# Why was there a Canadian force on D-Day? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 6, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203 "2014-06-06T14:45:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Suicide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Suicide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suicide)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/1 "2014-06-06T14:45:05Z")
:p:smack::eek:šŸ†’:D:)šŸ˜•;)I just heard on the TV that on D-Day American troops landed at some of the Normandy beaches and British troops landed at some and Canadian troops landed at oneā€¦but werenā€™t the Canadian troops part of the British military? So why were they separate on D-Day? The Royal Army and Air Force and Navy consisted of Brits, Scots, Aussies, South Africans, Canadians, anyone from a country in the British Commonwealthā€¦In the Battle of Britain the RAF had Canadian flyers, there was no separate Canadian Air Forceā€¦So why was there a separate Canadian army invading a beach at Normandy?:smack:ā­•p:cool::rolleyes:;):p:mad: ---
**Author:** ![sidecar\_jon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@sidecar\_jon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidecar_jon)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/2 "2014-06-06T14:50:04Z")
Cos they had a big lot of men and equipment officers and stuff all of their own > **[List of Allied forces in the Normandy campaign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Allied_forces_in_the_Normandy_Campaign)** > > This is a list of Allied forces in the Normandy campaign between 6 June and 25 August 1944. Primary combat units are listed here; unit articles may contain a complete order of battle. > See also Hastings Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy It was an allied operation with America being a small part of it. Despite Saving Private Ryan etel ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/3 "2014-06-06T14:50:34Z")
It was the polite thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/4 "2014-06-06T14:55:38Z")
Canada and Britain are two separate and independent countries that happen to have the same monarch. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/5 "2014-06-06T15:07:39Z")
the Limeys wanted to have tea and the Canucks wanted to put maple syrup in it. almost started another war. ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/6 "2014-06-06T15:08:06Z")
Canadian troops were not part of the British Military and had not been since confederation. However there were historical ties that ended prior to WW2 [ā€œIn 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War, Canada was still a quasi-independent Dominion of the British Empire and automatically went to war when Britain did, albeit with full autonomy to decide the form and extent of its involvement. However, the 1931 Statute of Westminster had transformed Canada into a fully sovereign state, theoretically co-equal with Britain and the other Dominions of the British Commonwealth.ā€](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Canada_during_World_War_II) Also you might note that there was a Canadian Air Force - the RCAF. During the attrition and confusion of the Battle of Britain there were several RCAF pilots serving directly in the British squadrons, but there were also separate and active RCAF squadrons too. There were even some Americanā€™s flying in the Battle of Britain - but America wasnā€™t part of the British military either. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/7 "2014-06-06T15:10:33Z")
> [@sidecar\_jon](#): > > It was an allied operation with America being a small part of it. Despite Saving Private Ryan etel Thatā€™s not really accurate. It was certainly a multi-national operation but nobody could describe the American part as being small. 73,000 of the 156,000 troops who were involved were Americans. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/8 "2014-06-06T15:30:05Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Thatā€™s not really accurate. It was certainly a multi-national operation but nobody could describe the American part as being small. 73,000 of the 156,000 troops who were involved were Americans. Perhaps **sidecar\_jon** meant to say ā€œminorityā€ and thus merely imply that the US involvement was small. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/9 "2014-06-06T15:35:36Z")
In any case, it made sense to have people with the same backgrounds fighting together. Britain still had its county regiments but not all the soldiers came from that county. The Scottish regiments were largely Scottish. None of them would have succeeded without the others. I liked a quote from one of the guys who landed in gliders. When asked how he felt - he replied ā€œI suppose we were all a bit apprehensive.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/10 "2014-06-06T16:13:39Z")
By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Navy was the third largest navy in the world, after the USN and RN. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/11 "2014-06-06T17:15:50Z")
Contrary to the OP, there were also separate Australian, South African and New Zealand military forces, each independent of the British military and under the control of their own governments. (They served in different theatres of war, so they werenā€™t at Normandy.) Individuals from the Commonwealth countries could choose to serve in the British military, but each country kept their forces under their own control, as part of the overall Allied command structure. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/12 "2014-06-06T18:11:04Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > . . . there was no separate Canadian Air Force . . . Nope. Not only was the Royal Canadian Air Force ā€œseparateā€, [it was the fourth-largest air force](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCAF#1920.E2.80.931968) on the allied side by the end of WWII. (Third-largest navy, fourth-largest airforce - you know, we were once real players!) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/13 "2014-06-06T18:29:14Z")
It may be worth mentioning that there were also around 30,000 Germans in the British Army during WW2 [http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/07/jewish\_soldiers.asp](http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/07/jewish_soldiers.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/14 "2014-06-06T20:18:11Z")
> [@sidecar\_jon](#): > > It was an allied operation with America being a small part of it. Despite Saving Private Ryan etel 1. Saving Private Ryan is set at Omaha beach, where the forces landing on the beaches in fact were almost all Americans. About the only inaccuracy (and such a small one itā€™s strange Brits made such a big deal over SPR) is that the guys who drove the landing vehicles were British. Iā€™d agree if it was at Juno Beach and featured Americans this would be a major historical inaccuracy. 2. Americans were the single largest part of the Normandy invasion forces, almost 50% of the total number of involved. 3. The Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force was an American. These three things alone make it ridiculous for you to say America was a small part of the Normandy campaign, D-Day itself etc. If you had said Free Polish forces were a small part youā€™d be right, or Free Norwegian. But youā€™re talking about the single largest participant in the campaign. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/15 "2014-06-06T20:51:39Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Navy was the third largest navy in the world, after the USN and RN. > [@KarlGauss](#): > > Not only was the Royal Canadian Air Force ā€œseparateā€, [it was the fourth-largest air force](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCAF#1920.E2.80.931968) on the allied side by the end of WWII. At the rate of amazing historical misrepresentation in the OP (ā€œno distinct Canadian air forceā€) pretty soon the Canucks will get written out of World War II altogether! šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/16 "2014-06-06T21:28:57Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > :p:smack::eek:šŸ†’:D:)šŸ˜•;)I just heard on the TV that on D-Day American troops landed at some of the Normandy beaches and British troops landed at some and Canadian troops landed at oneā€¦but werenā€™t the Canadian troops part of the British military? So why were they separate on D-Day? The Royal Army and Air Force and Navy consisted of Brits, Scots, Aussies, South Africans, Canadians, anyone from a country in the British Commonwealthā€¦In the Battle of Britain the RAF had Canadian flyers, there was no separate Canadian Air Forceā€¦So why was there a separate Canadian army invading a beach at Normandy?:smack:ā­•p:cool::rolleyes:;):p:mad: Some points: [ul] [li]The UK doesnā€™t have a Royal Army. Thereā€™s the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines, but the army is simply the British Army.[/li][li]Scotland is (for now) part of the UK. Therefore, Scots come under the umbrella of Britons (or ā€œBritsā€, if you must).[/li][li]Smilies exist, but that fact alone does not necessitate their use.[/li][li]An ellipsis is not a perfectly good substitute for a full stop (period) and a space.[/li][/ul] > [@sidecar\_jon](#): > > It was an allied operation with America being a small part of it. Despite Saving Private Ryan etel While Iā€™m being all haughty: Et al.? ---
**Author:** ![Suicide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Suicide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suicide)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/17 "2014-06-06T22:31:10Z")
so why did canada participate in d-day anyway then? after pearl harbor, hitler declared war on the usa to support his ally japanā€¦but he didnā€™t declare war on canadaā€¦it couldā€™ve remained neutral like sweden or spain or switzerland or any of those other neutral s countries ---
**Author:** ![abel29a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@abel29a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abel29a)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/18 "2014-06-06T22:39:56Z")
Because Canada joined the war on 10th of Sep. '39 due to their strong ties with Britain, as part of the British Commonwealth. In fact most former British colonies and dominions joined their ā€œmother countryā€ in '39. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/19 "2014-06-06T22:47:00Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > so why did canada participate in d-day anyway then? after pearl harbor, hitler declared war on the usa to support his ally japanā€¦but he didnā€™t declare war on canadaā€¦it couldā€™ve remained neutral like sweden or spain or switzerland or any of those other neutral s countries No, culturally and politically it could not. Iā€™m wondering, after reading the OP and some subsequent remarks, did you ever take any history in school at all? > **[Canada in World War II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Canada_during_World_War_II)** > > The history of Canada during World War II begins with the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. While the Canadian Armed Forces were eventually active in nearly every theatre of war, most combat was centred in Italy, Northwestern Europe, and the North Atlantic. In all, some 1.1 million Canadians served in the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, out of a population that as of the 1941 Census had 11,506,655 people, and in forces across the empire, with appro T... ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/20 "2014-06-06T23:11:18Z")
1 in 11 Canadians served in the Canadian military in WWII. Discounting the many in the Great White North who were too young or too old, thatā€™s still a whole lot of military-age Canucks looking to kick some Nazi ass. \*Canada played a vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic and the air war over Germany, and contributed forces to the campaigns of western Europe beyond what might be expected of a small nation of then only 11 million people. Between 1939 and 1945 more than one million Canadian men and women served full-time in the armed services. ā€¦When the German attack on Poland on 1 September 1939 finally led Britain and France to declare war on Germany, (Prime Minister Mackenzie) King summoned Parliament to ā€œdecide,ā€ as he had pledged. Declaration of war was postponed for a week, during which Canada was formally neutral. The government announced that approval of the ā€œAddress in reply to the Speech from the Throne,ā€ which stated the governmentā€™s decision to support Britain and France, would constitute approval of a declaration of war. On September 9 the address was approved without a recorded vote, and war was declared the following day.\* [http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/second-world-war-wwii/](http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/second-world-war-wwii/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203.md?page=2)