# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Suicide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Suicide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suicide)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/41 "2014-06-07T11:03:54Z")
What does the “D” in D-Day stand for? destruction day? death day? deutschland day? dumbkopf day? duhhhhhhhhhh day? what??? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/42 "2014-06-07T11:15:08Z")
It’s a [military thing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Day_%28military_term%29), an event centric floating time referential, particularly when the exact date and time are not known at the point in time when the plans are drafted. To put it simply D-Day and H-Hour respectively refer to the as-of-yet undetermined moment Shit is supposed to Go Down, while D/H minus X time refers to what preparations are to take place when in order to enable D-Day, and D/H plus X is used to assess how things are expected to progress from there on. ---
**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 7, 2014, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/43 "2014-06-07T11:17:30Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > What does the “D” in D-Day stand for? destruction day? death day? deutschland day? dumbkopf day? duhhhhhhhhhh day? what??? Nothing. It’s just a standard military term. A military operation is scheduled to start at H-Hour on D-Day. You can make your plans around this generic date and time and then fill in the specific date and time that will be used as the circumstances dictate. For example, the cross-channel invasion was originally scheduled for June 5. At the last minute it was postponed for twenty-four hours due to bad weather. If they had based their plans around specific dates, this last minute change would have thrown everything off schedule. But because their plans were based on D-Day, D+1, D+2, etc they were able to keep their original plans intact. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/44 "2014-06-07T13:56:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Admit it - it’s the little bits of trivia that sticks in our brains not the real information. Five years from now, the only thing you’ll remember from this thread about Canada’s role in World War II will be “Scotty got shot by friendly fire.” You may be right. I’d like to read a book about the Canadian contributions, however, if anybody knows a good one. ---
**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 7, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/45 "2014-06-07T14:28:45Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Like the way the [Americans stole the Engima machine from the German sub](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-571_%28film%29)? And let’s not forget all the CIA heroics to get the American hostages out of Iran, [as per the fiction of _Argo_](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/22/canada-ambassador-slighted-argo_n_2745720.html). ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/46 "2014-06-07T15:07:22Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > You may have gone to a lousy school or had a lousy teacher, … … or you may have been a lousy student… ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/47 "2014-06-07T16:13:00Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > These three things alone make it ridiculous for you to say America was a small part of the Normandy campaign, D-Day itself etc. We are coming out of a long, self-serving time when Americans were educated that we won the war, with a little help from the oppressed nations we saved. While you’re correct about your points, I don’t think it hurts to serve up a little humility in these discussions. > [@KarlGauss](#): > > (Third-largest navy, fourth-largest airforce - you know, we were once real players!) Much in the spirit of the above comment, “Avro Arrow.” That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/48 "2014-06-07T16:48:41Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Perhaps **sidecar\_jon** meant to say “minority” and thus merely imply that the US involvement was small. 😉 They still made up the largest contingency. According to [WIKI](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings)there were 73,000 US troops and 61,715 British troops which would leave 21,400 Canadian troops. ---
**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 7, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/49 "2014-06-07T18:11:48Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > You may be right. I’d like to read a book about the Canadian contributions, however, if anybody knows a good one. A good read about the Normandy campaign is Keegan’s Six Armies in Normandy, with a detailed chapter on the Canadian Army. ---
**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 7, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/50 "2014-06-07T18:15:56Z")
By the way, a suggestion for the OP: I would take your questions much more seriously if you could phrase them without using every emoticon available, and invested in a keyboard that did not have a sticking ? key. ---
**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 7, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/51 "2014-06-07T18:57:50Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > Oh, if you want to get down to it Saving Private Ryan is full of inaccuracies. The plot itself is simply absurd; trying to find a single paratrooper would have been a fool’s errand. The _average_ drop error was two miles. The final battle couldn’t be fought against ordinary German soldiers, being Hollywood they had to be SS soldiers. The first SS formation to reach the American sector was the reconnaissance battalion of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen on June 11th. The Germans had to have a tank, and being Hollywood a German tank has to be a Tiger. There were no Tigers on the American sector of Normandy in the entire month of June; they were all deployed to the British/Canadian sector. Tigers were not organic to panzer divisions; they were exclusively used in independent heavy panzer battalions and companies. So if the fact that there were no Tigers present is to be ignored, it stretches credulity that the crew of one of the SS’s crack heavy panzer battalions made the novice error of leading with a tank down a city street. Then there’s that P-51 making a direct hit on its first pass on a tank in a town… it’s Hollywood. It’s going to be full of inaccuracies. During the beach scene, I mean. Wasn’t speaking as to the whole movie. For some reason a common Canadian/British criticism of the beach scene (which is generally critically acclaimed), is that it doesn’t feature anything but Americans. But that’s actually how the beaches were, the landing forces for each beach were basically nation specific in most cases. Utah Beach was the U.S. Army VII Corps, 4 Infantry Divisions and 2 Airborne Divisions, Omaha Beach was VI Corps with 2 Infantry Divisions. Essentially no other Allied infantry forces were present at the two American beaches, and thus a movie that focuses on one of those (Omaha) in its opening scene is actually not being historically inaccurate by not showcasing British or Canadian forces. The one major omission in this area is the landing craft were piloted by Brits and there was British Naval support throughout all of the Normandy beaches. But given the focus of the camera is primarily on the infantry fighting this to me represents a minor omission. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/52 "2014-06-07T19:00:18Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > A good read about the Normandy campaign is Keegan’s Six Armies in Normandy, with a detailed chapter on the Canadian Army. I found another book called Fields of Fire, which sounds like it might be good. I’ve placed a hold on both at the local library. ---
**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 7, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/53 "2014-06-07T19:08:55Z")
Another good one, about the Dieppe Raid, is called Green Beach, by James Leasor. It details one particular mission in the context of the raid. A young British radar expert participated in the raid, to gather information about the German radar capabilities. Because of his technical expertise, he was assigned a bodyguard of 12 soldiers from the South Saskatchewan Regiment. Their orders were to protect him at all costs, but if they couldn’t get him back out, to kill him. ---
**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 7, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/54 "2014-06-07T19:13:51Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Canada’s manpower was not something Allied planners could afford to turn away. Of the Commonwealth realms I think I’m correct that only India had a larger army, and they were busy fighting the Japanese (as well as trying to hold India itself together, but that’s a different story). The largest unconscripted army in history, the British Indian Army. Not only fighting the Japanese in South East Asia and on the borders of India, but also garrisoning places like Aden, liberating Ethiopia from the Italians, teaming up with the Soviets to occupy Iran… ---
**Author:** ![Suicide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Suicide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suicide)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/55 "2014-06-07T20:58:27Z")
if the usa had lost ww2, would we all be speaking german or japanese now? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/56 "2014-06-07T21:42:18Z")
English. Neither Germany nor Japan had any interest in invading the mainland US, which wasn’t exactly a superpower back then, or really a contender in anything. Up until 42, the US had been content to stew in dogged isolationism, give or take the Philippines - in fact, FDR had to work his ass off just to get y’all into the war in Europe. It’s only after WW2 that you guys started running the show and could corner every market because everywhere \*else \*was in smoking ruins. Nor had either Axis power even close to the means of doing so. Germany couldn’t even invade the UK, you figure they were up to taking over a landmass hundred times the size, hundred times the distance ? (scale pulled out of my ass, numbers given for mental picture purposes only) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/57 "2014-06-07T21:42:36Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > if the usa had lost ww2, would we all be speaking german or japanese now? barring total nuclear annihilation there wasn’t a viable way to occupy North America. The scale of production was simply too great. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/58 "2014-06-07T21:57:15Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > if the usa had lost ww2, would we all be speaking german or japanese now? You really should stop digging in this hole; you’re already down to bedrock. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/59 "2014-06-07T22:04:58Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > if the usa had lost ww2, would we all be speaking german or japanese now? better cameras a plus. even if they did the conquering and split the country they wouldn’t have enough for an occupation force. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203/60 "2014-06-07T22:06:43Z")
> [@sidecar\_jon](#): > > 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 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Allied_forces_in_the_Normandy_Campaign) > > It was an allied operation with America being a small part of it. Despite Saving Private Ryan etel > [@Bozuit](#): > > Some points: > > [ul] > [li]The UK doesn’t have a Royal Army. There’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 “Brits”, 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] > > While I’m being all haughty: > > Et al.? I actually thought that **sidecar** ’s comment was /sarcasm. [And Cecil knows I now know about such (mis)readings.] “El Al?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-there-a-canadian-force-on-d-day/690203.md?page=4)