# The Day the Nazis invaded Canada and captured Winnipeg. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 23, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057 "2019-02-23T01:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/1 "2019-02-23T01:48:39Z")
I hadn’t read about “If Day” until recently. There’s nothing like a dose of reality to get people’s attention. The Channel Islands were invaded by Nazis on 30 June 1940 until their peaceful liberation on 9 May 1945. What took place there was mirrored in the Canadian exercise. The Blitz against England was taking a terrible toll. The article mentions the bombing of Darwin Australia and plans for a Japanese invasion. The British Empire was in deep trouble. I bet this exercise did scare the living crap out of some people. But, it did shake them out of a dangerous complacency and raised 47 million in war bonds. It’s interesting that Canada had Nazi supporters just like the US just prior to WWII. > **[German American Bund](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American_Bund)** > > Final solution > The German American Bund, or the German American Federation (German: Amerikadeutscher Bund, Amerikadeutscher Volksbund, AV), was a German-American Nazi organization which was established in 1936 as a successor to the Friends of New Germany (FONG, FDND in German). The organization chose its new name in order to emphasize its American credentials after the press accused it of being unpatriotic. The Bund was allowed to consist only of American citizens of German descent. Its main ... Note: the original article is linked but I haven’t been able to get it to load. [https://legionmagazine.com/en/2017/02/if-day-the-occupation-of-manitoba/](https://legionmagazine.com/en/2017/02/if-day-the-occupation-of-manitoba/) > **[Day the 'Nazis' invaded Canada: How Winnipeg staged 1942 mock takeover](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6734803/The-day-Nazis-invaded-Canada-Winnipeg-staged-mock-takeover-city-1942.html)** > > This week marks the anniversary of “If Day,” the stunning 1942 event in Canada in which Winnipeg simulated a full-blown Nazi invasion of their city to drum up support for their wartime effort > [@](#): > > On February 19, 1942, Canadian authorities staged a full-scale fake invasion of Winnipeg in an effort to raise $45million in war bonds > > Members of the Young Men’s Section of the Winnipeg Board of Trade ‘invaded’ in Nazi uniforms - while 3,500 active and reserve Canadian soldiers were mobilized > > The Winnipeg Tribune announced plans for the exercise on the front page two days before it took place - but not all residents were aware of what was going on > > As part of the ‘invasion,’ Canadian officials were arrested, the Union Jack was replaced with a Nazi swastika, the city was renamed and civilians were harassed > > George Hoffman, a Canadian soldier who took part, told Canadian military magazine Legion in 2017 that all participants were warned not to get physical > > The effort ended up raising more than expected - $47,073,500 - and helped turn the tide of opinion in a city that held a Nazi rally just three years earlier ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/2 "2019-02-23T01:56:57Z")
This week marks the 77th anniversary of the event. I’m surprised that I hadn’t heard about If Day before. I’m in awe at the planning that went into this exercise. Anti Aircraft fire, planes, troops. Talk about shit getting real. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/3 "2019-02-23T20:41:24Z")
Everything I know about Winnipeg suggests that the Nazis would’ve been the losers in that deal. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/4 "2019-02-23T21:52:24Z")
“If Day” was one of many historical events mentioned in the fine “documentary” [My Winnipeg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Winnipeg). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/5 "2019-02-23T23:38:13Z")
There’s a good wiki article on it: [If Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_Day). ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/6 "2019-02-24T01:23:52Z")
The “Nazi’s” were fortunate no one met them using their own local version of a 2nd amendment solution. The mentioned simulated casualty would not have been simulated. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/7 "2019-02-24T02:19:10Z")
Winnipeg is close to the North Dakota and Minnesota borders. I hope Canada warned Roosevelt about If Day. Nazi planes and soldiers that close could have been a problem. If Day happened only two months after Pearl Harbor. The US was already at war with Japan & Germany. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/8 "2019-02-24T03:59:25Z")
While the Nazi’s never managed to make it to Winnipeg, they did manage to install an [automatic weather station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Station_Kurt) in Newfoundland in 1943. As far as is know, this is the only Nazi military operation on North American soil during the war. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/9 "2019-02-24T05:18:41Z")
Huh, looks like they did everything short of mass executions of civilians. Because the Nazis really did carry out mass executions of civilians in occupied territories. I would usually put a joke here, but this is too serious. Always remember how monstrous the Nazi rule really was. Imagine being put up against a wall and shot because someone you never met didn’t show “sufficient” deference to a foreign soldier. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/10 "2019-02-24T19:51:23Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Winnipeg is close to the North Dakota and Minnesota borders. > > I hope Canada warned Roosevelt about If Day. Nazi planes and soldiers that close could have been a problem. > > If Day happened only two months after Pearl Harbor. The US was already at war with Japan & Germany. Considering we’d been at war with Germany for two and a half years by that point, I think the US would have assumed we had things under control. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/11 "2019-02-24T22:24:23Z")
Fun fact: Winnipeg weathers are worse than Moscow winters. For example the mean temp in Dec. in Moscow is -5 celsius, but -13 celsius in Winnipeg. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-nazis-invaded-canada-and-captured-winnipeg/830057/12 "2019-02-24T23:34:15Z")
Portage & Main is said to be the coldest intersection in Canada.