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Canada
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1939
September
10
Canada declares war on Germany
On 10 September 1939 Canada declared war on Germany, a week after Britain. The delay was deliberate, to show that parliament in Ottawa had decided.
16
The first HX convoy
On 16 September 1939 convoy HX 1 sailed from Halifax for Liverpool, escorted by Canadian destroyers – the start of the longest convoy series of the war.
December
18
Canadian and Indian troops reach Europe
On 17 December 1939 the 1st Canadian Division’s first flight reached Greenock, as Churchill announced. Indian mule companies landed at Marseille on 26 December.
1941
December
08
The Battle of Hong Kong begins
On 8 December 1941 Japan attacked Hong Kong. In five days it took the New Territories and Kowloon, and the defenders withdrew to Hong Kong Island.
24
The Free French on Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
On 24 December 1941 Admiral Muselier's ships took Saint-Pierre and Miquelon from Vichy without a shot. De Gaulle's move infuriated the State Department.
25
The surrender of Hong Kong
On 25 December 1941 Governor Mark Young surrendered Hong Kong. A week of fighting on the island brought massacres of prisoners, wounded and hospital staff.
1942
February
19
Conscription in Canada
In February 1942 Ottawa argued over a plebiscite to release King's government from its pledge not to send conscripts overseas. No conscription act was passed.
April
27
The Canadian conscription plebiscite
On 27 April 1942 Canadians released King's government from its pledge not to send conscripts overseas. About 64–66% voted yes; in Quebec about 72% said no.
May
12
The Battle of the St Lawrence begins
On the night of 11–12 May 1942 U-553 sank the Nicoya and the Leto off the Gaspé Peninsula. The U-boat war had reached Canada's inland waters.
August
19
Key event
The Dieppe Raid
On 19 August 1942 over 6,000 troops, mostly Canadians, landed at Dieppe. After the defeat 3,367 Canadians had been killed, wounded or captured.
September
14
Convoys PQ 18 and ON 127
On 13–14 September 1942 aircraft and U-boats sank 12 ships of convoy PQ 18 to the USSR, while a wolf pack in the mid-Atlantic mauled convoy ON 127.
October
04
The raid on Sark
On the night of 3–4 October 1942 British commandos raided the Germans on Sark. They took one prisoner; the binding and deaths of others enraged Hitler.
14
The sinking of the Caribou
On 14 October 1942 U-69 sank the ferry Caribou, bound from Sydney to Newfoundland, in the Cabot Strait. 136 or 137 people died, children among them.
1943
April
28
Closing the Atlantic air gap
In spring 1943 the Allies sent long-range Liberators, escort carriers and support groups over the mid-Atlantic. On 28 April U-boats sighted convoy ONS 5.
July
10
Key event
The landing in Sicily
On 10 July 1943 the Allies landed in Sicily: Montgomery’s Eighth Army in the south-east, Patton’s Seventh Army in the Gulf of Gela. Operation Husky had begun.
August
15
The landing on an empty Kiska
On 15 August 1943 more than 34,000 Americans and Canadians landed on Kiska. The Japanese had gone, but fog, mines and booby traps still killed many men.
19
The Quebec Conference and the Quebec Agreement
On 19 August 1943 in Quebec Churchill and Roosevelt signed a secret agreement on jointly building the atomic bomb. The conference also confirmed Overlord.
September
03
Operation Baytown
On 3 September 1943 the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps crossed the Strait of Messina to Calabria. The Allies were back on the mainland almost unopposed.
1944
June
06
Key event
D-Day: the Normandy landings
On 6 June 1944 some 156,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy by sea and air. Five beachheads were taken, but Caen remained in German hands.
July
09
The capture of Caen
On 9 July 1944 British and Canadian troops in Operation Charnwood took ruined northern Caen up to the Orne – a city that was meant to fall on D-Day.
August
14
Key event
The Falaise pocket
On 14 August 1944 Canadians and Poles advanced on Falaise in Operation Tractable. The pocket was closed on 19–21 August at Chambois and on the Mace.
30
The Allies on the Marne and in Rouen
On 28 August 1944 Patton's tanks crossed the Marne and on 30 August the Canadians entered Rouen. The Germans fled over the Seine as the Normandy battle ended.
September
01
The Canadians in Dieppe
On 1 September 1944 the 2nd Canadian Division entered Dieppe unopposed, scene of its bloody defeat two years earlier. The Germans had left the day before.
08
The liberation of Ostend
On 8 September 1944 Canadian armoured cars entered Ostend, abandoned by the Germans without a fight. On 9 September Canadian infantry occupied the town.
12
The Second Quebec Conference
On 12 September 1944 Roosevelt and Churchill met in Quebec to discuss Japan and Germany's fate. They agreed occupation zones and initialled the Morgenthau Plan.
21
The capture of Rimini
On 21 September 1944 a Greek mountain brigade and Canadians of the Eighth Army entered ruined Rimini. The Gothic Line on the Adriatic broke, but the rains came.
22
The surrender of Boulogne
On 22 September 1944 the Boulogne garrison surrendered to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Calais fell on 30 September; Dunkirk was besieged until May 1945.
October
05
The Canadians in the Netherlands
On 5 October 1944 the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division took Putte and entered the Netherlands, as the battle to open the port of Antwerp on the Scheldt went on.
November
01
Operation Infatuate
On 1 November 1944 British commandos landed on Walcheren at Vlissingen and Westkapelle. South of the Scheldt the Canadians took Knokke and Zeebrugge.
December
05
The capture of Ravenna
On 4 December 1944 Canadians and Bulow's partisans entered Ravenna, and its Byzantine monuments survived. The front in Romagna came to a halt on the rivers.
1945
March
24
Operation Varsity
On 24 March 1945 the British 6th and US 17th Airborne Divisions landed beyond the Rhine north of Wesel – the largest single-day airborne drop in history.
May
05
The surrender at Wageningen
On 5 May 1945 at Wageningen General Blaskowitz received the Canadian terms for the German forces in the Netherlands to lay down arms. They were signed on 6 May.
20
The end of the Texel uprising
On 20 May 1945 the Canadians finished disarming the Germans on Texel, where mutinous Georgians of the Wehrmacht had fought since April. Some 1,500 died.
June
11
The liberation of Schiermonnikoog
On 11 June 1945 the last German soldiers left Schiermonnikoog, the last scrap of the Netherlands under occupation, over a month after the surrender.