat of another world war loomed ever larger, Canadians, far from the conflict, would face a difficult choice of whether to stand again with Britain or remain isolated and safe in North America.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/Twitter_Cards/Wartime leaders.jpg Canada's Road to the Second World War